Abstract:
A universal serial bus (USB) fingerprint scanner includes a control module for detecting and controlling the transmission of signals, a fingerprint scanning module coupled to the control module for detecting fingerprints and transmitting fingerprint signals to the control module, a USB connector coupled to the control module for connecting the fingerprint scanner to a periphery device, and a light emitting diode (LED) indicator coupled to the control module to indicate operation status of the fingerprint scanner.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This patent application claims priority of Hong Kong Short Term Patent Application No. 08111266.6 filed on Oct. 10, 2008, the entire content of which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
       FIELD OF PATENT APPLICATION 
       [0002]    The present patent application relates generally to a fingerprint scanning device, and particularly to a universal serial bus (USB) fingerprint scanner with LED indicators. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    As science and technology develops, more and more high technology products are used in consumer&#39;s daily life. A fingerprint device is one of the high technology products that are widely used in areas such as electronic door entrances, ID verification in computing systems and banking systems, etc. However, existing fingerprint devices do not provide users with any indications as to whether the fingerprint scanning is successful or not, or what is the operation status of the fingerprint devices. Therefore, there is a need to produce an improved fingerprint device that is able to indicate the operation status of the fingerprint device and is able to indicate whether the fingerprint scanning is successful or not during the fingerprint scanning process. 
         [0004]    The above description of the background is provided to aid in understanding a USB fingerprint scanner, but is not admitted to describe or constitute pertinent prior art to the USB fingerprint scanner disclosed in the present patent application, or consider any information as material to the patentability of the claims of the present patent application. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0005]    A USB fingerprint scanner includes a control module for detecting and controlling the transmission of signals, a fingerprint scanning module coupled to the control module for detecting fingerprints and transmitting fingerprint signals to the control module, a USB connector coupled to the control module for connecting the fingerprint scanner to a periphery device, and one or more light emitting diode (LED) indicators coupled to the control module to indicate operation status of the fingerprint scanner. 
         [0006]    The USB fingerprint scanner may include a plurality of LED indicators of different sizes arranged in a series according to the sizes. 
         [0007]    The USB fingerprint scanner may include a group of first LED indicators of similar shapes, and at least one second LED indicator in another group of a different shape. The at least one second LED indicator may indicate an operating instruction or an operating position of the fingerprint scanner. The first LED indicators may be oblong in shape. The at least one second LED indicator may be in the shape of an arrow head. 
         [0008]    The fingerprint scanning module may include a fingerprint sensor in the form of a flexible circuit. The LED indicator may be disposed separately from the flexible circuit. 
         [0009]    The fingerprint scanning module may be a radio frequency fingerprint scanning module. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
         [0010]    Specific embodiments of the USB fingerprint scanner disclosed in the present patent application will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: 
           [0011]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of the USB fingerprint scanner according to an embodiment disclosed in the present patent application; 
           [0012]      FIG. 2  is a top plan view of the USB fingerprint scanner according to an embodiment disclosed in the present patent application; 
           [0013]      FIG. 3  is a circuit diagram of the USB fingerprint scanner; 
           [0014]      FIG. 4  is a circuit diagram of a fingerprint sensor of the USB fingerprint scanner; and 
           [0015]      FIG. 5  is a circuit diagram of a USB interface of the USB fingerprint scanner. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0016]    Reference will now be made in detail to a preferred embodiment of the USB fingerprint scanner disclosed in the present patent application, examples of which are also provided in the following description. Exemplary embodiments of the USB fingerprint scanner disclosed in the present patent application are described in detail, although it will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art that some features that are not particularly important to an understanding of the USB fingerprint scanner may not be shown for the sake of clarity. 
         [0017]    Furthermore, it should be understood that the USB fingerprint scanner disclosed in the present patent application is not limited to the precise embodiments described below and that various changes and modifications thereof may be effected by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit or scope of the appended claims. For example, elements and/or features of different illustrative embodiments may be combined with each other and/or substituted for each other within the scope of this disclosure and appended claims. 
         [0018]    It should be noted that throughout the specification and claims herein, when one element is said to be “coupled” or “connected” to another, this does not necessarily mean that one element is fastened, secured, or otherwise attached to another element. Instead, the term “coupled” or “connected” means that one element is either connected directly or indirectly to another element, or is in mechanical or electrical communication with another element. 
         [0019]      FIG. 1  shows a block diagram of the USB fingerprint scanner according to an embodiment disclosed in the present patent application. The USB fingerprint scanner may include a housing  100 , a control module  101  mounted within the housing  100 , a fingerprint scanning module  102  coupled to the control module  101 , a USB plug or connector  103  coupled to the control module  101 , and one or more LED indicators  104  coupled to the control module  101  to indicate the operation status and the operating instructions of the fingerprint scanner. 
         [0020]    The housing  100 , as shown in  FIG. 2 , may be shaped and sized to accommodate therein the control module  101 , the fingerprint scanning module  102  and the USB connector  103 . The fingerprint scanning module  102  includes a fingerprint reader  106 . The housing  100  may be made of plastic or any suitable material. 
         [0021]    The control module  101  may be in the form of a board with electrical circuits formed thereon. The control module  101  can be fixedly mounted inside the housing  100 . The control module  101  includes circuits for detecting signals and controlling the transmission of the detected signals. For example, the control module  101  can receive and process the fingerprint signals transmitting from the fingerprint scanning module  102  and send the processed fingerprint signals through the USB connector  103  to a periphery device such as a computer or an electronic door entrance. The control module  101  may also receive signals from the fingerprint scanning module  102  and transmit signals to the LED indicators  104  to indicate the operation status or operating instruction of the fingerprint scanner during a fingerprint scanning process. A circuit diagram of the USB fingerprint scanner of the present patent application is shown in  FIG. 3 . 
         [0022]    The fingerprint scanning module  102  is employed to detect fingerprints and transmit fingerprint signals to the control module  101 . The fingerprint scanning module  102  may be in the form of any existing fingerprint scanning module. For example, the fingerprint scanning module  102  can be a radio frequency fingerprint scanning module. The fingerprint scanning module  102  may use a flexible circuit as a sensor for detecting the fingerprints. A circuit diagram of a fingerprint sensor of the fingerprint scanning module  102  is shown in  FIG. 4 . The size of the fingerprint scanning module  102  should be small enough to be accommodated within the housing  10  rendering the USB fingerprint scanner of the present patent application small, lightweight, compact and portable. 
         [0023]    The USB connector  103  is coupled to the control module  101  and provides an interface between the fingerprint scanner of the present patent application and the periphery devices. A circuit diagram of the USB interface of the fingerprint scanner is shown in  FIG. 5 . 
         [0024]    The LED indicators  104  are employed to indicate the operation status and operating instructions of the USB fingerprint scanner. According to the illustrated embodiment in  FIG. 2 , a plurality of LED indicators  104 ′,  104 ″ are provided on an upper surface of the housing  100  of the USB fingerprint scanner. The plurality of LED indicators  104 ′,  104 ″ can be of different shapes, sizes or colors to indicate to the user different operating conditions and different operating instructions of the USB fingerprint scanner during a fingerprint scanning process. 
         [0025]    As shown in the illustrated embodiment in  FIG. 2 , there are four oblong-shaped LED indicators  104 ′ with elongated sides extending transversely across the housing  100 . It can be seen that the four LED indicators  104 ′ are of similar shapes but different sizes and are arranged in a series on the housing  100  according to their sizes. The four LED indicators  104 ′ can be used to indicate the operation status of the fingerprint scanner. For example, one of the LED indicators  104 ′ may be lit when fingerprint scanning is not successful and two of the LED indicators  104 ′ may be lit when fingerprint scanning is successful. One or more of the LED indicators  104 ′ may be flashing to indicate that the fingerprint scanning is in progress. The lights of all of the LED indicators  104 ′ may be switched off to indicate the completion of the fingerprint scanning process. 
         [0026]    The LED indicators  104 ′ may be in different colors to indicate different operating conditions of the fingerprint scanner. For example, the LED indicators  104 ′ may be lit in green color when the fingerprint scanning is successful and in red color when the fingerprint scanning is not successful. 
         [0027]    In addition to the four LED indicators  104 ′, there is one LED indicator  104 ″ in the shape of an arrow head or a triangular bracket pointing at one end of the housing  100 . This LED indicator  104 ″ can be used to indicate operating instructions or operating position on the fingerprint scanner. For example, the LED indicator  104 ″ can be lit in green color to indicate that the fingerprint scanner is in its “on” position ready for fingerprint scanning, or the LED indicator  104 ″ can be used to point at a position at the end of the housing  100  where a user can access a fingerprint scanning surface of the fingerprint scanner. The user can then place his/her finger on the fingerprint reader  106  to start the fingerprint scanning process. 
         [0028]    It can be seen that there are two groups of LED indicators which may have different shapes, sizes or colors to indicate different operating conditions, instructions or positions of the fingerprint scanner. In the illustrated embodiment, the first group of LED indicator, namely the LED indicator  104 ″, is located in a region near one end of the housing  100  opposite to the end where the USB connector  103  is located. The second group of LED indicators, namely the LED indicators  104 ′, is located in a region between the two ends of the housing  100 . It is appreciated that the LED indicators  104 ′,  104 ″ should be disposed separately from the flexible circuit which detects fingerprints on the fingerprint scanning surface of the fingerprint scanner so that the LED indicators  104 ′,  104 ″ can be visible by a user during the scanning process. 
         [0029]    While the USB fingerprint scanner disclosed in the present patent application has been shown and described with particular references to a number of preferred embodiments thereof, it should be noted that various other changes or modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the appending claims.