Household appliance with fingerprint sensor
US8854179B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 5, 2006 |
| Grant date | Oct 7, 2014 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 15, 2030 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06V40/1329
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
The present invention relates to a household appliance (10) such as an oven, a refrigerator, or a washing machine. The household appliance comprises a transparent casing element (12) and a fingerprint sensor (20) mounted to the inside of an exterior surface of said casing element (12). The sensor comprises a light source (21; 21′; 21″; 21′″) emitting light for which said casing element (12) is transparent, a detector (23; 23″; 23′″) for detecting reflected light emitted from said light source (21; 21′; 21″; 21′″) and a light guiding means (22; 22′; 22″; 22′″; 22b′″) for guiding emitted light from said light source (21; 21′; 21″; 21′″) towards the casing element (12) and guiding light reflected at the exterior surface of the casing element (12) to the detector (23; 23″; 23′″). Thereby detection of a fingerprint image through said casing element (12) is rendered possible.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.