Patent ID: 8216029

Claim:
A cutting machine for cutting a sheet material to be cut, which is put on a cutting table, with a cutting blade provided in a cutting head movable along the cutting table, wherein the cutting blade is used while both sides of its cutting edge are ground to keep sharpness of the cutting edge, and the cutting head is provided with: a one side use abrasive whetstone for sharpening one side of the cutting edge of the cutting blade with its flat surface; an other side use abrasive whetstone for sharpening the other side of the cutting edge of the cutting blade with its flat surface; and a whetstone holding mechanism that can allow selective switch between a standby state in which the one side use abrasive whetstone and the other side use abrasive whetstone are away from any of the one side of the cutting edge and the other side of the same, while the flat surface of the one side use abrasive whetstone and that of the other side use abrasive whetstone are kept in parallel with the one side of the cutting blade and the other side of the same, respectively, and an one side sharpening state in which the one side use abrasive whetstone is put in contact with the one side of the cutting edge or an other side sharpening state in which the other side use abrasive whetstone is put in contact with the other side of the cutting edge, the whetstone holding mechanism includes: a pair of pivot shafts arranged to stand at both sides of the cutting edge of the cutting blade in spaced relation and perpendicular to the surface of the cutting table; a pair of swing arms supported capable with swing displacement at base end portions thereof by one and the other of the pivot shafts respectively; and a support block, which is connected to support shafts at front ends of the swing arms and is supported by a four-joint link structure with the centers of the pivot shafts and the centers of the support shafts as joints, holding the flat surfaces, used for sharpening, of the one side use abrasive whetstone and the other side use abrasive whetstone parallel to the one side of the cutting blade and the other side thereof respectively.