Claims
- 1. A heater assembly for enhancing biometric image capture, comprising:
a transparent conductive film, said transparent conductive film comprising a first edge, and a second edge opposite said first edge; a first conductor coupled to said first edge of said transparent conductive film; a second conductor coupled to said second edge of said transparent conductive film; and a power source connected to said first and second conductors for providing power to said first and second conductors.
- 2. The heater assembly of claim 1, further comprising a control system coupled to said power source for controlling temperature in said transparent conductive film.
- 3. The heater assembly of claim 2, wherein said control system is contained within said power source.
- 4. The heater assembly of claim 1, wherein said heater assembly is an optically transparent electrical heater.
- 5. The heater assembly of claim 1, wherein said heater assembly is coupled to an electro-optical biometric image capturing device for directly heating a biometric object receiving surface.
- 6. The heater assembly of claim 1, wherein said biometric object receiving surface is a platen.
- 7. The heater assembly of claim 1, wherein said heater assembly is coupled to an adjacent surface of an electro-optical biometric image capturing device for indirectly heating a biometric object receiving surface coupled to an adjacent face of said electro-optical biometric image capturing device.
- 8. The heater assembly of claim 1, wherein said first conductor and said second conductor are comprised of conductive materials.
- 9. The heater assembly of claim 8, wherein said conductive materials are silver and copper.
- 10. The heater assembly of claim 1, further comprising:
a first translucent pad coupled to said first edge of said transparent conductive film; and a second translucent pad coupled to said second edge of said transparent conductive film.
- 11. The heater assembly of claim 2, further comprising:
a sensor to monitor heat dissipated by said transparent conductive film, said sensor being coupled to said transparent conductive film and said control system.
- 12. The heater assembly of claim 2, further comprising:
a sensor to monitor heat dissipated by said transparent conductive film, said sensor being located near the transparent conductive film and being coupled to said control system.
- 13. A system for capturing attributes of a biometric object, comprising:
an electro-optical biometric image capturing system; and a heater assembly coupled to said electro-optical biometric image capturing system for enhancing performance of said electro-optical biometric image capturing system; wherein said heater assembly heats a biometric object receiving surface of said electro-optical biometric image capturing system to eliminate additional moisture near a biometric object on said biometric object receiving surface.
- 14. A method for removing additional moisture near a biometric object to be imaged, comprising the steps of:
(a) generating heat from a power source in a heater assembly coupled to an electro-optical biometric image capturing device; and (b) dispersing the heat from said power source throughout a transparent conductive film to cause the temperature in said transparent conductive film to rise to a specified level to eliminate the additional moisture near the biometric object being imaged, thereby preventing a halo effect on a biometric image.
- 15. The method of claim 14, further comprising the step of:
(c) monitoring said heat in said transparent conductive film to maintain the temperature at a desired level suitable for eliminating additional moisture near a biometric object placed on the biometric object receiving surface.
- 16. A heating apparatus for heating a prism of an electronic image capturing device, thereby preventing a halo effect in an image of a biometric object resting on a platen, comprising:
a first heater assembly coupled to a first end of the prism; and a second heater assembly coupled to a second end of the prism; wherein said first heater assembly and said second heater assembly each include a heating element for generating heat in the prism, thereby causing temperature in the prism to rise such that a halo effect is prevented from forming on the image of the biometric object.
- 17. The heating apparatus of claim 16, further comprising a thermostat controller which controls the amount of heat provided by said first heater assembly and said second heater assembly.
- 18. The heating apparatus of claim 17, wherein said thermostat controller controls the amount of heat provided by each heater assembly as a function of heater assembly temperature.
- 19. The heating apparatus of claim 17, wherein the thermostat controller controls the amount of heat provided such that each heater assembly operates in one of three states including:
a full power state; a half power state; and a no power state.
- 20. The heating apparatus of claim 16, wherein the surface of the prism is a glass platen.
- 21. The heating apparatus of claim 16, wherein the surface of the prism is a silicone pad.
- 22. The heating apparatus of claim 16, wherein said heating element is a resistive heating element.
- 23. A method for heating a prism to remove and to prevent formation of water vapor near a biometric object to be imaged resting on a biometric object receiving surface of the prism, comprising the steps of:
(a) generating heat from a power source in a first heating element coupled to a first side of the prism; (b) generating heat from a power source in a second heating element coupled to a second side of the prism; and (c) dispersing the heat from said power sources throughout the prism such that the biometric object receiving surface of the prism is heated to thereby eliminate a halo effect on the imaged biometric object.
- 24. The method of claim 23, further comprising the step of:
(d) monitoring said dispersed heat to maintain temperature at a desired level suitable for eliminating additional moisture near a biometric object placed on the biometric object receiving surface.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/331,247, filed Nov. 13, 2001, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60331247 |
Nov 2001 |
US |