Assembly for sharpening and observing wear on a blade

1. An observation device for observing a blade of a knife, the observation device comprising:

a sensor element configured to observe the blade and collect data regarding the blade when the blade is moved relative to the sensor element;

a display element configured to communicate a condition of the blade to an operator of the observation device, the condition of the blade based on the data collected by the sensor element when the blade is moved relative to the sensor element; and

at least one guide surface for establishing a position of the blade relative to the sensor element when the blade is moved relative to the sensor element, wherein the sensor element is inset into one of the at least one guide surfaces.

2. The observation device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one guide surface includes a first guide surface for engaging a face of the blade and a second guide surface for engaging an edge of the blade.

3. The observation device of claim 1 , wherein the condition of the blade is one of a knife blade root mean squared value or a roughness average value of the blade.

4. The observation device of claim 1 , wherein the condition of the blade includes a determination of the presence of a burr to one side of an edge of the blade.

5. The observation device of claim 1 , wherein the sensor element forms a portion of a sensor assembly including a plurality of the sensor elements, wherein at least one of the sensor elements forming the sensor assembly views the blade from a different perspective from the remaining sensor elements.

6. The observation device of claim 1 , wherein the sensor element is one of a mouse sensor, a camera, or a diffusion sensor.

7. A knife sharpener comprising:

a grinding surface for grinding a blade of the knife when the blade is moved relative to the grinding surface;

an observation device including a sensor element and a display element, the sensor element configured to observe the blade and collect data regarding the blade when the blade is moved relative to the sensor element, and the display element configured to communicate a condition of the blade to an operator of the observation device, the condition of the blade based on the data collected by the sensor element when the blade is moved relative to the sensor element; and

a first guide surface disposed adjacent the grinding surface for guiding the blade of the knife when the blade is moved relative to the grinding surface, wherein the sensor element is inset into the first guide surface.

8. The knife sharpener of claim 7 , wherein the grinding surface and the observation device are supported by a single housing structure.

9. The knife sharpener of claim 7 , wherein the grinding surface is supported by a first housing structure and the observation device is supported by a second housing structure, the second housing structure provided as an accessory configured for removable coupling to the first housing structure.

10. The knife sharpener of claim 7 , wherein the sensor element is positioned to be passed by the blade after the blade has passed by the grinding surface.

11. The knife sharpener of claim 7 , wherein the sensor element is inset into a second guide surface, the second guide surface movable relative to the first guide surface between an aligned position wherein the first guide surface and the second guide surface are aligned and a misaligned position wherein the first guide surface and the second guide surface are misaligned.

12. The knife sharpener of claim 7 , wherein the knife sharpener includes a plurality of the grinding surfaces spaced apart from each other and the sensor element is movable between each of the spaced apart grinding surfaces.

13. A method of determining a condition of a blade of a knife prior to or following a sharpening process, the method comprising the steps of:

providing an observation device including a sensor element and a display element, wherein the sensor element is inset into at least one guide surface for guiding the blade of the knife when the blade is moved;

moving the blade relative to the sensor element to observe the blade and collect data regarding the blade; and

communicating a condition of the blade to an operator of the observation device following the moving of the blade relative to the sensor element.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the moving of the blade relative to the sensor element occurs while the blade is also moving relative a grinding surface engaging the blade.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the observing of the blade occurs with respect to a portion of the blade that has engaged the grinding surface during the moving of the blade relative to the sensor element.

16. The method of claim 13 , further comprising a step of aligning the sensor element with the grinding surface.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the sensor element is mounted to a structure movable relative to the grinding surface.