78results about How to "Type is limited" patented technology

A payment system that does not rely on credit or debit cards, does not require the merchant and purchaser to have compatible memberships to complete a transaction, and does not limit single transactions to a single account provides a wide range of flexibility permitting debit, credit, pre-paid and payroll cards to be accommodated in a seamless and invisible manner to the electronic transaction network. The transaction may be verified and approved at the point-of-sale whether or not the merchant is a member of a specific financial transaction system. Specifically, the point-of-sale transaction system permits an identified customer to use any of a variety of payment options to complete the transaction without requiring the merchant to pre-approve the type of payment selected by the customer. In one configuration, and in order to take advantage of the widespread use of the ATM / POS network, the invention uses a typical credit / debit card format to provide the identifying information in a stored value card. When a transaction is to be completed, the user enters the identifying information carried on the card at the point-of-sale. This can be a merchant or other service provider at a retail establishment, or on-line while the user is logged onto a web site, or other location. The information can be swiped by a card reader, or manually entered via a keyboard or other input device. The system supports a wide range of flexibility, permitting issuing systems such as parents and state welfare agencies to restrict the types of authorized uses, and permitting users to access accounts in a prioritized manner. Further, the accepting merchant is not required to be a member because settlement with the merchant may be made via the Federal Reserve Automatic Clearing House (ACH) system by typical and standard electronic transfer. This permits the merchant to take advantage of the lower ACH transaction fees with even greater convenience and flexibility than the current ATM / POS system. The system supports numerous types of identification methods from typical credit card structures with magnetic data strips to various biometric systems such as finger prints, facial recognition and the like. Specifically, once the user is identified, the transaction is managed by his membership data on record with the transaction processing system.

A method, system, and apparatus are provided for maintaining user privacy in a knowledge interchange (“KI”) system. A user may provide privacy preferences relating to their participation in the KI system. The user may identify specific keywords, noun phrases, and contacts that should not be transmitted to a server computer. The user may also specify whether each keyword, noun phrase, or contact should be public or private. If a public keyword is identified during a search query as being associated with the user, the user's identity will be made available to a seeker If a private keyword is identified during a search query as being associated with the user, the user's identity will not be made available and a brokered communication process between the seeker and the user will be performed.

A multifunction apparatus having a plurality of functions including a copier function retrieves, through an RFID controller, user identification information from a memory card carried by the user within a detection area, obtains, from a server, limitation information of usable functions that is preset, by a server I / F, for the authenticated user based on the retrieved identification information, and controls the usable functions for the authenticated user according to the limitation information of usable functions.

A system and method facilitating the management of current and prospective customers and customer information is provided. The invention includes an aggregation system adapted to provide management and generation of current and prospective customers. The invention further provides management of current and prospective customer information. Additionally, the aggregation system provides for generating advertisements based at least in part upon market information. Finally, the present invention also includes a printstream aggregation method facilitating the printing of print orders.

A method, system, and apparatus are provided for maintaining user privacy in a knowledge interchange (“KI”) system. A user may provide privacy preferences relating to their participation in the KI system. The user may identify specific keywords, noun phrases, and contacts that should not be transmitted to a server computer. The user may also specify whether each keyword, noun phrase, or contact should be public or private. If a public keyword is identified during a search query as being associated with the user, the user's identity will be made available to a seeker If a private keyword is identified during a search query as being associated with the user, the user's identity will not be made available and a brokered communication process between the seeker and the user will be performed.

A vehicle control apparatus includes: a communication device installed in a vehicle to receive, from outside the vehicle, information relating to another vehicle; and a control device installed in the vehicle to perform travel control on the vehicle using information relating to the vehicle and the information relating to the other vehicle, wherein the control device modifies a control type of the travel control in accordance with either a condition relating to the travel control currently underway or a condition of the vehicle currently being subjected to the travel control.

A method and apparatus provide security for a network-connected vehicle (or other networked environment) in which a predefined set of permitted operations relating to protected resources can be initiated remotely from elsewhere in the network, while security is maintained for the protected resources (for example, an engine performance optimisation control unit or air conditioning control unit within a vehicle) by preventing remote initiation of any other operations on a data processing unit which is connected to the protected resources. One of a pair of gateway components runs on each of two data processing units within the vehicle (or other environment), the first processing unit being connected to the vehicle's device control units and the second processing unit being connected to the external network. The gateway components control the types of communications which can be passed from the network-connected side to the first processing unit such that only permitted operations can be requested and no unauthorised operations can be initiated remotely.

An elevator installation includes an elevator car located in a hoistway and having a floor, and a rear wall extending upward from the floor. A counterweight is located in the hoistway adjacent to the rear wall of the elevator car. An underslung sheave assembly is located generally below the floor and preferably forms a V-shaped configuration that operatively engages the elevator car. A drive machine is mounted in the upper portion of the hoistway, and a drive sheave operatively engages the drive machine and is located above the counterweight, with the drive sheave having a front edge. A deflector sheave is also mounted in the upper part of the hoistway generally below the drive sheave and has a rear edge that vertically overlaps with the front edge of the drive sheave. A first rope and a second rope each have a first end attached to one of a first and a second dead end hitch in the upper portion of the hoistway, with the underslung sheave assembly operatively engaging the first and second ropes to support the elevator car and the counterweight operatively engaging the first and second ropes as the first and second ropes extend from the drive sheave to the counterweight, and with the first and second ropes extending from the underslung sheave assembly around the rear edge of the deflector sheave and the front edge of the drive sheave such that the first and second ropes wrap around the drive sheave greater than 180 degrees.

Methods and apparatus which allow parents to control the access of their children to features of a portable electronic device are disclosed. According to one aspect, a method for controlling the use of features associated with a portable electronic device includes setting at least one constraint associated with access to a feature of the portable electronic device and processing a user request to access the feature. The method can also include determining whether the constraint indicates that the feature is currently accessible to the user, and permitting access to the feature when the indication is that the feature is currently accessible to the user. Finally, access to the feature can be denied if the indication is that the feature is not currently accessible to the user.

A LoRa mobile unit includes a main control circuit with a central processing unit, a LoRa communication module including a LoRa communication circuit electrically coupled to the central processing unit for wireless communication with an external LoRa wireless sensor network for transmitting and receiving LoRa information packets, and a wireless communication circuit electrically coupled to the central processing unit. When the LoRa communication module receives a LoRa information packet from the LoRa wireless sensor network, the central processing unit converts the LoRa information packet into a formatted information packet readable by the Bluetooth module, Wi-Fi module, mobile communication module or NFC module of the wireless communication circuit for wireless transmission to an external mobile device so that an external mobile device within the signal coverage is cable to directly access LoRa information packets.

A multiple criteria buying and selling system and method is provided. A seller initially establishes a deal structure for a product, which provides seller defined selling criteria information relating to the purchasing of the product, such as volume per unit price, quality, delivery time and warranty information. A buyer will be able to review a list of deals if the seller's selling criteria matches a buyer defined buying criteria. The deal structure is preferably set up so as to provide buyers with both price and non-price criteria information that the buyer's would consider important in a purchase of the type of product being offered by the seller. The deal structure is electronically made available to potential buyers of the product. For example, the deal structure may be displayed on an Internet site.

A method, apparatus, and computer implemented instructions for restricting a fan-out type search of a distributed database. A search request is received indicating that a requesting node originating the search request desires to avoid receiving search results including inaccessible nodes. Responsive to receiving the search results from other nodes, the search results are filtered to remove search results from inaccessible nodes to form filtered search results. The filtered search results are passed to the requesting node.

A server system having one or more processors and memory sends, to a first database, a first request for data based on first data-retrieval criteria. The first database is schemaless and operates in accordance with first database processing capabilities. The server system receives, in response to the first request, a first set of data from the first database, where the first set of data is selected by the first database in accordance with the first data-retrieval criteria. The server system generates a second database from the first set of data selectively retrieved from the first database. The second database has an associated schema and operates in accordance with second database processing capabilities different from the first database processing capabilities. The server system provides access to the first set of data in the second database in accordance with the second database processing capabilities.

A multiple criteria buying and selling system and method is provided. A seller initially establishes a deal structure for a product, which provides seller defined selling criteria information relating to the purchasing of the product, such as volume per unit price, quality, delivery time and warranty information. A buyer will be able to review a list of deals if the seller's selling criteria matches a buyer defined buying criteria. The deal structure is preferably set up so as to provide buyers with both price and non-price criteria information that the buyer's would consider important in a purchase of the type of product being offered by the seller. The deal structure is electronically made available to potential buyers of the product. For example, the deal structure may be displayed on an Internet site.

A multiple criteria buying and selling system and method is provided. A seller initially establishes a deal structure for a product, which provides seller defined selling criteria information relating to the purchasing of the product, such as volume per unit price, quality, delivery time and warranty information. A buyer will be able to review a list of deals if the seller's selling criteria matches a buyer defined buying criteria. The deal structure is preferably set up so as to provide buyers with both price and non-price criteria information that the buyer's would consider important in a purchase of the type of product being offered by the seller. The deal structure is electronically made available to potential buyers of the product. For example, the deal structure may be displayed on an Internet site.

A multiple criteria buying and selling system and method is provided. A seller initially establishes a deal structure for a product, which provides seller defined selling criteria information relating to the purchasing of the product, such as volume per unit price, quality, delivery time and warranty information. A buyer will be able to review a list of deals if the seller's selling criteria matches a buyer defined buying criteria. The deal structure is preferably set up so as to provide buyers with both price and non-price criteria information that the buyer's would consider important in a purchase of the type of product being offered by the seller. The deal structure is electronically made available to potential buyers of the product. For example, the deal structure may be displayed on an Internet site.

A multiple criteria buying and selling system and method is provided. A seller initially establishes a deal structure for a product, which provides seller defined selling criteria information relating to the purchasing of the product, such as volume per unit price, quality, delivery time and warranty information. A buyer will be able to review a list of deals if the seller's selling criteria matches a buyer defined buying criteria. The deal structure is preferably set up so as to provide buyers with both price and non-price criteria information that the buyer's would consider important in a purchase of the type of product being offered by the seller. The deal structure is electronically made available to potential buyers of the product. For example, the deal structure may be displayed on an Internet site.

An article of a base metal alloyed with an alloying element is prepared by mixing a chemically reducible nonmetallic base-metal precursor compound of a base metal and a chemically reducible nonmetallic alloying-element precursor compound of an alloying element to form a compound mixture. The base metal is nickel, cobalt, iron, iron-nickel, or iron-nickel-cobalt. One or more of the alloying elements are thermophysically melt incompatible with the base metal. The method further includes chemically reducing the compound mixture to a metallic superalloy, without melting the metallic superalloy, and thereafter consolidating the metallic superalloy to produce a consolidated metallic article, without melting the metallic superalloy and without melting the consolidated metallic article.

The system and method verifies a configuration of a storage system through versions, configurations and components failure of the various storage system components and generates a report identifying errors and / or warnings of the current configuration. A graphical representation of the storage system, including switches, clients and the like may be generated showing misconfiguration errors.

Systems and methods for a ground water filtration system are described. The ground water filtration system includes paver blocks designed to facilitate liquid seepage between the paver blocks and to route the seepage to a preferred area. A filter may be utilized to remove undesired particulates in the seepage prior to routing. The ground water filtration system additionally provides at least one layer of stone to facilitate flow direction of the seepage. At least one geogrid fabric is also provided to further enhance ground water filtration.

An arch support orthotic device comprises an upper surface facing a wearer's foot, and a lower surface facing a footwear, wherein the upper surface is formed of a deformable semi-rigid material responding flexibly to a weight of the wearer, and wherein the lower surface comprises an arch support section facing an inner sole surface of the footwear including a plurality of support structures that performs an arch supporting function, controls a deformability of the orthotic device so as to reduce loss of the arch supporting function when worn by the wearer, and prevents substantial deformation against the inner sole surface of the footwear.

Methods and apparatuses for backlash compensation. A dynamics inversion compensation scheme is designed for control of nonlinear discrete-time systems with input backlash. The techniques of this disclosure extend the dynamic inversion technique to discrete-time systems by using a filtered prediction, and shows how to use a neural network (NN) for inverting the backlash nonlinearity in the feedforward path. The techniques provide a general procedure for using NN to determine the dynamics preinverse of an invertible discrete time dynamical system. A discrete-time tuning algorithm is given for the NN weights so that the backlash compensation scheme guarantees bounded tracking and backlash errors, and also bounded parameter estimates. A rigorous proof of stability and performance is given and a simulation example verifies performance. Unlike standard discrete-time adaptive control techniques, no certainty equivalence (CE) or linear-in-the-parameters (LIP) assumptions are needed.

A mobile telecommunications device is disclosed and comprises a casing (2), an earpiece (6), and a cover (33) associated with the earpiece (6) to define a resonant cavity (34) between the earpiece (6) and the casing (2), wherein the cover (33) has an opening therein for the transmission of sound from the earpiece (6) via the cavity (34) into an acoustic path formed between the casing (2) and the cover (33).

An article of iron base metal base metal alloyed with an alloying element is prepared by mixing a chemically reducible nonmetallic base-metal precursor compound of the iron base metal and a chemically reducible nonmetallic alloying-element precursor compound of an alloying element to form a compound mixture. The alloying element is preferably thermophysically melt incompatible with the iron base metal. The method further includes chemically reducing the compound mixture to a metallic alloy, without melting the metallic alloy, and thereafter consolidating the metallic alloy to produce a martensitic-composition consolidated metallic article, without melting the metallic alloy and without melting the consolidated metallic article.

Protection of private keys used to digitally sign files to be downloaded to a terminal is accomplished by storing the private keys in smartcards, and arranging a secure processor unit embedded in the smartcard to perform all signing operations requiring access to the keys so that the keys never leave the card. In addition, access to the signing operations is protected by multiple PINs, which may be distributed to multiple individuals and / or used to establish different signing authorization levels associated with different types of files.

A mobile telecommunications device is disclosed and comprises a casing (2), an earpiece (6), and a cover (33) associated with the earpiece (6) to define a resonant cavity (34) between the earpiece (6) and the casing (2), wherein the cover (33) has an opening therein for the transmission of sound from the earpiece (6) via the cavity (34) into an acoustic path formed between the casing (2) and the cover (33).