Patent ID: 7953560

Claim:
A method for measuring geometric deviations of a doctor blade using an apparatus in communication with a computing device, comprising: (a) initializing said apparatus; (b) mounting said doctor blade to a doctor blade holding device of said apparatus; (c) illuminating, by said apparatus, said doctor blade with light; (d) positioning, by said apparatus, a first portion of said doctor blade at an optical axis of a camera of said apparatus; (e) obtaining a first image signal from said camera that corresponds to said first portion of said doctor blade; (f) generating, by said computing device, a first doctor blade geometry value associated with said first image signal; and (g) determining, by said computing device, if a first geometric deviation of said doctor blade is within acceptable tolerance using said first doctor blade geometry value; wherein said illuminating comprises illuminating said doctor blade with a first light source and illuminating said doctor blade with a second light source, wherein a central axis of said first light source and a central axis of said second light source are located on a plane containing said optical axis of said camera, and wherein the angle between said central axis of said first light source and said optical axis of said camera is the same as the angle between said central axis of said second light source and said optical axis of said camera.