IDENTIFICATION READER

• US 20080304111A1
• Filed: 05/09/2008
• Published: 12/11/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/10/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: L-1 Identity Solutions Incorporated (Advent International Corporation)
• Original Assignee: L-1 Identity Solutions Incorporated (Advent International Corporation)
• Inventors: QUEENAN, James R., LAZZOUNI, Mohamed, SANROMA, John P.
• Granted Patent: US 8,493,630 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 358/302
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/025 the material being flexible or adapted for folding, e.g. paper or paper-like materials used in luggage labels, identification tags, forms or identification documents carrying RFIDs methods for testing the genuineness of valuable papers, e.g. banknotes or passports G07D7/00; constructional features of booklets and the like B42D
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/0008 General problems related to the reading of electronic memory record carriers, independent of its reading method, e.g. power transfer
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00734 Optical detectors

Abstract

A passport and identification card reader minimizes the time and effort required for an operator to read/scan a passport or piece of identification. An immigration official, for example, can slide a passport into place with one hand while tending to other important security activities with the other hand. Once in place, the passport will be automatically detected and read. Numerous passports bound together by a traveler with multiple visas can be held flat in place and accurately read, even with one hand, despite the natural tendency of the passport(s) to return to a closed position.

Claims

1. An identification reader, comprising:

a body comprising a digital image capture mechanism and a platen;

a fixed positioning device atop the body;

the fixed positioning device having an outer surface and an inner surface and an opening for receiving a passport or other identification;

a plurality of brushes affixed to the inner surface and extending down towards the platen; and

the plurality of the brushes operable to hold a page of the passport or the identification against the platen such that an operator of the reader need use only one hand to place the passport within the opening, have the passport read, and remove the passport.

2. The identification reader of claim 1, wherein the platen comprises a clear plate located within a cutout within an upper surface of the body, an upper surface of the clear plate below or at substantially the same level as the upper surface of the body.

3. The identification reader of claim 2, wherein the reader comprises a front side and a back side, and wherein an insertion path runs from the front side to the back side and passes through the opening for receiving a passport within the fixed positioning device.

4. The identification reader of claim 3, further comprising a document insertion deflection structure within the insertion path.

5. The identification reader of claim 4, wherein the document insertion deflection structure comprises an arcuate surface.

6. The identification reader of claim 5, wherein the arcuate surface is an integral part of the body.

7. The identification reader of claim 1, wherein the plurality of brushes comprises a central brush aligned parallel to an insertion direction of the passport.

8. The identification reader of claim 7, wherein bristles of the central brush are substantially perpendicular to a face of the platen.

9. The identification reader of claim 1, wherein the plurality of brushes comprises one or more peripheral brushes, said peripheral brushes aligned at an angle of about 24 to 26 degrees from vertical.

10. The identification reader of claim 1, wherein the plurality of brushes comprise at least one brush operable to be displaced a distance equal to at least three times the thickness of an open passport.

11. The identification reader of claim 1, wherein a distance between the platen and an end of a brush is in the range of 0.007 to 0.011 inches.

12. The identification reader of claim 1, wherein the distance from an upper surface of the platen and the inner surface of the fixed positioning device is approximately 0.7-1.2 inches, thereby accommodating fingers of the user within the opening.

13. The identification reader of claim 1, wherein the fixed positioning device covers a majority of the platen area but a side of the fixed positioning device where the opening is located comprises a notch of sufficient depth to allow a user'"'"'s hand to touch the platen.

14. The identification reader of claim 3, wherein at a junction between the upper surface of the body and the clear plate, the upper surface of the body comprises a radiused edge that prevents the edge of an identification card from catching and interrupting removal of the card, if in the event the passport reader is utilized to read an identification card.

15. A method of operating an identification reader, comprising:

transmitting an infrared signal from an infrared emitter over a path to an infrared sensor such that the sensor is in saturation;

placing a piece of identification in the reader thereby blocking the path from the infrared emitter to the infrared sensor;

detecting the presence of the identification in the reader by;

performing an initial detection by sampling data from a digital image capture sensor of the reader;

verifying the initial detection by monitoring the infrared sensor, wherein if the infrared sensor is not in saturation as the path has been blocked by the identification, the initial detection is verified; and

capturing an image of the identification with the digital image capture sensor of the reader.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein placing a piece of identification in the reader requires only one hand, and wherein no subsequent user action is required to hold the identification in place and capture the image.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein performing an initial detection by sampling data from a digital image capture sensor of the reader comprises detecting data representative of orthogonally oriented content.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein performing an initial detection by sampling data from a digital image capture sensor of the reader comprises detecting orthogonal edges of the identification.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein performing an initial detection by sampling data from a digital image capture sensor of the reader comprises detecting bright field content.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein monitoring the infrared sensor comprises monitoring an infrared photodiode.

21. A method of operating an identification reader, comprising:

transmitting an infrared signal from an infrared emitter over a path to an infrared sensor;

placing a piece of identification in the reader thereby blocking the path from the infrared emitter to the infrared sensor;

detecting the presence of the identification in the reader by;

performing an initial detection by sampling data from a digital image capture mechanism of the reader;

verifying the initial detection by monitoring the infrared sensor, wherein if the infrared sensor does not detect an infrared signal above a threshold level, the initial detection is verified; and

capturing an image of the identification with the digital image capture sensor of the reader.