Transducer for fingerprints and apparatus for analyzing fingerprints

Abstract

The fingerprint transducer contains a sensing member having a sensing surface for receiving a fingerprint. The sensing member is made of a material which has a transition or softening temperature that is higher than ambient temperature and close to the temperature of the finger. Particularly, the softening temperature is chosen such that the material of the sensing member will start to melt on the surface when the finger is pressed against the sensing surface. The sensing surface has a surface relief of random roughness. In other words, the sensing surface has variations in elevation which do not show a specific pattern. The method for analyzing fingerprints comprises the steps of generating a surface relief of random space on a sensing surface of a sensing member, generating the fingerprint on the sensing surface by pressing a finger thereto, and optically reading the fingerprint from the sensing surface.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.