Patent ID: 7885437

Claim:
A fingerprint pattern area extraction apparatus, comprising an extracting unit for extracting a pattern area from an inputted fingerprint image, wherein the extracting unit includes a pattern area slope extracting device which has a right pattern area slope extracting device and a left pattern area slope extracting device; wherein the right pattern area slope extracting device extracts a first right pattern slope by searching right pattern area slopes towards an upper direction from a center point of the fingerprint image; and wherein the left pattern area slope extracting device extracts a first left pattern slope by searching left pattern area slopes towards the upper direction from the center point of the fingerprint image; and wherein the fingerprint pattern area extraction apparatus further comprises a pattern area feature extracting device that: calculates a right slope area dimension and a left slope area dimension based on the right and left pattern area slopes; calculates dimensions of the pattern area that include a total value thereof; and outputs, based on a result of the calculations, a completeness evaluation value of the extracted pattern area based on whether or not the first right pattern slope is extracted and whether or not the first left pattern slope is extracted.