Fingerprint identification system and method

Claim 1

A matrix device for measuring an electrical property of the skin of a body member for identification purposes comprising: a plurality of spaced sensing means located in a grid pattern forming rows and columns of sensing means, said plurality of sensing means being located in a planar surface for engaging said skin for electrical resistance measuring purposes, each sensing means comprising a pair of spaced first and second contacts electrically isolated from each other in the plane of said surface for sensing for said electrical property of the skin dependent at least in part upon the amount of contact of the skin with each pair of said contacts, a first set of electrical conducting means located in rows and electrically isolated from each other, each row of electrical conducting means of said first set electrically connecting together a row of said first contacts, and a second set of electrical conducting means located in columns and electrically isolated from each other and from said electrical conducting means of said first set, each column of electrical conducting means of said second set electrically connecting together a column of said second contacts.

Claim 3

A method of electrically scanning the surface pattern of a portion of the skin tissue of a body member of a human being such as a fingerprint to produce an electrical signal image of said pattern comprising: sensing for an electrical parameter representative of a surface feature of said skin pattern at a plurality of different points on the surface of the skin of said body member; producing electrical signals representative of said electrical parameters sensed between selected ones of said plurality of different points on said surface of said skin of said body member; and deriving an electrical signal image of said surface pattern of said skin from said electrical signals.

Claim 4

A method of electrically scanning the surface pattern of a portion of the skin tissue of a body member of a human being such as a fingerprint to produce an electrical signal image of said pattern comprising: sensing for an electrical parameter representative of a surface feature of said skin pattern at a plurality of different points on the surface of the skin of said body member; producing electrical signals representative of said electrical parameters sensed between selected ones of said plurality of different points on said surface of said skin of said body member; and deriving an electrical signal image of said surface pattern of said skin from said electrical signals.

Claim 7

A device for obtaining an electrical signal image of a skin point of a human being such as a fingerprint by measuring electrical parameters of the surface of said skin comprising: a plurality of electrical sensing means closely spaced in a matrix to contact and distinguish between ridges and valleys of said skin pattern for obtaining a measure of an electrical parameter of said skin representative of said ridges and valleys between selected ones of a plurality of different points on the surface of said skin, and means for supporting said sensing means in a position to engage said skin for measuring purposes.

Claim 8

A device for obtaining an electrical signal image of a skin point of a human being such as a fingerprint by measuring electrical parameters of the surface of said skin comprising: a plurality of electrical sensing means closely spaced in a matrix to contact and distinguish between ridges and valleys of said skin pattern for obtaining a measure of an electrical parameter of said skin representative of said ridges and valleys between selected ones of a plurality of different points on the surface of said skin, and means for supporting said sensing means in a position to engage said skin for measuring purposes.

Claim 12

A device for detecting a skin surface pattern of a human being such as a fingerprint by measuring electrical parameters of said skin comprising: a matrix of a plurality of closely spaced electrical sensing means for contacting and distinguishing between ridges and valleys of said skin pattern by obtaining a measure of an electrical parameter of said skin surface between a plurality of different points, each sensing means comprising a pair of spaced first and second contacts for contacting the surface of said skin, a first set of electrical conducting means, each conducting means of the first set electrically connecting together a plurality of different ones of said first contacts, a second set of electrical conducting means, each conducting means of said second set electrically connecting together a plurality of different ones of said second contacts, and means for supporting and positioning said first and second contacts of each sensing means in a sensing surface for engaging said surface of said skin for measuring purposes.

Claim 13

A device for detecting a skin surface pattern of a human being such as a fingerprint by measuring electrical parameters of said skin comprising: a matrix of a plurality of closely spaced electrical sensing means for contacting and distinguishing between ridges and valleys of said skin pattern by obtaining a measure of an electrical parameter of said skin surface between a plurality of different points, each sensing means comprising a pair of spaced first and second contacts for contacting the surface of said skin, a first set of electrical conducting means, each conducting means of the first set electrically connecting together a plurality of different ones of said first contacts, a second set of electrical conducting means, each conducting means of said second set electrically connecting together a plurality of different ones of said second contacts, and means for supporting and positioning said first and second contacts of each sensing means in a sensing surface for engaging said surface of said skin for measuring purposes.

Claim 15

A device for measur-ing an electrical parameter of the skin of a body member comprising: a plurality of spaced sensing means for obtaining a measure of an electrical parameter of said body member between a plurality of different points, each sensing means comprising a pair of spaced first and second contacts for contacting the surface of the skin of said body member, a first set of electrical conducting means, each conducting means of the first set electrically connecting together a plurality of different ones of said first contacts, a second set of electrical conducting means, each conducting means of Said second set electrically connecting together a plurality of different ones of said second contacts, means for supporting and positioning said first and second contacts of each sensing means in a sensing surface for engaging said surface of said skin of said body member for measuring purposes, means for sequentially and separately selecting different ones of said pairs of first and second contacts for obtaining a measure of said electrical parameter between a plurality of different points on said skin of said body member, means for obtaining a measure of the average value of said electrical parameter at a plurality of different points on the skin of said body member under investigation, and means for comparing said average value to said measurements obtained as each of said pairs of first and second contacts are sequentially and separately selected.

Claim 16

A device for measur-ing an electrical parameter of the skin of a body member comprising: a plurality of spaced sensing means for obtaining a measure of an electrical parameter of said body member between a plurality of different points, each sensing means comprising a pair of spaced first and second contacts for contacting the surface of the skin of said body member, a first set of electrical conducting means, each conducting means of the first set electrically connecting together a plurality of different ones of said first contacts, a second set of electrical conducting means, each conducting means of Said second set electrically connecting together a plurality of different ones of said second contacts, means for supporting and positioning said first and second contacts of each sensing means in a sensing surface for engaging said surface of said skin of said body member for measuring purposes, means for sequentially and separately selecting different ones of said pairs of first and second contacts for obtaining a measure of said electrical parameter between a plurality of different points on said skin of said body member, means for obtaining a measure of the average value of said electrical parameter at a plurality of different points on the skin of said body member under investigation, and means for comparing said average value to said measurements obtained as each of said pairs of first and second contacts are sequentially and separately selected.

Claim 17

A device for measuring an electrical parameter of the skin of a body member comprising: a plurality of spaced sensing means for obtaining a measure of an electrical parameter of said body member between a plurality of different points, each sensing means comprising a pair of spaced first and second contacts for contacting the surface of the skin of said body member, a first set of electrical conducting means, each conducting means of the first set electrically connecting together a plurality of different ones of said first contacts, a second set of electrical conducting means, each conducting means of said second set electrically connecting together a plurality of different ones of said second contacts, means for supporting and positioning said first and second contacts of each sensing means in a sensing surface for engaging said surface of said skin of said body member for measuring purposes, a source of electrical current, means for sequentially and separately coupling said source to each of said first conducting means, gate means for normally blocking the flow of current from each of said second conducting means, and means for controlling said gate means to allow current sequentially and separately to flow from each of said second conducting means during the time that said source is coupled to each of said first conducting means for obtaining a measure of said electrical parameter at a plurality of different points on said skin of said body member.

Claim 18

A device for measuring an electrical parameter of the skin of a body member comprising: a plurality of spaced sensing means for obtaining a measure of an electrical parameter of said body member between a plurality of different points, each sensing means comprising a pair of spaced first and second contacts for contacting the surface of the skin of said body member, a first set of electrical conducting means, each conducting means of the first set electrically connecting together a plurality of different ones of said first contacts, a second set of electrical conducting means, each conducting means of said second set electrically connecting together a plurality of different ones of said second contacts, means for supporting and positioning said first and second contacts of each sensing means in a sensing surface for engaging said surface of said skin of said body member for measuring purposes, a source of electrical current, means for sequentially and separately coupling said source to each of said first conducting means, gate means for normally blocking the flow of current from each of said second conducting means, and means for controlling said gate means to allow current sequentially and separately to flow from each of said second conducting means during the time that said source is coupled to each of said first conducting means for obtaining a measure of said electrical parameter at a plurality of different points on said skin of said body member.

Claim 20

A system for obtaining a measure of an electrical parameter of the skin of a body member at a plurality of different points comprising: a device having a plurality of different sensing means for sensing for said electrical parameter at a plurality of different points on the skin, selecting means for sequentially selecting each sensing means for obtaining a measure of said electrical parameter at different points on the skin, means for controlling said selecting means to cycle said selecting means through its selection sequence at least twice, averaging means for obtaining an average value of said electrical parameter as sensed by said plurality of sensing means, comparing means for comparing the output of said averaging means with the output of each sensing means, and means for applying the output of each sensing means to said averaging means during one cycle and the output of each sensing means to said comparing means during a subsequent cycle.

Claim 21

A system for obtaining a measure of an electrical parameter of the skin of a body member at a plurality of different points comprising: a device having a plurality of different sensing means for sensing for said electrical parameter at a plurality of different points on the skin, selecting means for sequentially selecting each sensing means for obtaining a measure of said electrical parameter at different points on the skin, means for controlling said selecting means to cycle said selecting means through its selection sequence at least twice, averaging means for obtaining an average value of said electrical parameter as sensed by said plurality of sensing means, comparing means for comparing the output of said averaging means with the output of each sensing means, and means for applying the output of each sensing means to said averaging means during one cycle and the output of each sensing means to said comparing means during a subsequent cycle.

Claim 24

A device for measuring an electrical parameter of the skin of a body member comprising: a first set of electrical conducting means electrically isolated from each other and having surfaces in a plane exposed for contacting the skin, each conducting means of said first set having a plurality of apertures extending therethrough, a second set of electrical conducting means electrically isolated from each other and from said first set of conducting means, said second set of conducting means being located below said first set of conducting means, and a plurality of contact members extending from each con-ducting means of said second set, each contact member extending through one of said aper-tures formed through said conducting means of said first set and having a surface in said plane exposed for contacting the skin, each contact member of said second set of said device being electrically isolated from said electrical conducting means of said first set.

Claim 25

A device for measuring an electrical parameter of the skin of a body member comprising: a first set of electrical conducting means electrically isolated from each other and having surfaces in a plane exposed for contacting the skin, each conducting means of said first set having a plurality of apertures extending therethrough, a second set of electrical conducting means electrically isolated from each other and from said first set of conducting means, said second set of conducting means being located below said first set of conducting means, and a plurality of contact members extending from each con-ducting means of said second set, each contact member extending through one of said aper-tures formed through said conducting means of said first set and having a surface in said plane exposed for contacting the skin, each contact member of said second set of said device being electrically isolated from said electrical conducting means of said first set.

Claim 26

A device for measuring an electrical property of the skin of a body member comprising: a plurality of sensing means for obtaining a measure of an electrical property of said body member at a corresponding plurality of different locations on the surface of the skin of said body member, each of said sensing means comprising a different pair of adjacent contacts spaced from every other pair of contacts, there being no contact common to all pairs, and means for supporting each contact pair to engage the skin of said member at a corresponding one of said locations on the surface of the skin.

Claim 27

A device for measuring an electrical property of the skin of a body member comprising: a plurality of sensing means for obtaining a measure of an electrical property of said body member at a corresponding plurality of different locations on the surface of the skin of said body member, each of said sensing means comprising a different pair of adjacent contacts spaced from every other pair of contacts, there being no contact common to all pairs, and means for supporting each contact pair to engage the skin of said member at a corresponding one of said locations on the surface of the skin.

Claim 32

A device for sensing a skin surface pattern of a human being by measuring electrical parameters of said skin surface comprising: a plurality of closely spaced sensing means to detect the ridges and valleys of said skin surface, each said sensing means including a pair of adjacently spaced first and second contacts for contacting said surface of the skin, a first set of electrical conducting means, each conduct-ing means of the first set electrically connecting together a plurality of different ones of said first contacts, a second set of electrical conducting means, each con-ducting means of said second set electrically connecting together a plurality of different ones of said second contacts, and means for supporting and positioning said first and second contacts of each sensing means in a sensing surface for engaging said surface of said skin for measuring purposes.

Claim 33

A device for sensing a skin surface pattern of a human being by measuring electrical parameters of said skin surface comprising: a plurality of closely spaced sensing means to detect the ridges and valleys of said skin surface, each said sensing means including a pair of adjacently spaced first and second contacts for contacting said surface of the skin, a first set of electrical conducting means, each conduct-ing means of the first set electrically connecting together a plurality of different ones of said first contacts, a second set of electrical conducting means, each con-ducting means of said second set electrically connecting together a plurality of different ones of said second contacts, and means for supporting and positioning said first and second contacts of each sensing means in a sensing surface for engaging said surface of said skin for measuring purposes.

Claim 34

A device for measuring an electrical parameter of the skin of a body member comprising: a plurality of spaced sensing means, each including a pair of adjacently spaced first and second contacts for contacting the surface of the skin of said body member, a first set of electrical conducting means, each conduct-ing means of the first set electrically connecting together a plurality of different ones of said first contacts, a second set of electrical conducting means, each con-ducting means of said second set electrically connecting together a plurality of different ones of said second contacts, means for supporting and positioning said first and second contacts of each sensing means in a sensing surface for engaging the surface of the skin of said body member for measuring purposes, and means for sequentially and separately selecting different ones of said pairs of first and second contacts for obtaining a measure of said electrical parameter between points on the skin of said body member contacted by the first and second contacts of each of said different ones of said pairs.

Claim 35

A device for measuring an electrical parameter of the skin of a body member comprising: a plurality of spaced sensing means, each including a pair of adjacently spaced first and second contacts for contacting the surface of the skin of said body member, a first set of electrical conducting means, each conduct-ing means of the first set electrically connecting together a plurality of different ones of said first contacts, a second set of electrical conducting means, each con-ducting means of said second set electrically connecting together a plurality of different ones of said second contacts, means for supporting and positioning said first and second contacts of each sensing means in a sensing surface for engaging the surface of the skin of said body member for measuring purposes, and means for sequentially and separately selecting different ones of said pairs of first and second contacts for obtaining a measure of said electrical parameter between points on the skin of said body member contacted by the first and second contacts of each of said different ones of said pairs.