CPC B24B 3/54 (2013.01) [B24B 51/00 (2013.01)] | 19 Claims |
1. A blade sharpening and blade sharpness detection system for permitting sharpening of a blade and a determination of a sharpness of a blade in a single system, the system comprising:
a housing;
a blade sharpening mechanism retained by the housing;
an optical inspection unit retained by the housing wherein the optical inspection unit is operative to inspect blade sharpness optically and wherein the optical inspection unit comprises a light source and an optical sharpness sensor operative to acquire light reflected from the blade whereby reflected light intensity can be converted to a measurement of blade sharpness; and
a blade positioning and guidance mechanism retained by the housing wherein the blade positioning and guidance mechanism is disposed to position and guide the blade in relation to the optical inspection unit;
wherein the optical inspection unit and the blade positioning and guidance mechanism are retained by a pivotable support structure within the housing;
wherein the positioning and guidance mechanism comprises first and second rotatable spheres disposed in a pair with the first rotatable sphere disposed in immediate juxtaposition to the second rotatable sphere and with the first and second rotatable spheres spaced from the optical inspection unit.
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