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Patent 2239627 Summary

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Claims and Abstract availability

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(12) Patent: (11) CA 2239627
(54) English Title: CREDIT CARD WITH DIGITIZED FINGER PRINT AND READING APPARATUS
(54) French Title: CARTE DE CREDIT AVEC EMPREINTE DIGITALE NUMERISEE ET APPAREIL DE LECTURE
Status: Expired
Bibliographic Data
(51) International Patent Classification (IPC):
  • G06K 19/10 (2006.01)
  • G06K 7/14 (2006.01)
  • G06K 9/30 (2006.01)
  • G07C 9/00 (2006.01)
(72) Inventors :
  • MATHURIN, TREVOR R., JR. (United States of America)
(73) Owners :
  • MATHURIN, TREVOR R., JR. (United States of America)
(71) Applicants :
  • MATHURIN, TREVOR R., JR. (United States of America)
(74) Agent: OSLER, HOSKIN & HARCOURT LLP
(74) Associate agent:
(45) Issued: 2001-05-29
(86) PCT Filing Date: 1995-12-04
(87) Open to Public Inspection: 1997-06-12
Examination requested: 1998-06-04
Availability of licence: N/A
(25) Language of filing: English

Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT): Yes
(86) PCT Filing Number: PCT/US1995/015703
(87) International Publication Number: WO1997/021187
(85) National Entry: 1998-06-04

(30) Application Priority Data: None

Abstracts

English Abstract




A credit card (12) having thereon an actual enhanced authorized card holders
finger print (60) and corresponding digitized representation (88) of said
actual finger print (60), an apparatus (10) to read said digitized finger
print optically and magnetically and a method of reading said finger print
optically and magnetically.


French Abstract

Sur une carte de crédit (12) figure l'empreinte (60) du détenteur autorisé de la carte ainsi qu'une représentation numérisée correspondante (88) de ladite empreinte digitale (60); l'invention décrit également un appareil (10) permettant de lire ladite empreinte digitale numérisée de manière optique et magnétique, ainsi qu'un procédé de lecture de ladite empreinte digitale de manière optique et magnétique.

Claims

Note: Claims are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.




-25-
CLAIMS

1. A digitized finger print credit card verification
system comprising, in combination:
a. a credit card having mounted therein a credit
card identification number, validation dates, member
establishment dates, name of credit card, a
representation in binary numerical form of a digitized
finger print representing an original card holder's
actual finger print, a representation of said actual
finger print, a magnetic strip having magnetically
thereon a digitized form of said original card holder's
finger print, an original card holder's signature space,
and an original card holder's name;
b. digitized finger print credit card reading
apparatus comprising at least one access door, an on/off
switch, a credit card insertion slot having a digitized
finger print reader and a magnetic credit card scanner,
a finger print scanning screen, a finger print scanner
including a line sensor, a plurality of indicator lights
to indicate whether there is a finger print match, an
angled front face thereon containing said finger print
scanning screen and therein containing said finger print
scanner, a hingeably mounted finger print scanning door,
and an auxiliary power source having at least one
battery clamp, electric terminals, and a male plug
located at a terminus with a corresponding female plug



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located on said digitized finger print credit card
reading apparatus.

Description

Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.


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Description



Credit Card With Digitized Finger
Print and Reading Apparatus



Technical Field:
This invention relates to an anti-fraud credit card,
and more particularly to such a credit card that is of
the utmost simplicity, ease of use and ~; n; cost,
while at the same time being highly effective in
preventing misuse of the credit card.
The present invention relates to the manufacture of
credit cards and the security of such cards until
release to the end user.
The present invention relates to an improved credit
card construction which is digitized finger print for
facilitating identification and discouraging
counterfeiting.
This invention relates to an improved credit card
construction and, more particularly, to a credit card
construction which includes a encoding mechanism that
el ;m; n~teS unauthorized use of the credit card.
The present invention relates to the detection
of specified patterns within a given area and, more
particularly, to a system for automatically providing an

indication of the position and orientation of specified
minutia in a fingerprint.


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This invention relates to fingerprint comparison
apparatus and, in particular, to a system using
recycling FIFO buffer memories to perform parallel
processing of a correlation algorithm to determine an
'electronic" match between a portion of a reference
fingerprint and a live fingerprint.



Description of the Prior Art:
Increasing security problems are becoming a
noticeable part of modern life, security was once
primarily the preserve of classified government
installations, but increasing losses and calamities have
forces the review of security equipment and procedures
by government and industry. Cargo losses and the theft
of corporate secrets cost industry billions of dollars
annually. Unauthorized access to computer data bases
and other files are a major concern today and in the
future. Public safety is endangered by the ability of
intruders to plant bombs in places such as aircraft and
buildings. Computerized records and even the computers
themselves, are attacked and destroyed.
Access control and personnel identification are
becoming tremendous problems, and will be the object of
significant expenditures by organizations needing to
identify employees, vendors, etc., who are to be allowed
access to plants, computer rooms, vaults, baggage areas,
etc. The ultimate method of personal identification s


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not a card which can be lost, loaned or stolen, nor a
num~er code which can be told or purloined, but an
unchangeable, non-transfera~le and indisputably unique
characteristic of the person himself, his fingerprint.
With crime in the United States and elsewhere on the
upswing and with the relative supply of trained law
enforcement personnel on the decline, the law
enforcement community has been forced, in recent years,
to investigate and consider the automatic processing of
the large amounts of data it is required to maintain.
One area of recent interest has been in the automatic
processing of fingerprints. A few facts will serve to
indicate why this is the case. The Federal Bureau of
Investigation has a fingerprint file which consists of
over 182,000,000 fingerprint cards, each having 10
prints thereon. There are some 13,00Q agencies
throughout the world contributing ~ingerprint cards to
the FBI and the FBI receives over 27,500 inquiries per
day. In its Washington offices alone, the FBI has over
1000 people whose task it is to search and classify
fingerprint cards. The California Bureau of Cr;~inAl
Identification and Investigation has a file consisting
of approximately 5,500,000 fingerprint cards and
receives in excess of 95,000 inquiries per month. The
New York State Identi~ication and Intelligence System
has a file in excess of 1,300 r ~~~ fingerprint cards and
receives more than 200,000 inquiries per year. These


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figures alone serve to indicate the enormity of the task
of reading and classifying fingerprints for the purposes
of ide~tification and matching.
Other areas would benefit from a device for
automatically reading fingerprints. For example, the
economy of the United States today is based on the
credit system and the use of credit cards. However,
millions of dollars are lost annually because of the use
of lost or stolen credit cards. With an automatic
fin~erprint reader and correlator, much of this could be
eli m; n~ted, Each credit card could be made so that upon
insertion into a machine, a central storage file would
automatically locate the file of the credit cared owner
which would include his or her fingerprint records.
Then, by merely placing the credit card holder's finger
on a glass or the like, an automatic reader could read
the fingerprint and provide the information to a
correlation system which would determine whether the
fingerprint of the credit card holder matches those in
the file of the credit card owner. With automatic
reading and correlating apparatus, this could be done in
a matter of seconds.
Because of the importance of this problem, many
suggestions have been made in recent years for automatic
fingerprint readers and recorders. Many of the proposed
systems operate to locate fingerprint minutiae, such as
ridge endings or bifurcations, since the use of


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fingerprint minutiae as a means of positive, legal
identification has been proven in practice. Therefore,
since the automatic detection of specified minutiae is
~ basically a problem in pattern recognition, it would
appear to be a simple matter to provide an automatic
system of the detection of such minutiae. However, the
recognition of these minutiae is complicated by several
factors, such as: (1) the specified minutiae occur at
arbitrary orientations; (2~ there are variations in
ridge breadth and distance between ridge centers; (3)
there are various inherent defects in all fingerprints,
such as scars, warts, etc.; ~4) false ridge endings
appear at the boundaries of fingerprints and scars; and
(5~ the quality of fingerprints varies widely with
respect to contrast and clarity. As a result, in almost
all cases, the proposed system has either been too
complex, too inefficient or inoperative.
For example, it has been proposed to use a large
scale computer to control the scan of a fingerprint
along some predetermined pattern and so store the
resulting complex electrical signal. Subsequently, in
order to identify a fingerprint, it will have to be
scanned and the resultant complex electrical signal
compared with those in the memory banks of the computer.
Although this approach may well be operative r it has the
inherent disadvantage of all mass data-processing


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systems, and that is the requirement for enormous
amounts of complex and costly e~uipment.
Another suggested approach has been to use
holographic techniques whereby two fingerprints may be
matched or the location of specified minutiae on
fingerprints identified by simultaneously illuminating
an unknown fingerprint and a known mask with coherent
laser light and determ;n;ng the locations of a match.
However, apparently because of the complexity and the
minute detail present in typical fingerprints, it has
not been possible to make such a system which operates
reliably.
The American economy, over the years in the 2Oth
Century, has slowly but surely changed into an economy
centered on credit. As a business man travels from his
banks to department stores to gas stations to
restaurants, the credit card that is acceptable at each
one of those institutions is di~ferent in most cases
from the other cards that he must carry. As a business
person travels throughout this country, from state to
state, or throughout the world, from country to country,
he or she is more and more burdened by the large number
of various types and styles of credit cards that he must
carry with him.
It is known to carry credit cards that are backed by
large banking organizations. Cards such as a Visa or
MasterCard are but two of the examples


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of this modern form of credit card. Although these cards
are useful in a wide variety of situations, for example
purchasing goods at a store or lodging at a hotel or
~ inn, it is not uncommon for a single individual to have
three or four of each of these types, each being issued
by a different bank.
Another problem that may exist is when a card is
~irst issued, a small figure, for example $500 or $600,
is established as a line of credit. However, as time
proceeds and the individual proves to be a good credit
risk, that line of credit is ~p~n~d to an amount
$2,000 to $5,000. It is very o~ten di~ficult, when one
person has four or five Visas or MasterCards, for that
person to remember what credit limit applies to which
card. More times than not, for a particularly large
purchase, an individual might at first try to use a card
that does not have sufficient credit on it, to the
embarrassment of the card holder, even though he does
have two or three other cards that do have su~ficient
credit on them.
Even though a person can get a bank credit card,
this does not preclude the use of three or four cards
from typically local establishments. While in the
most part these establishments are department stores,
and usually very large department stores at that, they
are regional in their use. Therefore, a person traveling
from the East Coast to the West Coast would find that he


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or she could no longer make purchases in a well-known
department store on the West Coast because his credit
reputation is known only to the East Coast department
stores .
Plastic cards have gained great popularity in recent
years as a medium by which purchase money is paid and
business transacted without the necessity of carrying
cash or enduring a long term escrow or other means for
transferring title or securing payment of cash. With the
popularity and ready acceptance of credit cards in the
business world, the use thereof by unscrupulous persons
to make unauthorized transaction has become a serious
problem costing the consumers millions of dollars
annually. As the ~e~n~ for such cards has risen amongst
counterfeiters and other illegal uses, the demand for
improperly obtained cards market has skyrocketed thus
creating an extremely high incentive for dishonest
employees connected with the manufacture of such cards
to succumb to temptation. Such employees are presented
daily with a temptation to supply cards to persons bent
on improper use thereof, all for great sums of money.
There have been many e~forts in the past to assure
the security of credit cards, including coding thereof
for check at the point of purchase to determine if the
card may be a stolen card. Other efforts have led to the
construction of credit cards with a hologram strip
secured to the face thereof and incorporating optical


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images characteristic of the particular card such that a
merchant or other person to whom the card is presented
will have an opportunity to ~ mi ne the card to
determine if the hologram is in position and to identify
the characteristics of the images incorporated therein.
While many efforts have been made to provide
security against illegitimate use of stolen credit
cards, little effort has been made, and even less
success achieved, to provide security at the place of
manufacture and storage of such cards prior to
distribution to the end user. Consequently, there
exists a need for a method of manufacture and a credit
card which discourages theft by employees yielding to
the temptation to supply such cards to others or to use
the cards themselves for illegitimate purposes.
By way of background, counterfeiting of credit cards
at the present time is relatively easy and can be
accomplished effectively by unsophisticated
counterfeiters. In this respect, the ordinary credit
card is fabricated from a 20 mil core layer of polyvinyl
chloride which is printed to provide information on the
front and rear of the card. T.~m; n~ted to each of these
layers is a 5 mil clear polyvinyl chloride sheet through
which the printing can be seen. The total thic~ness of
the card is 30 mils and it can be fabricated by the use
of commercially available material. Thus, counterfeiters
can obtain the basic materials for making a credit card


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from normal commercial channels, and with a m;n;~l~ of
equipment, may duplicate credit cards. It is with
overcoming the foregoing ease of counterfeiting that the
present invention is concerned.
Numerous innovations for preventing credit card
fraud have been provided in the prior art that are
adapted to be used, for example U.S. Pat. No. 3,050,711
to Harmon, U.S. Pat. No. 3,112,468 to Kamentsky, U.S.
Pat. No. 3,234,513 to Brust, U.S. Pat. No. 3,293,604 to
Klein, U.S. Pat. No. 3,370,271 to Van Dalen, U.S. Pat.
No. 3,399,473 to Jaffe, U.S. Pat. No. 3,496,541 to
~axby, U.S. Pat. No. 3,611,290 to ~uisi, U.S. Pat. No.
3,624,938 to Richard, U.S. Pat. No. 3,637,990 to Bayha
et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,699,519 to Campbell, U.S. Pat.
No. 3,713,235 to Roberts, U.S. Pat. No. 3,731,085 to
Bostrom, U.S. Pat. No. 3,762,081 to Armbruster et al.,
U.S. Pat. No. 3,787,839 to Fayling, U.S. Pat. No.
3,972,138 to Armbruster et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,109,689
to Broune, U.S. Pat. No. 4,210,899 to Swonger et al.,
U.S. Pat. No. 4,223,918 to Smoczynski, U.S. Pat. No.
4,432,567 to Stoc~burger, U.S. Pat. No. 4,573,711 to
Hyde, U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,936 to Opel, U.S. Pat. No.
5,054,090 to Knight et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,255,941 to
Solomon. Even though these innovations may be suitable
~or the speci~ic individual purposes to which they
address, they would not ~e suitable for the purposes of
the present invention as heretofore described.


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Disclosure of the Invention:
An antifraud credit card or identification card
embodying the invention comprises a card member having
digitized finger print and bearing information that is
presentable to a person seeking to consummate a
transaction. The credit card further has a legitimate
message that allows consummation of the transaction and
a plurality of illegitimate messages that deny such
consummation.
The instant invention is a universal credit card. It
is of the usual plastic and mylar composition and
typical dimensions that ordinary credit cards are of but
has on both sur~aces a protective, very thin;
transparent covering to protect the digitized and actual
finger print information stored underneath. The
information stored underneath the covering is divided
into categories: photographic information; information
digitized finger print on a magnetic tape; printed
information; written information; digitized finger print
embossed or raised-figure information. On the front side
of the credit card, identifying information is located:
a line of identifying digitized finger print numbers and
letters representing the cardholder's digitized finger
~ print with a plurality of spaced apart arrays that
allows the inscription of numerous other digits; and the
expiration date of the card. On the back side of the
credit card may be a strip of magnetic tape with

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digitized ~inger print therein. The credit card holder's
signature in ink is on the back side of the card on a
piece of specially prepared material.
It is therefore an object of the present invention
to provide a universal digitized finger print credit
card for use by individuals who already have an
established credit reputation.
It is an object o~ this invention to cross reference
the actual fingerprint with the digitized fingerprint on
the credit card, transmit the digitized fingerprint to a
centralized computer where a cross reference of the
computer files is conducted. The primary object is to
permit, in some cases, a cross check between the
digitized fingerprint on the card and the actual
fingerprint. In other cases r a three way among the
digitized fingerprint on the credit card, the actual
fingerprint of the user and the centralized computer
which will contain a digitized fingerprint of the card
holder. This centralized computer could also contain
the credit record to be used.
It is a further object of the present invention to
provide a universal digitized finger print credit card
that has a current digitized and actual finger print
photograph and identi~ying code having digitized finger
print next to the name of the individual.
It is a still further object of the invention to
provide a universal digitized ~inger print credit card


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that will carry in magnetically coded information such
as digitized and actual finger print providing
additional security to the credit card holder.
It is a still further object of the invention to
provide a method for using the universal digitized
finger print type credit card.
The method of the present invention is characterized
by manufacturing credit cards with a warning printed on
the face thereof in such a manner that it will be
discernable to a merchant or other individual to whom
the card is presented for being honored in carrying out
a transaction. A cover is constructed of a strip of
material having a characteristic digitized finger print
that absence of such correct information will present a
warning to the merchant.
It is one important object of the present invention
to code a credit card in such a manner that
counterfeiting thereof is made difficult.
It is another object of the present invention to
provide an improved digitized finger print credit card
which can reveal the area of its issuance by visual
inspection, thereby alerting a merchant to the fact that
such credit card may not have issued in his particular
~ geographical area.
The present invention relates to a digitized finger
print credit card laminate comprising a plurality of
layers of material of different of visible thickness


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laminated relative to each other and extending to the
edge of said card to thereby provide a digitized finger
print pattern at the edge of said card. The present
invention also relates to a digitized finger print
credit card laminate comprising a plurality of layers of
material laminated to each other including a layer of
material ContA; n; ng metal and/or optical features to
provide a predetermined conductivity which can be sensed
by suitable detecting apparatus.
The present invention contemplates utilization of a
st~n~d credit card format, with em~ossed information
on the face of the card and, optionally, a magnetic tape
attached to the card.
It is thus an object of the present invention to
provide an improved credit card encoding digitized and
actual finger print.
It is a further object of the present invention to
provide a credit card encoding digitized and actual
finger print incorporating features of many presently
available credit cards and also providing the additional
feature of a encoding digitized and actual finger print
that prevents unauthorized use of the credit card.
It is another obiect of the present invention to
provide a credit card encoding having digitized finger
print serving to identify the correct user of the credit
card.
Still another object o~ the present invention is to

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provide a credit card encoding having a magnetic strip
to represent digitized finger print providing an
identification means for the authorized user and of the
credit card.
An object of this invention is to provide a device
as aforesaid embodying means whereby the possibility of
use being used by unauthorized persons is mi nimi zed.
It is an object of this invention to provide a
fingerprint-based access control system which can read a
human fingerprint directly from a human finger.
It is an additional object of this invention to
provide a system for providing a limited access to areas
by individuals by identifying them through their
fingerprints.
It is a further object of this invention to record
time-keeping and payroll data as well as to log
personnel entry/exit to specific areas.
It is an additional object of this invention to
provide a positive identification system for banking and
credit card transactions.
It is an additional object of this invention to
extract and use the unique personal characteristics of
fingerprints which are derived and used by law
~ enforcement agencies to that data on individuals
attempting an unauthorized access can be forwarded to
the agencies for action.

-
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It is a still further object of this invention to
provide a fingerprint-based access control system which
is readily digitized finger print to cover changes in
personnel.
It is a further object of the present invention to
provide a novel fingerprint minutiae reading device.
It is still another object of the present invention
to provide a system for detecting the position and
orientation of specified minutiae in a fingerprint.
Accordingly, it i5 a primary object of the present
invention to provide a low cost, dedicated, hardware
implemented correlation system for fingerprint
identification.
It is a further object of the invention to restrict
the scanned portion of the total fingerprint area to
avoid problems with skin distortion and skew.
It is an additional objective of this invention to
provide a fingerprint bases access control system for
computer data bases and other computer files that
presently require a password.
It is also an objective of this invention to provide
additional unique identification features to drivers
licenses, alien identification cards and a universal
health card, college identification (meal card), etc.
According to the present invention, there is
provided a system for automatically providing an
indication of the position and angular orientation of


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specified minutiae in a fingerprint. The proposed
system is flln~ ~ntally very simple and can be
implemented with existing off-the-shelf, commercial,
electronic components. The present system can be used
to detect any type of minutiae such as ridge endings
and~or bifurcations, as required. The system will
detect as many specified minutiae as possible with a
m; n;mllm number of false alarms.
Briefly, the present fingerprint minutiae reading
device operates by sequentially observing small portions
of a fingerprint, with the use of a flying spot scanner,
to derive, at each position, an electrical analog signal
indicative of the pattern at the position. The analog
signal, so derived is converted into digital form and
temporarily stored in a small memory having a plurality
of storage elements. The signal in the memory is
constantly circulated through each of the storage
elements to aid in the recognition of minutiae
regardless of their angular orientation. Finally, the
occurrence of specified minutiae is detected by sensing
the states of selected ones of the storage elements. An
automatic contract control circuit adjusts the detection
process as a function of the local quality of the
fingerprint image to increase the probability of
detection of minutiae in prints of relatively poor
quality. The system includes apparatus to inhibit the
recognition of false ridge endings in broken ridges, the


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ter~;n~tions of ridges at the print boundaries, or the
term;nAtion of ridges produced by scars, and, if it
becomes desirable to recognize the existence of scars,
etc., the ridge endings produced by scars may be
detected and recorded for later processing.
It ib therefore an object of the present invention
to provide a system for detecting speci~ied patterns.
It is a ~urther o~ject of the present invention to
provide a novel fingerprint minutiae reading device.
It is still another object of the present invention
to provide a system for detecting the position and
orientation of specified minutiae in a fingerprint.
It is another o~ject o~ the presently invention to
provide a fingerprint minutiae reading device in which a
digitized image of the fingerprint is stored in a
temporary memory and in which the image in the memory is
circulated to assist in the detection of minutiae having
arbitrary angular orientations.
It is still another object o~ the present invention
to provide a fingerprint minutiae reading device which
includes an automatic contract control circuit to permit
adaptation to the local quality of a ~ingerprint image.
Still another object of the present invention is the
provision of a fingerprint minutiae reading device which
may be implemented with existing off-the-shelf,
commercial, electronic components.




,

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--19--
Brief Description of the Drawing Figures:
FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a credit card
finger print reading apparatus on top of a table
exhibiting a credit card contAi n; ng therein an actual
and/or digitized finger print of an authorized credit
card holder being scanned by the apparatus whereas the
credit card is inserted in the credit card insertion
slot. The apparatus further exhibiting an access door
housing a~ ry power means and a power on/off switch.
The card holder places his/her finger on the fingerprint
scanning screen located on the angled front face and the
fingerprint is scanned by the finger print scanner. If
the Einger print scanned by the finger print scanner and
the finger print scanned on the credit card do not match
then the red indicator light illuminates alerting the
user that a fraudulent transaction is about to take
place. If the green indicating light illuminates, then
the user is alerted that the card and card holder are
valid.
FIGU~E 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the
auxiliary power source exhibiting the power on/off
switch, as well as other internally located features
which become apparent when the access door is removed
revealing a battery t~m;n~l clamp, electric t~min~ls
and recharging unit having a male plug which
integratedly fits into the female plug located on the
credit card finger print scanning apparatus.


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FIGURE 3 is a side view o~ the credit card finger
print scanning apparatus exhibiting externally located .
features such as the green indicator light, angled front
face which the finger print scanner door is openable by
a hinge, credit card, access door, as well as internally
located ~eatures such as the magnetic credit card
scanner having a complimentary digitized credit card
finger print scanner, a finger print scanning screen
with a finger print scanner with a finger print
alignment tool located underneath having an optical
reader comprising a scanner therein positioned on a
mounting bracket.
FIGURE 4 is a perspective cross sectional view
exhibiting externally located features such as the
angled ~ront face which the ~inger print scanner door
openable by a hinge, access door, as well as internally
located ~eatures such as the magnetic credit card
scanner having a complimentary digitized credit card
finger print scanner, a ~inger print scanning screen
with a finger print scanner with a finger print
alignment tool located underneath having an optical
reader comprising a scanner therein positioned on a
mounting bracket.
FIGURE 5 is an enlarged top view of a finger print
comprising a finger print top, ridges, ~inger print
center, ~inger print sides, bumps, valleys, plateaus,
divots, finger print bottom, se~uential bumps and a


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finger print alignment spot thereby the optical scanning
device self aligns.
FIGURE 6 is a back view of a credit card having a
magnetic tape, signature, digitized finger print,
reduced enhanced finger print image, and credit card
numher on back.
FIGURE 7 is a front view of a credit card having a
name of credit card, type of credit card, credit card
number on front, first issue date, credit ID, expiration
date, and name of credit card holder.



Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments:
Referring now to Figure 1 which is a perspective
view of a credit card finger print reading apparatus 10
on top of a table 28 exhibiting a credit card 12
cont~; n; ng therein an actual and/or digitized finger
print of an authorized credit card holder being scanned
by the apparatus 10 whereas the credit card is inserted
in the credit card insertion slot 18. The apparatus 10
further ~hih;ting an access door 14 housing All~; 1 i ~y
power means 32 and a power on/off switch 16. The card
holder places his/her finger on the fingerprint scanning
screen 20 located on the angled front face 30 and the
fingerprint is scanned by the finger print scanner 22.
If the finger print scanned by the finger print scanner
22 and the finger print scanned on the credit card do
not match then the red indicator light 24 illuminates


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-22-
alerting the user that a fraudulent transaction is about
to take place. If the green indicating light 26
illuminates, then the user is alerted that the card and
card holder are valid.
Referring now to Figure 2 which is an enlarged
perspective view of the auxiliary power source 32
exhibiting the power on/off switch 16, as well as other
internally located features which become apparent when
the access door 14 is removed revealing a battery
terminal clamp 34, electric te~;n~ls 36 and recharging
unit 40 having a male plug 38 which integratedly fits
into the female plug 42 located on the credit card
finger print scanning apparatus 10.
Referring now to Figure 3 which is a side view of
the credit card finger print scanning apparatus 10
exhibiting externally located features such as the
green indicator light 26, angled front face 30 which the
finger print scanner door 44 is openable by a hinge 46
revealing finger print scanner 50 mounted on a bracket
56, credit card 12, access door 14, as well as
internally located features such as the magnetic credit
card scanner and complimentary digitized credit card
finger print reader 48, a ~inger print scanning screen
20 with belt 52, finger print line sensor 58 located
underneath.
Referring now to Figure 4 which is a perspective
cross sectional view exhibiting externally located


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features such as the angled front face 30 which the
finger print scanner door 44 openable by a hinge 4 6,
access door 14, as well as internally located
features such as the magnetic credit card reader 48
de~cribed above, a finger print scanning screen 20 with
a finger print scanner 50 with a scanning bar 58 located
underneath having an optical reader 54 belt 52 and
pulleys 54.
Referring now to figure 5 which is an enlarged top
view of a finger print 60 comprising a finger print top
62, ridges 64, finger print center 66, finger print
sides 68, bumps 70, valleys 72, plateaus 74, divots 76,
finger print bottom 78, se~uential bumps 80 and a finger
print alignment spot 8 2 thereby the optical scanner 52
device self aligns. During the optical scanning of the
fingerprint 60 by the optical scanner 52, the finger
print is digitized by the optical scanner 52 translating
physical features of the finger print into a digitized
form using binary numbers such as 0 and 1. Thus, for
example when the optical scanner 52 reads the following
set of finger print 60 physical features such as; (1)
bump 70, (2) valleys 72, (2) plateaus 74, (3) divots 76,
910 se~uential bumps 80, and (4) ridges 64, a digitized
representation may read such as 1 00 1111 000000 1111
11111111, hence, (1) bump 70 represents (1) 1 digit, (2)
valleys 72 represents ( 2) 0 digits, (2) plateaus 74
represents (4) 1 digits, (3) divots 7 6 represents ( 6) 0


=
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-24-
digits, (1) sequential bump 80 represents (4) 1 digits,
and (4) ridges 64 represents (8) 1 digits, re~pectively.
It is obvious to one skilled in the art of optical
scanning and computer digitization that the physical
features of the fingerprint 60 may be assigned any
binary or other code to represent said features.
Referring now to Figure 6 which is a back view of a
credit card having a magnetic tape 84, signature 86,
digitized finger print 88, reduced enhanced finger print
image 90, and credit card number on back 92.
Referring lastly to Figure 7 which is a is a front
view of a credit card having a name of credit card 94,
type of credit card 96, credit card number on front 98,
first issue date 100, credit card ID 102, expiration
date 104 r and name of credit card holder 106.


Representative Drawing
A single figure which represents the drawing illustrating the invention.
Administrative Status

For a clearer understanding of the status of the application/patent presented on this page, the site Disclaimer , as well as the definitions for Patent , Administrative Status , Maintenance Fee  and Payment History  should be consulted.

Administrative Status

Title Date
Forecasted Issue Date 2001-05-29
(86) PCT Filing Date 1995-12-04
(87) PCT Publication Date 1997-06-12
(85) National Entry 1998-06-04
Examination Requested 1998-06-04
(45) Issued 2001-05-29
Expired 2015-12-04

Abandonment History

There is no abandonment history.

Payment History

Fee Type Anniversary Year Due Date Amount Paid Paid Date
Request for Examination $200.00 1998-06-04
Application Fee $150.00 1998-06-04
Maintenance Fee - Application - New Act 2 1997-12-04 $50.00 1998-06-04
Maintenance Fee - Application - New Act 3 1998-12-04 $50.00 1998-10-07
Maintenance Fee - Application - New Act 4 1999-12-06 $50.00 1999-11-15
Maintenance Fee - Application - New Act 5 2000-12-04 $75.00 2000-11-23
Final Fee $150.00 2001-02-28
Maintenance Fee - Patent - New Act 6 2001-12-04 $75.00 2001-10-11
Maintenance Fee - Patent - New Act 7 2002-12-04 $75.00 2002-12-03
Maintenance Fee - Patent - New Act 8 2003-12-04 $75.00 2003-12-04
Maintenance Fee - Patent - New Act 9 2004-12-06 $100.00 2004-12-06
Maintenance Fee - Patent - New Act 10 2005-12-05 $125.00 2005-12-05
Maintenance Fee - Patent - New Act 11 2006-12-04 $125.00 2006-12-04
Maintenance Fee - Patent - New Act 12 2007-12-04 $125.00 2007-12-04
Maintenance Fee - Patent - New Act 13 2008-12-04 $125.00 2008-12-04
Maintenance Fee - Patent - New Act 14 2009-12-04 $125.00 2009-12-04
Maintenance Fee - Patent - New Act 15 2010-12-06 $225.00 2010-12-06
Maintenance Fee - Patent - New Act 16 2011-12-05 $225.00 2011-12-05
Maintenance Fee - Patent - New Act 17 2012-12-04 $225.00 2012-12-04
Maintenance Fee - Patent - New Act 18 2013-12-04 $225.00 2013-12-04
Maintenance Fee - Patent - New Act 19 2014-12-04 $225.00 2014-12-03
Owners on Record

Note: Records showing the ownership history in alphabetical order.

Current Owners on Record
MATHURIN, TREVOR R., JR.
Past Owners on Record
None
Past Owners that do not appear in the "Owners on Record" listing will appear in other documentation within the application.
Documents

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Document
Description 
Date
(yyyy-mm-dd) 
Number of pages   Size of Image (KB) 
Abstract 1998-06-04 1 57
Description 1998-06-04 24 853
Drawings 1998-06-04 3 141
Cover Page 1998-09-16 1 50
Claims 1998-06-04 2 39
Cover Page 2001-05-07 1 43
Representative Drawing 2001-05-07 1 23
Correspondence 2001-02-28 1 56
Fees 2002-12-03 1 51
Fees 1999-11-15 1 61
Fees 2003-12-04 1 47
Fees 1998-10-07 1 56
Fees 2001-10-11 1 59
Fees 2000-11-23 1 60
Assignment 1998-06-04 2 99
PCT 1998-06-04 6 213
Fees 2004-12-06 1 46
Fees 2005-12-05 1 47
Fees 2006-12-04 1 49
Fees 2007-12-04 1 49
Fees 2008-12-04 1 57
Correspondence 2008-12-04 1 57
Correspondence 2009-12-04 1 59
Fees 2009-12-04 1 60
Correspondence 2010-12-06 1 48
Fees 2010-12-06 1 50
Fees 2011-12-05 1 48
Fees 2012-12-04 1 50
Fees 2013-12-04 1 44
Fees 2014-12-03 1 45