Claims
- 1. A live print scanner, comprising:
a platen upon which a biometric object being scanned can be placed; at least one thermal element thermally coupled to said platen, wherein said at least one thermal element either adds or removes heat from said platen; and a controller that controls said at least one thermal element to either add or remove heat from said platen.
- 2. The live print scanner of claim 1, wherein the scanner further comprises a temperature sensor coupled to said at least one thermal element and said controller, wherein said temperature sensor detects temperature of said platen.
- 3. The live print scanner of claim 1, wherein said controller regulates temperature of said platen.
- 4. The live print scanner of claim 1, wherein the scanner further comprises a prism wherein said prism is in optical contact with said platen and is thermally coupled to said at least one thermal element and to said platen.
- 5. The live print scanner of claim 1, wherein said at least one thermal element comprises a first thermal element and a second thermal element, and wherein said first thermal element is thermally coupled to said platen and said second thermal element is thermally coupled to said platen.
- 6. The live print scanner of claim 5, wherein said first thermal element and said second thermal element remove heat from said platen.
- 7. The live print scanner of claim 5, wherein said first thermal element and said second thermal element add heat to said platen.
- 8. The live print scanner of claim 1, wherein said platen further comprises a surface of a prism.
- 9. The live print scanner of claim 1, wherein said controller controls said at least one thermal element to add or remove heat in response to a manual control input, whereby a user can select whether said platen is cooled or heated depending upon an ambient condition.
- 10. The live print scanner of claim 1, wherein said controller automatically controls said at least one thermal element to add or remove heat based on a detected ambient condition.
- 11. The live print scanner of claim 1, wherein said controller includes a selector switch whereby a user can set said controller to control said at least one thermal element to either add or remove heat to or from said platen.
- 12. The live print scanner of claim 1, wherein the scanner further comprises a humidity sensor that detects humidity in an area at or near said platen and provides a signal representative of the detected humidity to said controller.
- 13. A method for enhancing biometric image capture of a biometric object, comprising the steps of:
(a) detecting an ambient temperature surrounding a biometric scanning surface; and (b) lowering the temperature of the biometric scanning surface when the detected ambient temperature is above a first threshold temperature.
- 14. The method of claim 13, wherein said step (b) further comprises generating current in a first direction through a thermal element near the biometric scanning surface to lower the temperature of the biometric scanning surface.
- 15. The method of claim 13, wherein the method further comprises a step of:
(c) increasing the temperature of the biometric scanning surface when the detected ambient temperature is below a second threshold temperature.
- 16. The method of claim 15, wherein said step (c) further comprises generating current in a second direction through a thermal element near the biometric scanning surface to increase the temperature of the biometric scanning surface.
- 17. A method for cooling a biometric scanning surface of a live print scanning device having a thermal assembly thermally coupled to the biometric scanning surface, comprising the steps of:
(a) generating a control signal using the thermal assembly, wherein the control signal is representative of a decrease in temperature of the biometric scanning surface; and (b) decreasing the temperature of the biometric scanning surface in response to the control signal.
- 18. The method of claim 17, further comprising the step of:
(c) monitoring temperature in the biometric scanning surface to maintain the temperature at a desired level suitable for preventing overheating of the biometric scanning surface.
- 19. A method for heating a biometric scanning of an live print scanning device to remove and to prevent formation of water vapor near a biometric object to be imaged resting on the biometric scanning surface, comprising the steps of:
(a) generating a control signal representative of an increase in temperature of biometric scanning surface; (b) increasing the temperature of the biometric scanning surface in response to the control signal.
- 20. The method of claim 19, further comprising the step of:
(c) monitoring the temperature of the biometric scanning surface to maintain temperature at a desired level suitable for eliminating additional moisture near a biometric object placed on the biometric scanning surface.
- 21. A method for enhancing biometric image capture using an image capturing device having a biometric object receiving surface for receiving a biometric object, comprising the steps of:
(a) detecting temperature of the biometric object receiving surface; (b) generating current from a power source in a thermal element assembly coupled to the image capturing device; (c) decreasing temperature of the biometric object receiving surface to prevent overheating of the image capturing device when the biometric object receiving surface temperature is above a first threshold temperature; (d) increasing temperature of the biometric object receiving surface to eliminate excess moisture from the image capturing device when the biometric object receiving surface temperature is below a second threshold temperature.
- 22. The method of claim 21, further comprising the step of:
(e) monitoring temperature in the biometric object receiving surface to maintain the temperature at a desired level suitable for preventing overheating of the biometric object receiving surface.
- 23. The method of claim 21, further comprising the step of:
(e) monitoring the temperature of the biometric object receiving surface to maintain temperature at a desired level suitable for eliminating additional moisture near a biometric object placed on the biometric object receiving surface.
- 24. A method changing a thermal state of a biometric scanning surface of a live print scanning device having a thermal assembly thermally coupled to the biometric scanning surface, comprising the steps of:
(a) generating at least one control signal using the thermal assembly, wherein the at least one control signal is representative of change in thermal state of the biometric scanning surface; and (b) changing the thermal state of the biometric scanning surface in response to the at least one control signal.
- 25. The method of claim 24, wherein said step (b) further comprises changing temperature of the biometric scanning surface in response to at least one control signal.
- 26. The method of claim 24, wherein said step (a) further comprises generating at least one control signal representative of a decrease in temperature of the biometric scanning surface.
- 27. The method of claim 24, wherein said step (a) further comprises generating at least one control signal representative of an increase in temperature of the biometric scanning surface.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a Continuation-in-Part of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/047,983, filed Jan. 17, 2002, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60331247 |
Nov 2001 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
10047983 |
Jan 2002 |
US |
Child |
10235665 |
Sep 2002 |
US |