JPH1014904A - Finger print reader - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To ensure reading of finger prints when fingers are dry by forming a soft and transparent film body on the surface of a transparent hard plate to be mounted on a finger contact part of a finger print reader. SOLUTION: A transparent hard plate made of glass or a resin coated with a transparent thin film 10 made of a vinyl based compound or the like is mounted on the surface of a contact part 3A of a finger print reader 3. A prism 12 is mounted on the rear of the transparent hard plate 11. An LED light emitting part 14 is mounted to emit a beam 13 from the direction at the right angle to the first surface 12A of the prism 12. A finger is brought into contact with a thin film 10 of the contact part 3A and irradiated with the beam 13 from the LED light emitting part 14 through the first surface 12A of the prism 12. The reflected light 15 from the finger is received by a CCD 18 through a second surface 12B of the prism 12 and a mirror 16 to be outputted as an image signal. This improves contact of even a dry finger thereby enabling clearly reading of finger prints.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a fingerprint reader for optically reading a fingerprint.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a fingerprint reader that optically reads a fingerprint of a finger and outputs the read fingerprint shape as fingerprint data.
In general, a transparent hard plate made of a glass plate or a plastic plate is attached to a contact portion for contacting a finger, and light is applied from a light source to a finger surface in contact with the surface of the transparent hard plate, and a fingerprint surface is formed. The light reflected by the device is received by an element such as a CCD, and a fingerprint image signal corresponding to a fingerprint shape is output from the element.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned conventional fingerprint reader, when the finger is brought into contact with the transparent hard plate at the contact portion, if the finger is dry, the adhesion between the finger surface and the transparent hard plate is reduced. As a result, there is a problem that an accurate fingerprint shape may not be read. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a fingerprint reader that can reliably read a fingerprint even when the finger is dry.

[0004]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a fingerprint reader for optically reading a fingerprint of a finger touching a contact portion, the fingerprint reader being attached to the contact portion. The purpose is to form a soft and transparent film on the surface of the transparent hard plate.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the finger is dried by forming a soft and transparent film on the surface of the transparent hard plate attached to the contact portion of the fingerprint reader. Even in this case, when the finger is brought into contact with the soft film, the adhesion between the finger and the film is improved and the fingerprint can be read clearly.

[0006]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a means for writing fingerprint data of a card holder on an issue card when issuing a plastic card such as an ID card, a credit card, a prepaid card, and the like. When the card on which the fingerprint data is written is used by a card bearer, the fingerprint of the bearer is detected and whether or not the bearer is an official card holder. FIG. 2 is a system block diagram briefly showing a means for determining the state of the system.

As shown in FIG. 1, in the means for writing the cardholder's fingerprint data on the card 1, the fingerprint of the finger 2 is held in a state where the finger 2 of the cardholder is in contact with the contact portion 3A. A fingerprint reader 3 is used which optically reads a fingerprint and converts the fingerprint shape into a video signal and outputs the video signal. A computer 4 for inputting and storing a video signal output from the fingerprint reader 3, fingerprint data based on the fingerprint video signal stored in the computer 4, and other data; For example, a data writer 5 for writing personal data such as the card holder's name, date of birth, gender, and address on the card 1 stripes (generally magnetic stripes) 1A and 1B. Is provided.

On the other hand, when the card 1 is used by a card holder, a means for determining whether or not the card holder is an authorized card holder includes a fingerprint reader 6 and The fingerprint reader 6 reads the fingerprint of the bearer of the card 1 and passes the card 1 through the groove 7A of the data reader 7. As a result, the fingerprint data written on the stripes 1A and 1B of the card 1,
And other data are read. The video signal of the fingerprint of the card bearer read by the fingerprint reader 6 and the card 1
The fingerprint data and other data written on the stripes 1A and 1B are transmitted to the computer 4.

The computer 4 collates the fingerprint image signal of the card bearer read by the fingerprint reader 6 with the fingerprint data written on the card 1 and determines that they are identical. , It is determined that the bringer is an official holder, and for example, a process of opening a door of an entrance of a building is performed.

Note that the computer 4 has a modem device for transferring data of the computer 4 to a host computer (not shown) via a telephone line (including a communication line). 8 are connected. Although the fingerprint reader 3 and the fingerprint reader 6 are different in the external shape and the like, since the basic configuration and operation are the same, either of the fingerprint readers may be used.

Next, the configuration and operation of the fingerprint readers 3 and 6 will be described. First, the fingerprint reader 3 will be described. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the fingerprint reader 3, and FIG.
FIG. 2 is a side sectional view schematically showing a basic configuration inside the fingerprint reader 3. As shown in FIG. 3, the contact portion 3A of the fingerprint reader 3 has a transparent hard film made of glass or plastic having a transparent thin film 10 of vinyl or silicon on the surface thereof. A plate 11 is attached.

A prism 12 is mounted on the back surface of the transparent hard plate 11. Also, the first surface 1 of the prism 12
LED that emits light beam 13 from a direction perpendicular to 2A
The light emitting unit 14 is attached. The light beam 13 emitted from the LED light emitting unit 14 is applied to the first surface 12 of the prism 12.
A is incident from A, becomes reflected light 15 reflected on the fingerprint surface of the finger 2, and emerges from the second surface 12B of the prism 12.

In the traveling direction of the reflected light 15, the reflected light 1
A mirror 16 for receiving the light 5 at a right angle and reflecting the light at a 45 degree angle is provided. And Mira-16
The mirror-reflected light 17 reflected by is received by a CCD (charge-coupled device) 18. Since the mirror-reflected light 17 received by the CCD (charge coupled device) 18 includes information on the fingerprint shape of the finger 2, the CCD (charge coupled device) 18
And outputs a video signal corresponding to the fingerprint shape. The video signal is amplified by an amplifier circuit (not shown), A / D converted, and output to the computer 4 described above.

In the fingerprint reader 3 configured as described above, the contact portion 3A has a surface made of vinyl or silicon.
A transparent thin film 10 is coated. According to the experiment, even when the finger 2 that is in contact with the thin film 10 is dry, the adhesiveness is improved because the thin film 10 is soft,
It was found that a video signal corresponding to a clear fingerprint shape was output from the D (charge coupled device) 18. In addition, contact part 3A
When the dry finger 2 is brought into direct contact with the surface of the transparent hard plate 11 without coating the thin film 10 on the surface of the transparent hard plate 11 and a video signal is output from a CCD (charge coupled device) 18, it is obtained. Experiments have shown that the fingerprint shape becomes ambiguous.

Next, the fingerprint reader 6 will be described. FIG. 4 is a plan view of the fingerprint reader 6, and FIG.
FIG. 2 is a side sectional view schematically showing a basic configuration inside of FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, the contact portion 6A of the fingerprint reader 6 has a vinyl-based or silicon-based transparent thin film 2 on its surface.
A transparent hard plate 21 made of glass or plastic and coated with 0 is attached.

A prism 22 is attached to the back of the plate 21. Further, the LED light emitting unit 2 that emits the light ray 23 from a direction perpendicular to the first surface 22A of the prism 22
4 is attached. The light beam 23 emitted from the LED light emitting unit 24 is incident on the first surface 22A of the prism 22 and becomes reflected light 25 reflected on the fingerprint surface of the finger 2 from the second surface 22B of the prism 22. Idemitsu.

The reflected light 25 is received by a CCD (charge coupled device) 28. Since the reflected light 25 received by the CCD (charge coupled device) 28 includes information on the fingerprint shape of the finger 2, the CCD (charge coupled device) 28 outputs a video signal corresponding to the fingerprint shape of the finger 2. The video signal is amplified by an amplifier circuit (not shown), A / D converted, and output to the computer 4 as fingerprint data.

In the fingerprint reader 6 configured as described above, a vinyl-based or silicon-based transparent thin film 20 is coated on the surface of the transparent hard plate 21 at the contact portion 6A. Therefore, even when the finger 2 that is in contact with the thin film 20 is dry, the thin film 20 is soft, so that the adhesiveness is improved,
An image signal corresponding to a clear fingerprint shape is output from a CCD (charge coupled device) 28. According to the experiment, like the fingerprint reader 3 described above, the dried finger 2 is brought into contact with the transparent hard plate 21 directly without coating the thin film 20 on the surface of the transparent hard plate 21 of the contact portion 6A. When the image signal is output from the CCD (charge coupled device) 28, the obtained fingerprint shape may be unclear.

As described above, an embodiment in which a transparent soft film made of a vinyl-based or silicon-based material is coated on the surface of the transparent hard plate at the contact portion of each fingerprint reader. As described above, this film body is not limited to a vinyl-based or silicon-based film, but any material that is transparent, soft, and adheres to a finger is included in this category.

[0020]

According to the present invention, when the finger is dry by forming a soft and transparent film on the surface of the transparent hard plate attached to the contact portion of the fingerprint reader. However, when the finger is brought into contact with the soft thin film, the adhesion between the finger and the thin film is improved, and there is an effect that the fingerprint shape can be clearly read.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system using a fingerprint reader.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the fingerprint reader.

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing an internal configuration of the fingerprint reader of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of another type of fingerprint reader.

FIG. 5 is a side sectional view showing the internal configuration of the fingerprint reader of FIG. 4;

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 finger 3,6 fingerprint reader 3A, 6A contact part 10,20 thin film 11,21 transparent hard plate

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A fingerprint reader for optically reading a fingerprint of a finger in contact with a contact portion, wherein a soft and transparent film body is formed on a surface of a transparent hard plate attached to the contact portion. A fingerprint reader characterized by the following: 2. The fingerprint reader according to claim 1, wherein the film body is coated on the surface of the transparent hard plate with a vinyl-based or silicon-based material.