UNITIZED ERGONOMIC TWO-DIMENSIONAL FINGERPRINT MOTION TRACKING DEVICE AND METHOD
First Claim
1. A fingerprint imaging device comprising:
- a plurality of partial fingerprint image sensors comprising a first partial fingerprint imager sensor having a sensing area smaller than a fingerprint area to be imaged and at least one additional fingerprint image sensor capable of detecting finger motion in at least one direction;
the at least one additional fingerprint image sensor being disposed along an axis of finger motion in at least one of a first direction and a second direction that is different from the first direction;
the plurality of partial fingerprint image sensors being present on a substrate; and
at least one integrated circuit configured to drive at least one of the plurality of partial fingerprint image sensors being also present on the same substrate separated from each of the plurality of fingerprint image sensors and electrically connected to at least one fingerprint image sensor of the plurality of fingerprint image sensors.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A sensor which uses a plurality of partial fingerprint readers (imagers), and various computational algorithms, to detect changes in fingerprint images as a function of finger movement. The sensor can provide both finger motion information and fingerprint images. The sensor uses multiple partial fingerprint readers, arranged in different directions on a surface, to detect finger motion in two dimensions. The sensor can also detect the relative speed and direction of finger movement. Some sensor embodiments use deep finger penetrating radio frequency (RF) based circuits, which can be inexpensively printed or formed on the surface of robust and flexible dielectric materials such as Kapton tape. The sensor also has textured surfaces to help guide the user. The sensor both small and robust, and is well suited for control applications for low-cost mass market microprocessor controlled devices such as cell phones, MP3 players, laptop computers, and other devices.
46 Citations
36 Claims
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1. A fingerprint imaging device comprising:
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a plurality of partial fingerprint image sensors comprising a first partial fingerprint imager sensor having a sensing area smaller than a fingerprint area to be imaged and at least one additional fingerprint image sensor capable of detecting finger motion in at least one direction; the at least one additional fingerprint image sensor being disposed along an axis of finger motion in at least one of a first direction and a second direction that is different from the first direction; the plurality of partial fingerprint image sensors being present on a substrate; and at least one integrated circuit configured to drive at least one of the plurality of partial fingerprint image sensors being also present on the same substrate separated from each of the plurality of fingerprint image sensors and electrically connected to at least one fingerprint image sensor of the plurality of fingerprint image sensors. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A fingerprint imaging device comprising:
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a plurality of partial fingerprint image sensors each comprising a deep finger penetrating radio frequency (RF) based one dimensional linear array of sensors; in which respective ones of the plurality of partial fingerprint image sensors are each disposed to detect finger motion in a direction from at least a first direction and a second direction that is different from the first direction; and in which the respective ones of the plurality of partial fingerprint image sensors are each mounted on a surface that has a texture feature configured to allow a user to determine the position of at least one of the respective ones of the partial fingerprint image sensors by producing a tactile sensation on the underside of a finger of the user. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A method comprising:
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determining a first motion of a finger by comparing digital data from a first partial fingerprint image sensor comprising a first series of fingerprint image features with a subsequently sensed second series of fingerprint image features and determining an amount of shift between the first series of fingerprint image features and the second series of fingerprint image features to determine a distance traveled by a finger along an axis of a first linear one dimensional fingerprint image sensor; determining a second motion of the finger by comparing digital data from a third partial fingerprint image sensor comprising a third series of fingerprint image features with a subsequently sensed fourth series of fingerprint image features and determining an amount of shift between the third series of fingerprint image features and the fourth series of fingerprint image features to determine a distance traveled by the finger along an axis of a second linear one dimensional fingerprint image sensor; and using the first motion of the finger and the second motion of the finger to calculate the movement of the finger in two dimensions, in which the finger moves over a surface, and in which the surface has a texture feature configured to allow a user to determine the position of at least one of the first image sensor and the second image sensor by producing a tactile sensation on the underside of the finger of a user. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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Specification