Apparatus for measuring a cutting blade width in a cutting apparatus

A cutting apparatus comprising:

• a cutting blade;
• a sheet material support surface;
• a movable head block to be mounted on a support frame and coupled to said cutting blade for reciprocating said cutting blade along an axis perpendicular to said support surface, wherein said blade is rotatably coupled to said head block;
• a support member;
• a detector operable to detect a predetermined radial orientation of said cutting blade;
• a cutting blade rotator mounted on said support member and operable to rotate said cutting blade about an axis perpendicular to said sheet material support surface;
• a head block positioning device mounted on said support member and operatively coupled with said head block for moving said cutting blade between a cutting position and a retracted position;
• and
• a cutting blade edge detector mounted adjacent said cutting blade and operable to engage said cutting blade and detect the position of an edge thereof when said blade has been retracted and positioned in said predetermined radial orientation.

A cutting apparatus comprising:

• a support frame;
• a movable head block mounted on said support frame and adapted to mount a cutting blade for reciprocating the cutting blade along a verticle axis;
• a support member;
• a detector operable to detect a predetermined radial orientation of a cutting blade;
• a cutting blade rotator mounted on said support member and operable to rotate a cutting blade about its longitudinal axis;
• a head block positioning device mounted on said support member and operatively coupled with said head block for moving said head block between a cutting position and a retracted position;
• and
• a cutting blade edge detector operable to engage a cutting blade and detect the position of an edge thereof while in said predetermined radial orientation.