Electro-optic palm scanner system employing a non-planar platen
First Claim
1. A platen for use in obtaining an image of a heel and palm of an individual'"'"'s hand having identifying valleys and ridges, comprising:
- first and second sides;
a bottom surface continuous with said first and second sides; and
an upper contact surface continuous with said first and second sides and having a concave section relative to said bottom surface for permitting imaging of the palm, and a planar section for permitting imaging of the heel.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An electro-optic palm scanner system employing a non-planar platen for obtaining high quality palmprints and heelprints. The platen includes an upper contact surface having a convex portion for contacting a palm to be imaged, and a planar portion for contacting the heel of the hand. The imaging system includes an optical carriage movably secured to a frame. The carriage supports a light source, lens system, and light detector. Total internal reflection occurs when light is incident on the platen at an angle greater than a critical angle of the platen, providing identifying information. The detector may include a linear CCD array which detects ridges and valleys in the hand to obtain image data. The image data is processed and the corresponding print of the heel or hand may be displayed on a video screen, and stored. The images of the palm and heel may be merged to form a single image.
162 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A platen for use in obtaining an image of a heel and palm of an individual'"'"'s hand having identifying valleys and ridges, comprising:
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first and second sides; a bottom surface continuous with said first and second sides; and an upper contact surface continuous with said first and second sides and having a concave section relative to said bottom surface for permitting imaging of the palm, and a planar section for permitting imaging of the heel. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. An electro-optic imaging system for obtaining prints of a hand having fingers, a palm and a heel, each with identifying ridges and valleys, comprising:
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a transparent platen including a contact surface having a convex section for permitting contact with the palm and a substantially planar section for permitting contact with the heel, a light-input surface, and a light-output surface; a light source providing light incident on said light-input surface for illuminating said contact surface so that illuminated regions of said contact surface not in contact with the identifying ridges provide total internal reflection; and a light detector for receiving light from said light source which has passed through said light-input surface, reflected off of said contact surface, and passed out of said platen through said light-output surface. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for obtaining prints of a palm and heel of a hand having identifying ridges and valleys, said method comprising the steps of:
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placing the palm upon an arched surface of a non-planar platen; scanning the palm to obtain palm information for forming an image of the palm; rolling the hand to position the heel upon a planar section of the platen; scanning the heel to obtain heel information for forming an image of the heel; and merging said heel information and said palm information to form a continuous image of the palm and hand.
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12. A method of merging data from a palm scan and a heel scan to provide a continuous image of the palm and hand, said method comprising the steps of:
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scanning a palm to obtain palmprint information in the form of light intensity data; rolling the hand from palm to heel; scanning a heel to obtain heelprint information in the form of light intensity data; and merging said heelprint information with said palmprint information by comparing palmprint light intensity data with heelprint light intensity data for each element of an array.
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13. A method of obtaining imaging data of the palm and heel of an individual in an electro-optic imaging system, comprising the steps of:
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placing the palm upon a platen; scanning the palm to obtain palmprint data; signalling the user that the palmprint has been taken; rolling the hand from the palm to the heel while keeping the hand against the platen; and scanning the heel to obtain heelprint data.
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14. An electro-optic imaging system for obtaining prints of portions of a hand having identifying ridges and valleys, comprising:
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a platen having a bottom surface and an upper contact surface for supporting a hand to be imaged, said upper contact surface including a first substantially planar portion and a second portion being concave relative to said bottom surface; a frame; a carriage movably secured to said frame; a drive for moving said carriage on said frame; a light source secured to said carriage which directs light toward said upper contact surface; and a light detector secured to said carriage which receives light from said upper contact surface, the position of said light detector being fixed with respect to said light source. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification