The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 18, 2006
Filed:
Jan. 26, 2001
Noriyuki Matsumoto, Nagoya, JP;
Hideyo Takeuchi, Nagoya, JP;
Noriyuki Matsumoto, Nagoya, JP;
Hideyo Takeuchi, Nagoya, JP;
Chuo Hatsujo Kabushiki Kaisha, Nagoya, JP;
Abstract
The present invention determines whether fingerprint ridgeline information is contained within the fingerprint image using a simple method by considering the properties of the fingerprint ridgeline. In this fingerprint image evaluation method, a density is obtained of a reference point provided within the fingerprint image and a density is obtained of a comparison point that is shifted from the reference point by a predetermined distance. The amount of fingerprint ridgeline information contained within the fingerprint image is evaluated based upon a difference between the density of the reference point and the density of the comparison point. In this fingerprint image evaluation method, the characteristic of the fingerprint ridgeline, in which a fingerprint furrow line exists proximally to the fingerprint ridgeline, is utilized. Therefore, erroneous determinations can be prevented in which an image, which is not in fact a fingerprint image, is determined to be a fingerprint image. In addition, it is only required to obtain the density of the reference point and the density of the comparison point, and to calculated their difference. Therefore, time consuming processing is not necessary, such as is required to extract characteristic points from a fingerprint image.