Did You Know...
...that Charles Goodyear performed some of his experiments on rubber while in debtor's prison? He was there so often he referred to it as his "hotel". Chronically in debt because of poor business sense and ill health, Goodyear depended on the generosity of friends and family. Even after he unlocked the secret to vulcanizing rubber, he was unable to improve his financial situation. When he died, his estate was $200,000 in debt.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7004385 | Currency dispensing ATM with RFID card reader An ATM with a currency dispenser includes a contactless card reader. The card reader can read data from an RFID tag of a customer's ATM card. An ATM RFID card reader can be located so as to provide additional space for another transaction component or can be used in... | 02/28/2006 |
| 7004381 | Cash dispensing machine A cash dispensing machine includes a validation unit 13 for validating cash inserted through an insertion slot 8, a detachable storage unit 30 for storing cash validated by the validation unit 13, communication means provided in each of t... | 02/28/2006 |
| 7003479 | Systems and methods for ordering and distributing incentive messages Systems and methods associated with ordering, producing and/or distributing incentive messages. Systems can include means for receiving requests for incentive messages, for receiving payment for the incentive messages, and for transferring the incentive message to a... | 02/21/2006 |
| 7003434 | Electronic maintenance record file system for equipment such as a elevators An electronic maintenance record file system for facilities including local monitoring units, installed near the equipment to be maintained, a calculator made available to the maintenance company and connected to the local units using a transmission network to recei... | 02/21/2006 |
| 7000828 | Remote automated document processing system An automated check processing system for accepting and processing checks from a customer, having a plurality of document scanners. The document scanners are adapted to obtain full images of checks fed into the document scanners and to obtain images of selected porti... | 02/21/2006 |
| 6999937 | System for predefining via an activity scheduler first types of entered data that are processed by an activity processor in real time and second types of entered data that are queued for processing at another time An integrated system for the administration of insurance companies is disclosed which includes a personal computer, a network and one or more file servers. The system further includes software for performing a plurality of functions which are interconnected and auto... | 02/14/2006 |
| 6997380 | Marketing analysis and planning system and method A computer implemented method for processing lottery sales data comprises the steps of causing display of a table on a computer, the table containing data representing lottery game attributes and lottery ticket sales for a plurality of lottery game types; enabling a... | 02/14/2006 |
| 6997374 | Apparatus for testing for particulate contaminants in depositories for mail-like articles An apparatus for testing for particulate contaminants in deposited mail-like articles includes an enclosure adapted for receiving deposited mail-like articles, a squeezing mechanism located within the enclosure and adapted for pressuring opposite flat sides of said ... | 02/14/2006 |
| 6997377 | ATM cassette with self-locking media directing guide An ATM media cassette includes a self-locking arrangement for a media directing guide. The guide is automatically placed in a locked condition during removal of the cassette from an ATM. The guide is automatically unlocked during reinsertion of the cassette into the... | 02/14/2006 |
| 6996460 | Method and apparatus for providing virtual touch interaction in the drive-thru The present invention is a method and apparatus for providing an enhanced automatic drive-thru experience to the customers in a vehicle by allowing use of natural hand gestures to interact with digital content. The invention is named Virtual Touch Ordering System (V... | 02/07/2006 |
| 6996263 | Network interconnected financial document processing devices A document processing system comprises an input receptacle for receiving documents. A transport mechanism receives the documents from the input receptacle and transports the documents past a full image scanner and a discrimination unit. An output receptacle receives... | 02/07/2006 |
| 6994252 | Combination library patron-supervisor self check-in/out workstation A combination patron-supervisor library self-check-in/out workstation includes both a patron visual display and a supervisor visual display so that a supervisor can monitor patron initiated transactions so that the supervisor may in real-time have access to the patr... | 02/07/2006 |
| 6994202 | Money acceptance method and apparatus A vending machine provides a warning indication that insufficient change may be available if the total amount of available change is less than the value of the highest-denomination monetary unit which is not refundable. An insufficient change indication is also prov... | 02/07/2006 |
| 6994200 | Currency handling system having multiple output receptacles A method and apparatus for handling bill jams within a currency processing device is provided. The device includes a transport mechanism adapted to transport bills along a transport path, one at a time, from the input receptacle past an evaluation unit into a plural... | 02/07/2006 |
| 6993501 | Method and system of communication for automated inventory systems Various embodiments of this invention are directed towards the communication infrastructure of an automated inventory system, on which the necessary communication between a dispensing unit and an administrative unit of the system occurs. To facilitate the integratio... | 01/31/2006 |
| 6991160 | Methods and systems for remote authorization of fuel dispensing The present invention provides systems and methods for remote authorization of fuel dispensing using identifying indicia associated with a customer. An exemplary system according to the present invention includes a fuel dispensing station interfaced with a central t... | 01/31/2006 |
| 6991156 | Automated teller machine, software and distribution method An automated teller machine (12) includes at least one processor (36) which operates to cause transaction function devices (16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34) to operate to carry out banking transactions for users of the machine. A software... | 01/31/2006 |
| 6988658 | System and method for facilitating a transaction between a merchant and a consumer A system for facilitating a transaction between a merchant and a consumer includes a consumer interface and a settlement administrator. The consumer interface is configured to emit a consumer identity signal configured to identify a consumer, and the settlement admi... | 01/24/2006 |
| 6988657 | Wireless payment processing system The transaction method is for secure payment by credit cards or debit cards for goods or services with the use or mobile devices. The payment authorization center delivers a public portion of the authorization token to the service provider via the existing communica... | 01/24/2006 |
| 6985870 | Medication delivery system A medication delivery system (20) having features of the present invention comprises a medical container (26) holding a prescribed medication (27) to be delivered to a patient, a tag 24 adapted to be worn by the patient, a handheld comput... | 01/10/2006 |
| 6983261 | System and method for causing multiple parties to be paid from a single credit card transaction A point of sale credit card payment system allowing multiple payments to be made to various payees from a single credit card transaction or any other form of electronic payment. Software, firmware, or hardware located at a consumer location or offsite determines the... | 01/03/2006 |
| 6980259 | Videoconferencing carrel Disclosed herein is a videoconferencing carrel having a one-piece, rotationally molded shell defining an area for containing electronic videoconferencing equipment, having mounting flanges for a transparent screen to protect the electronic components, exit openings ... | 12/27/2005 |
| 6980968 | Method and apparatus for providing and processing installment plans at a terminal A central controller receives from a POS terminal a purchase price and a financial account identifier. The financial account identifier specifies a financial account, such as a credit card account. The central controller, in turn, generates one or more installment p... | 12/27/2005 |
| 6978928 | Medium handling machine A medium handling device that prompts a user to pull out his hand from a media insertion/delivering port without closing a shutter of the port when the hand of the user remains inside the port, even if a predetermined time has elapsed. A timer counts a time during w... | 12/27/2005 |
| 6980973 | Self-paying smart utility meter and payment service A payment service enables a credit account or a debit account of a customer to be automatically billed for utility usage based on a reading that is automatically taken by an electronic utility meter. A method for processing information relating to usage of a utility... | 12/27/2005 |
| 6978931 | Energy credit card system A method of providing an energy credit system is disclosed for providing redeemable energy or mass transit credits to consumers who contribute power to a shared electric power grid wherein the excess power generated by each consumer to the power grid is measured and... | 12/27/2005 |
| 6980960 | System and method for providing a fuel purchase incentive A fuel purchase incentive is provided incident to the sale of a vehicle. With respect to the sale of an automobile, the incentive consists of a program price, for example a discount price or a capped maximum price, for a specified quantity of a specified brand and t... | 12/27/2005 |
| 6978929 | Systems and methods for providing mail item retrieval A method and system for delivering an item to a customer including the processing of a plurality of items and notifying a customer (304) of an item that has been processed and is ready for delivery. When the customer requests the item, the system and method r... | 12/27/2005 |
| 6976635 | Method of providing IC card service, card terminal, and IC card There have been some problems in the conventional IC card such as a card holder has to memorize his PIN, the set of conditions for the combination of IC cards has been impossible, a self-governing body has been unable to issue a resident cart for the utilization of ... | 12/20/2005 |
| 6978250 | System and method for automated electronic scrip transactions A system and method for performing and settling an electronic scrip transaction between a merchant and a member includes a database storing accounts for one or more participating merchants, scrip distributors, sponsoring organizations, and members. The system also i... | 12/20/2005 |
| 6976622 | Automated banking machine diagnostic system and method A diagnostic server software component for an automated banking machine is provided. The diagnostic server is operative to periodically retrieve diagnostic messages from a nonvolatile memory of the machine and store the diagnostic messages on the hard drive of the m... | 12/20/2005 |
| 6976570 | Coin counter and voucher dispensing machine and method A coin sorting and counting machine and a method for operating it to automatically dispense cash vouchers based on the value of the counted coins, manufacturers' coupons and store coupons. Coins are placed in a hopper tray angled downward from the horizontal. When t... | 12/20/2005 |
| 6976011 | Process for making remote payments for the purchase of goods and/or a service through a mobile radiotelephone, and the corresponding system and mobile radiotelephone The invention relates to a process for making a secure remote payment for goods and/or a service purchased by the buyer (2) from a supplier (7) using a mobile radiotelephone (1) used by the buyer. The mobile radiotelephone provides access to a r... | 12/13/2005 |
| 6974084 | Multiple plane scanning system for data reading applications An optical system and method for data reading. The preferred system is directed to a scanner which includes a laser diode and a beam splitter for generating first optical beam and a second optical beam, the first optical beam being directed toward one side of a scan... | 12/13/2005 |
| 6974076 | Portable music player with pay per play usage and method for purchase of credits for usage A portable content playback device that includes the ability to accept a media with electronic playback credits, i.e. a smart card, that is pre-loaded with credits. Alternatively, the device may have internal memory that is capable of storing electronic credits. Con... | 12/13/2005 |
| 6974077 | Method of remote picking-up of soiled laundry and delivering clean laundry with on-site yet remote weighing A method of pick-up of soiled laundry and dry cleaning and re-delivery of the same after washing and dry-cleaning at a remote servicing site. The method includes providing a pick-up and delivery vehicle proximal to the location of the customer for a set range of tim... | 12/13/2005 |
| 6973514 | Printing system adapted to change a printing operation to be performed based on a result of an accounting operation There is disclosed a printer or copying machine which operates according to several different functional and operational modes, a host computer which sends a print or copy order to the printer or copying machine, which order may include the number of copies to be ma... | 12/06/2005 |
| 6970846 | Automated banking machine configuration method A method for visual programming an automated transaction machine (12). The method includes the creation of terminal directors (225) that generally correspond to transactions performed by the automated transaction machine. The terminal directors are pro... | 11/29/2005 |
| 6970854 | System for remote signature writing A portable device may be configured to transmit a digital signature of a user to an Internet terminal for the user to complete a transaction requiring a signature. The portable device may be a remote control, a personal digital assistance (“PDA”), an electronic ... | 11/29/2005 |
| 6970914 | Method and apparatus for embedding routing information to a remote web site in an audio/video track A redirect system is provided which is operable to redirect information over a network 1610. This information is associated with a compressed MP3 audio file which is initially transmitted through the network from a source 1612 to a user PC 1600.... | 11/29/2005 |
