Patent ID: 6980673

Claim:
A fingerprint identification system comprising: a timepiece unit; and a main unit, wherein said timepiece unit is swingably connected to said main unit through a hinge, said main unit comprising: a registration apparatus; and an identification apparatus, wherein both of said registration apparatus and said identification apparatus are covered by a bottom surface of said timepiece, said registration apparatus comprising: a first fingerprint sensor for reading a fingerprint in a first region of a human finger to output a first image signal representing an image of the fingerprint; first image data generating means for generating first image data of the fingerprint based on the first image signal output from said first fingerprint sensor; and data output means for outputting the first image data generated by said first image data generating means; said identification apparatus comprising: data input means for receiving the first image data output from said data output means; storage means for storing the first image data received by said data input means; a second fingerprint sensor for reading a fingerprint in a second region of a human finger, which is smaller than said first region, to output a second image signal representing an image of the fingerprint; second image data generating means for generating second image data of the fingerprint based on the second image signal output from said second fingerprint sensor; and image identification means for comparing the second image data generated by said second image data generating means against the first image data stored in said storage means to determine whether the fingerprints represented by the first and second image data, respectively, coincide with each other.