Coating apparatus – Body member printing type
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-06
2001-10-09
Hilten, John S. (Department: 2854)
Coating apparatus
Body member printing type
C427S001000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06298805
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to fingerprint ink dispensing apparatus and more particularly to a fingerprint pad arrangement which more readily transfers the ink over an arcuate section of the finger to be printed requiring minimal or no rotation of the finger.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Conventional ink, either of the carbon pigment based or of the chemical reagent nonstaining type, is applied to the fingers of a person to be fingerprinted and the fingers are then pressed against a recording medium such as a fingerprint card. The ink is generally transferred to the finger from a flat surface which may be in the form of a glass plate or a pad impregnated with the ink. To provide a recorded image of the entire print area it is first necessary to roll the fingers, nail to nail, across the flat inking surface and then roll the fingers over the designated areas on the card. It is often difficult to maintain the same finger to inking surface pressure during the rolling motion resulting in an uneven coating of ink on the finger. The uneven coating is then transferred to the card resulting in a less than optimum print.
In addition to the uneven coating problem it may be difficult to roll the fingers over a flat inking surface especially where rolling the finger is difficult, such as where the person is deceased or has disabling arthritis.
One attempt at solving the above problem is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,971,335 (“'335 patent”). This patent teaches the use of a compressible roller arrangement in which ink from a reservoir is transferred to the surface of the inking roller via an ink transfer drum. The transfer drum is driven by an electric motor. The '335 arrangement is not only complex and expensive to manufacture (and maintain) but probably will not solve the problem of providing a uniform coating of ink on the finger. Uneven compression of the inking roller around the finger will result in an uneven distribution of ink. Ink transferred from a non-compressible surface generally provides higher quality prints.
There is a need for a simple and reliable fingerprint ink dispensing apparatus for applying ink to the finger in preparation for the taking of rolled fingerprints.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A fingerprint ink dispensing apparatus for applying ink to a person's finger, in accordance with the present invention, includes a housing having a tubular inner wall with an open end. An ink reservoir in the form of a liquid absorbing medium, such as felt or the like, is positioned adjacent the inner wall of the housing. A substantially non-compressible hollow cylindrical ink metering substrate, made for example of porous ceramic or plastic, is positioned within the housing in intimate contact with the reservoir so that ink flowing from the reservoir travels through the substrate and onto the person's finger. The substrate has an inner diameter sufficient to accommodate the person's finger and a curvature approximating a major portion of the fingerprint area, i.e., nail to nail.
The present invention both as it's construction and features may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein like components are identified with the same reference numerals.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2746192 (1956-05-01), Norton
patent: 3898360 (1975-08-01), Neumann et al.
patent: 3971335 (1976-07-01), Curtis et al.
patent: 4553837 (1985-11-01), Marcus
patent: 5067749 (1991-11-01), Land
patent: 5395444 (1995-03-01), Arndt
patent: 5601867 (1997-02-01), Riedl et al.
patent: 5737071 (1998-04-01), Arndt
patent: 5811366 (1998-09-01), Chikami
patent: 5919292 (1999-07-01), Arndt
Hilten John S.
Identicator, Inc.
Jackson Harold L.
Williams Kevin D.
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