Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to a personal computer with a smart card and a biometric recognition device that can be utilized in various purposes, such as payment means for electric commerce, approval means for electronic documents, means for user identification, etc., and more particularly to a portable personal computer having a main body equipped with a control device for running programs, a monitor for displaying data by the running of the programs stored in the main body and a keyboard, in which a storage depression is formed in an upper portion of the main body to keep and arrange several articles, a touch pad or digitizer is formed at a portion of the top of the main body to function like a mouse, a biometric recognition device is formed in an end of a side of the main body, and a card insertion slot is provided in the front of the main body to enable a smart card to be easily inserted thereto.

Description of the Prior Art Generally, as the present society evolves into an advanced information communication society featured by"information

express highway"from an information society, undesirable effects due the leakage of personal information, country secrets, enterprise secrets, etc. are seriously revealed to such an extent that the present society is called an"encryption society". In the past, encryption was considered as a topic unconcerned with general persons, but concerned with espionage between countries.

However, at the present time, how seriously the damage is caused by illegal leakage of information is frequently recognized by users through mass communication, so concerns about information technologies for preventing such damage are increasing.

Further, the security of digital communications cannot be guaranteed, so risks, such as the hacking of the secret number of a credit card or password for an email account and leakage of secret documents, always lurk in electronic commerce or in the approval of important documents, etc.

Authentication for selecting only access-approved persons is executed as a method of preventing illegal access to important information. For such authentication, smart cards or biometric recognition technology (fingerprint, retina, iris, voice recognition technology, etc.) are used.

Meanwhile, a personal computer frequently called a desktop computer is designed such that a main body and a monitor are separated from each other, so the personal computer is problematic in that it requires a wide installation space, and causes some

difficulty in use. Therefore, a notebook computer has been developed and used so as to solve the spatial problems of the desktop computer. However, even in such a notebook computer, the human body becomes strained when the user uses a notebook computer's ls : eyboard for a long time. As a result, most users use additional keyboards with them connected to the notebook computers, so that the notebook computers'keyboards unnecessarily occupy spaces.

Accordingly, since there is no provision for a structure for combining a means for handling encryption with the notebook computer, the notebook computer is limited in productivity and economical utility, and is decreased in its efficiency. Therefore, the notebook computer is problematic in that the reliability and satisfaction of the notebook computer in use are minimized for users.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a personal computer with a smart card and a biometric recognition device, which is installed in financial companies such as banks, or enterprises performing operations similar to the financial companies, so the guarantee of security can be obtained, which enables a user to carry

out electronic approval using his computer securely without going out of doors and to easily. arrange frequently-used articles using a storage depression formed in the computer, so convenience can be provided to the user, which is portable and locked such that the computer is automatically fastened to a desk if a smart card is detached from a main body of the computer, so the theft of the computer can be prevented, thus improving productivity and economical utility of the entire computer, and maximizing reliability and satisfaction of any user using the computer.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the above object can be accomplished by the provision of a portable personal computer, the computer having a main body with a control device for running programs, a monitor formed of a liquid crystal display (LCD) for displaying data by the running of the programs stored in the main body, and a keyboard connected to a portion of the main body for inputting data, comprising a storage depression formed at an upper portion of the main body for keeping and arranging several articles and provided with a plurality of partition plates and partition grooves for partitioning the storage depression according to articles to be kept; a biometric recognition device formed in an end of a first side of the main body; a touch pad or digitizer formed at a portion of a top of the main body for functioning like a mouse, and formed to enable a user to simultaneously use the touch pad or digitizer and the biometric

recognition device with his one hand; and a card insertion slot formed in a front of the main body for enabling a smart card to be easily inserted.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the card insertion slot is formed in an end of a second side of the main body.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, the personal computer further comprises a locking projection formed on a bottom surface of the main body for operating when the smart card inserted into the card insertion slot is detached therefrom, the locking projection being interlocked with a locking groove formed in a top of a desk, which is in contact with the bottom surface of the main body.

In accordance with a still another aspect of the present invention, the smart card is used as payment means for electronic commerce, and the biometric recognition device is used as encryption means for user identification.

In accordance with a still another aspect of the present invention, the smart card is used as approval means for electronic documents, and the biometric recognition device is used as encryption means for user identification.

In accordance with a still another aspect of the present invention, the smart card is used as means for user identification, and the biometric recognition device is used as payment means for

electronic commerce.

In accordance with a still another aspect of the present invention, the smart card is used as means for user identification, and the biometric recognition device is used as approval means for electronic documents.

In accordance with a still another aspect of the present invention, the smart card is used as means for user identification, and the biometric recognition device is used as permission means for the search, transmission, copy and printing of documents.

In accordance with a still another aspect of the present invention, the smart card stores fingerprint data of the user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which : Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the construction of a conventional personal computer ; Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the construction of a personal computer according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention ; Fig. 3 is a side view of a personal computer according to

another preferred embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 4 is a view showing an example in which the computer is locked when a smart card is detached from the computer cording to the present invention; Fig. 5 is a view showing an example of implementing the present invention; and Fig. 6 is a view showing an example of a user identification screen according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the construction of a personal computer according to the present invention.

A personal computer 1 of this invention, which is portable, comprises a main body 10 having a control device to : run programs, a monitor 20 formed of a liquid crystal display (LCD) to display data by the running of the programs stored in the main body 10 and a keyboard 30 connected to a portion of the main body 10 to input data.

A storage depression 11 for keeping and arranging several articles is formed at an upper portion of the main body 10 of the

computer 1. In the storage depression 11, a plurality of partition plates (12 of Fig. 5) and partition grooves 13 for partitioning the storage depression 11 according to articles to be kept are provided.

In the storage depression 11, articles, such as office stationery, stamps, slips, memo papers for email, etc., can be easily arranged and kept. In order to more conveniently keep the articles, the partition plates 12 are inserted into the storage depression 11 according to sizes of the articles such that the partition plates 12 are fitted into the plural partition grooves 13 formed around the storage depression 11, so the articles can be separately kept, thus providing convenience to users.

A biometric recognition device 14 is formed in an end of one side of the main body 10. The biometric recognition device 14 can be implemented as a device using fingerprint, retina, iris, veinal, facial, or voice data, which are unique features according to persons so that it can be used by encryption for identifying the user.

In the present invention, a fingerprint recognition device is preferably used as the biometric recognition device 14 for convenience of an operation.

A touch pad 15 or digitizer functioning like a mouse is formed at a portion of a top of the main body 10. The touch pad 15 or digitizer is formed at a portion adjacent to the biometric recognition device 14 such that the user can simultaneously operate the touch pad 15 or digitizer and the biometric recognition device

14 with his one hand, thus providing convenience.

A card insertion slot 16 for enabling a smart card 17 to be easily inserted thereinto is formed in the front of the main body 10.

The position of the card insertion slot 16 can be varied according to production companies so as to increase the practical use of the main body 10. Fig. 3 is a view showing a personal computer according to another embodiment of the present invention. Referring to Fig. 3, the card insertion slot 16 is formed at an end of the other side (an end of a right side) of the main body 10.

Fig. 4 is a side view showing the state in which the computer of this invention is locked when the smart card is detached from the computer. Referring to Fig. 4, a locking projection 18 is additionally formed on a bottom surface of the main body 10. A locking groove 41 is formed in a top of a desk 40, which is in contact with the bottom surface of the main body 10. Since the computer is portable, the smart card 17 inserted into the card insertion slot 16 is detached so as to prevent the theft of the computer 1 when the user leaves a place for a while. In this case, the locking projection 18 formed on the bottom surface of the main body 10 functions, as shown in Fig. 4, simultaneously with the detaching of the smart card 17 from the card insertion slot 16.

The locking projection 18 rotates after it is inserted into the locking groove 41 of the desk 40, such that it is automatically interlocked

with the locking groove 41. Accordingly, the computer 1 is fastened to the desk 40, thus preventing the theft of the computer 1.

As shown in Fig. 5, in the present invention, the user opens the monitor 20 covering the main body 10 to use the computer 1, turns on a power supplying unit (not shown) ibr supplying power to the computer 1 so as to drive the computer 1, and connects a typically used keyboard 30 to a connection port formed in a portion of the main body 10.

In this case, the computer 1 is booted after computer power is turned on. In order to identify the user during the booting of the computer, the fingerprints of the user can be identified through the biometric recognition device 14 formed in an end of a side of the main body 10, or the smart card 17 can be used. When the user authentication is completed, the booting of the computer 1 is automatically executed, so the user can easily use the computer 1.

Alternatively, the user authentication can be carried out after the computer is booted. Fig. 6 is a view showing an example of a screen provided to identify the user of the personal computer 1 of the present invention using the smart card 17. The screen consists of a user name field 52, a secret number field 54, an "OK"field 56 and a"SHUT DOWN"field 58. After the computer is booted, a message for requesting the insertion of the smart card 17 or the contact of a fingerprint is displayed on the screen. Accordingly, when the user inserts the smart card 17 or

brings a finger into contact with the biom. etric recognition device 14, a screen is displayed as shown in Fig. 6. In the user name field 52, a prestored user name is automatically entered by the user's smart card or fingerprint data. Therefore, the user enters only a secret number in the secret number field 54. If a secret number is right, the"OK"field 56 becomes highlighted, thus enabling the user to easily use the computer 1. If a secret number is wrong three times successively, the"SHUT DOWN"field 58 becomes highlighted, thus causing the computer 1 to be powered off.

In the cases where even greater security is required, such as cases where the amount of money is great (for example, greater than a hundred thousand Won) or it is necessary according to the characteristics of a transaction in electronic commerce to confirm that the user himself directly and currently carries out a present transaction, the following procedure is carried out. That is, if the user is first identified by the biometric recognition device 14, the user is second identified by the smart card 17; while if the user is first identified by the smart card 17, the user is second identified by the biometric recognition device 14. Accordingly, the user performing important work is able to carry out his work in safety through duplicate encryption.

As described above, the present invention is characterized in that the biometric recognition device 14 or the smart card 17 is

used for payment in electronic commerce or approval of electronic documents, as well as for user identification. For transaction authentication and payment in electronic commerce, such as home banking and home shopping through the Internet, or for document approval when working at home, working outside, or being on an overseas business trip, the biometric recognition device 14 or smart card 17 can be used, thus providing safety and convenience to the user.

Besides an approval means for electronic documents, the biometric recognition device 14 is used as a permission means for the search, transmission, copy and printing of documents according to degrees of document secrecy, thus enabling security for confidential documents to be thoroughly achieved.

Further, if the smart card 17 is used as a user identification means, the smart card 17 is constructed such that fingerprint data of the user are stored in the smart card 17. Therefore, the smart card 17 can be used as a payment means for electronic commerce, an approval means for electronic documents, or a permission means for the search, transmission, copy and printing of documents, without a fingerprint authentication process of a central office, thus reducing response time, and preventing illegal use by another person even if the smart card 17 goes missing.

Meanwhile, the computer 1 of the present invention having the above construction can be modified variously, and can have

various types. Therefore, the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.

Finally, the positions of the above described component parts in the computer 1 can be modified and implemented according to whether users are right-or left-handed, which is within the scope of the present invention.

As described above, the present invention provides a personal computer with a smart card and a biometric recognition device, which is installed in financial companies such as banks, electronic commerce systems, electronic document approval systems, and enterprises performing operations similar to the above systems, thus providing the guarantee of security to users.

Further, the present invention is advantageous in that it can enable a user to carry out electronic approval using his computer under high security without going out of doors and to easily arrange frequently-used articles using a storage depression formed in the computer, thus providing convenience to the user. Further, the present invention is advantageous in that the computer is portable and locked such that it is automatically fastened to a desk if a smart card is detached from-the main body of the computer, thereby

preventing the theft of the computer. Accordingly, it is clear that the present invention is a very useful invention, which can simultaneously obtain various advantages, such as improvement of productivity and economical utility of the entire computer, and the rnaximization of reliability and satisfaction in use of the computer.

Further, if a smart card reader is out of order and its normal operation is impossible, a fingerprint recognition device is used to temporarily perform a PC security function ; while if the fingerprint recognition device is out of order and its normal operation is impossible, the smart card reader is used, thus preventing the work from being interrupted. Therefore, a mutual supplement can be achieved between the smart card and the biometric recognition device.

Moreover, the present invention is advantageous in that if the smart card is used, it is possible to directly access biometric data, such as a user's fingerprint, which is registered in the smart card, and to perform comparison of the registered biometric data with detected biometric data in later biometric recognition, thus remarkably reducing biometric recognition time compared with a case where only a biometric recognition device is used.