Sensing device and a method relating thereto
First Claim
1. A capacitive sensing device (10;
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11) for sensing topological variations in the structure of an object such as for example a finger (4), said device (10;
11) comprising a sensing surface for receiving the object (4) adjacent thereto, a number of sensor elements (11,1, . . . , 1x,y) arranged in two dimensions (X,Y), controlling means (2,3) for providing control signals to the sensor elements (11,1, . . . , 1x,y), with at least a number of the sensor elements (11,1, . . . , 1x,y) being controllable to assume one of at least two different functionalities as controlled by the control signals, characterized in that any of said at least two functionalities can be assumed by any one of the controllable sensor elements, and any other of said at least two functionalities can be assumed by any one of the other controllable sensor elements.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention relates to a capacitive sensing device (10) for sensing topological variations in the structure of an object such as e.g. a finger. The device comprises a sensing surface for receiving the object adjacent thereto and a number of sensor elements (11,1, . . . , 1x,y) arranged in at least two dimensions (x,y). The sensing device further includes controlling means (2,3) for providing control signals to the sensor elements (11,1, . . . , 1x,y) and for at least a number of the sensor elements at least two functionalities are available. The sensor elements can be brought to take on one of said at least two different functionalities, and the actual functionality of a sensor element is determined by said control signal. The invention also relates to a data carrier comprising such a capacitive sensing device, and to a method for use of such a device.
28 Citations
36 Claims
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1. A capacitive sensing device (10;
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11) for sensing topological variations in the structure of an object such as for example a finger (4), said device (10;
11) comprising a sensing surface for receiving the object (4) adjacent thereto, a number of sensor elements (11,1, . . . , 1x,y) arranged in two dimensions (X,Y), controlling means (2,3) for providing control signals to the sensor elements (11,1, . . . , 1x,y), with at least a number of the sensor elements (11,1, . . . , 1x,y) being controllable to assume one of at least two different functionalities as controlled by the control signals, characterized in that any of said at least two functionalities can be assumed by any one of the controllable sensor elements, and any other of said at least two functionalities can be assumed by any one of the other controllable sensor elements. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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11) for sensing topological variations in the structure of an object such as for example a finger (4), said device (10;
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22. A method of sensing topological variations in the structure of an object received adjacent a sensing surface of a capacitive sensing device including a number of controllable sensor elements arranged in at least two dimensions, characterized in that it comprises:
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providing control signals by means of which at least one of the sensor elements is controlled to have the functionality of a receiving element and at least one of said sensor elements is controlled to have the functionality of a transmitting element, generating capacitive or conductive signal(s) to the object via said transmitting element(s), detecting the capacitance between a number of different locations on the object and different receiving elements, using the capacitive signals received in the receiving elements for determining the topological pattern in the structure of the object, generating an (analogue) output signal describing the topological pattern. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24)
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25. The method of claim 25, further comprising the steps of:
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using the sensing device to determine the actual topological pattern of an object received adjacent the sensing device at another, later, occasion, comparing the stored information on the first object with the information on the topological pattern of the object received adjacent the sensing surface at a later occasion, generating an output signal indicative of the correspondence between the stored information and the actual information relating to the at a later occasion received object. - View Dependent Claims (29)
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26. A data carrier with a finger/fingertip recognition device comprising:
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a sensing device (10;
11) with a number of controllable sensor elements for sensing the topological variations on the structure of a finger/fingertip,storing means for storing finger/fingertip information of entitled user(s), comparing means for comparing input finger/fingertip information of a user attempting/wanting access to/by said data carrier, and means for generating an acceptance signal if the correspondence between stored finger/fingertip information and accessing finger/fingertip information at least reaches a predetermined level or generating a rejection signal indicating rejection of the accessing user, wherein the sensing device is capacitive and comprises controlling means for providing control signals to the sensor elements, at least a number of the sensor elements being controllable to assume one of at least two different functionalities, characterized in that any of said at least two functionalities can be assumed by any one of the controllable sensor elements, and any other of said at least two functionalities can be assumed by any one of the other controllable sensor elements. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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Specification