A technique for making a payment to a payee on behalf of a payor is provided. A payment service provider receives a payment request from a payor requesting the service provider to make a payment to a payee on behalf of the payor. The service provider then transmits pre-posting information to the payee prior to making the payment. The pre-posting information informs the payee that the service provider will be making a payment to the payee on behalf of the payor. Whenever the service provider makes the payment to the payee, the service provider also issues remittance advice associated with the payment to the payee.

A biller is an entity that renders a service, or provides goods, to a customer on a credit basis, then, either simultaneously or subsequently, prepares and delivers a bill to request payment for the services or goods from the customer. Delivery of a bill can be completed by either traditional paper-based delivery, typically via a postal service, or electronic bill presentment. Electronic bill presentment is discussed further below. The customer, in turn, renders payment to the biller. Conventionally, bill payment has been by cash or check, although some billers have accepted payment by credit card.
Most bills have a due date. Some customers pay bills as close to a due date as possible, typically so as to retain control of funds as long as possible, while avoiding making payment late. Other customers coordinate payment timing with cash flow, also while avoiding making payment late. Late payment has associated negative consequences, which can include a penalty fee assessed by a biller, curtailment of a service, e.g., turning off a utility, and a negative impact to a customer's credit rating.
An electronic payment service provider is an entity that completes payment on behalf of a customer of that service provider. The customer on whose behalf a payment is completed is a payor, and an entity receiving the payment (often a biller) is a payee. A customer of service provider is known as a subscriber of the service provider. A subscriber can be an individual, a business, or another type of organization.
A service provider receives a payment request electronically, either directly from a subscriber, or from another entity acting on behalf of a subscriber. A payment request, at a minimum, specifies a payor (possibly indirectly), a payee (possibly by reference), and a payment amount. A payment date is also typically included, although it can be assumed to be "as soon as possible" if omitted. A payment request may be originated at any one of several electronic user interfaces, including automated telephone system interfaces, Web-based interfaces, PC application-based interfaces, PDA-based interfaces, and mobile phone-based interfaces.
After receipt of a payment request, a provider processes the request to complete the payment. At the conclusion of payment processing the service provider issues remittance to a payee. Remittance is a combination of a credit to a payee and remittance advice associated with the credit.
A credit accomplishes a transfer of funds to a payee to fulfill a payment request. A credit may be performed through a paper process (check or draft), or an electronic funds transfer (EFT) process. The funds may come directly from a demand deposit account associated with a subscriber, or from a demand deposit account associated with the payment service provider. A demand deposit account could be a checking account, a savings account, a money market account, or any other type account from which an account holder can at will issue an order that funds held therein be withdrawn for credit elsewhere. An electronic funds transfer is the process of causing funds to move between accounts at different financial institutions across one or more networks. A financial institution is an entity that maintains financial accounts that can be debited and/or credited as a result of transaction activity. Financial institutions include banks, savings and loans, credit unions, and brokerage houses. Networks linking financial institutions, as well as other entities, include the Federal Reserve's Automated Clearinghouse (ACH) network, MasterCard's® RPPS network, Visa's® ePay network, and Princeton's® eCom network. The Federal Reserve system is the central bank of the United States of America, formed by an act of Congress. It consists of twelve Reserve Banks located in major cities throughout the United States. The ACH electronically links the Federal Reserve Banks with financial institutions throughout the United States to support electronic funds transfer between the financial institutions. The RPPS, the ePay, and the eCom networks are examples of third party remittance networks, each of which links a service provider with a set of payees.
Remittance advice is a description of a credit that allows proper payment posting to a specific account, or sub-account, in a payee's Accounts Receivable ledger. Remittance advice may be tightly coupled with an instrument used to accomplish the credit (e.g., information printed in a memo field on a check or draft, or information included in a field in an electronic funds transfer file transmitted over a network linking financial institutions), or it may be somewhat decoupled from the credit, such as a paper document delivered to a payee, separate from a credit, or an electronic file transmitted directly to the payee separate from a credit. Remittance advice typically includes at least information identifying a payor, information identifying the payor's account with the payee, and a payment account.
A managed payee is a payee about whom a service provider has information that enables remittance to that payee to be handled in some improved/optimal fashion. The information typically includes one or more of account schemes for improved reliability of Accounts Receivable posting at the managed payee, account ranges for remittance center identification, other information for remittance center identification, preferred credit form (paper or electronic), preferred remittance advice form (paper or electronic), and electronic links for delivery of electronic credits and/or electronic remittance advice.
A managed payee provides this information to a service provider. The received information is typically stored in a managed payee database. A managed payee database includes information identifying each managed payee known to a service provider, along with the information received from each managed payee.
An unmanaged payee is a payee about whom a service provider does not maintain information which aids in the handling of remittance. An electronic payee is a managed payee about whom a service provider maintains information enabling remittance to be issued electronically. A merchant is a payee that issues bills for services rendered or goods purchased. Thus, a merchant is a special class of payee, a payee that issues bills. A merchant can be an unmanaged merchant, a managed merchant, or an electronic merchant.
For many service providers, payment processing dictates the form of remittance issued, i.e. electronic or paper. Some service providers use payment processing to determine a form of remittance based solely upon a status of a payee as a managed payee, with remittance issued in accordance with a managed payee's wishes. Thus, during payment processing, such a service provider determines if a payee identified in a payment request is a managed payee (or managed merchant). If so, information stored in a managed payee database is retrieved and remittance is issued in accordance with the stored information. If the retrieved information indicates that remittance should be issued electronically, the remittance is issued accordingly. And, if the retrieved information indicates that remittance should be issued on paper (check or draft), the remittance is likewise issued accordingly.
If a payee is not determined to be a managed payee, remittance will be issued on paper. In these cases, some service providers automatically issue a check drawn on a demand deposit account associated with such a payment service provider, typically known as a corporate check, as the form of remittance. Still other payment service providers perform risk processing to determine whether paper remittance will be a corporate check, or a draft drawn on a demand deposit account of a payor. A draft is a special class of check, one prepared by an entity other than an account holder of the account upon which the draft is drawn.
In risk processing, a payment request is evaluated against a set of rules that determines whether the credit can be issued "at risk" to the electronic payment service provider. An "at risk" credit is a credit from an account belonging to a service provider. Risk processing in only performed in those instances where a service provider is not assured of receiving funds in at least an amount of a payment made on behalf of a payor. If a determination is made that a payment will not be issued "at risk", payment is made by a draft drawn on a payor's demand deposit account prepared by a service provider. This could happen even if payment processing determined that the payment could have been issued electronically.
A service provider can be assured of receiving funds in a "good funds" model of payment processing. In a good funds model an electronic payment service provider performs a debit authorization against a payor's demand deposit account before issuance of a credit. That is, an electronic payment service provider first assures that funds from a payor's account are available before a credit is issued on behalf of that payor.
A service provider can also be assured of receiving funds in a "guaranteed funds" model of payment processing. In a guaranteed funds model an entity other than a service provider commits to reimburse the service provider for any credits issued for which an associated debiting of a payor's demand deposit account fails. The guaranteeing entity is typically the payee, although it may be another entity such as a consumer service provider, to be discussed further below, or a financial institution at which the payor's demand deposit account is maintained.
For other service providers a status of a payee as a managed payee is but one factor considered in payment processing to determine a form of remittance. Some service providers perform risk processing to determine if an "at risk" credit will be issued, which could cause remittance to be issued on paper (draft) even if the payee is an electronic payee.
Other service providers, potentially the same ones that also use the results of risk processing as a factor, first determine if a payee is an electronic payee, but then use the results of account scheming to determine a form of payment. Additionally, other criteria may be used in determining a form of payment, by these or other service providers.
Typically, a service provider has five mechanisms to complete payment to a payee on behalf of a payor. As discussed above, selection of a mechanism to complete payment is often made during payment processing. The first is ACH-ACH payment, which is all electronic, in which a service provider transmits both the credit portion and the remittance advice portion of remittance via the ACH network for delivery. The second is ACH-Direct Send payment, which is also all electronic, in which a service provider transmits the credit portion via the ACH network, and transmits the remittance advice portion directly to a payee via a network different than the ACH. Alternatively, in some ACH-Direct Send payments, remittance advice is delivered to a payee in hard copy. The third is Third Party payment, which is also all electronic, in which a service provider transmits both the credit portion and the remittance advice portion on to a third party remittance network for delivery. The fourth is Corporate Check payment, which is paper, in which a service provider delivers a check to a payee, the check being drawn on a demand deposit account belonging to the service provider. Printed remittance advice is printed upon or associated with the corporate check. The fifth is Draft payment, which also is paper, in which a service provider delivers a draft to a payee, the draft being drawn on a demand deposit account belonging to a payee and having printed remittance advice printed thereon or associated therewith.
FIG. 1A is a simplified depiction of the payment flow in completing payment to a payee on behalf of a payor utilizing ACH-ACH payment. At step 100 a service provider transmits an electronic funds transfer file, conventionally referred to as an ACH file, to the ACH network. The electronic funds transfer file includes a credit request and associated remittance advice. As desired, minimal remittance advice (similar to that printed on the face of a check or draft), or more detailed remittance advice, is included in the transmitted file, either as a memo note field in the credit request, or as separate but associated data. Currently, electronic funds transfer files must be transmitted onto the ACH network in batch. Some service providers store an indication in a payment history of the date and optionally time of the transmission. A payment history is a collection of information associated with each payment completed by a service provider. At a minimum, information in a payment history, for each included completed payment, includes information identifying a payee, information identifying a payor, a date and optionally time of remittance issuance, and a payment amount.
At step 105 the Federal Reserve receives the electronic funds transfer file and processes information included therein to identify the payee's financial institution. Via the ACH network, the credit request and remittance advice are then further transmitted to the payee's financial institution. The Federal Reserve acts as a huge switch, performing ACH transaction validation and propagating credit requests and associated remittance advice to appropriate financial institutions.
At step 110 the payee's financial institution receives the electronic funds transfer file. Upon receipt the payee's financial institution posts a credit in the amount of the payment to the payee's demand deposit account and beneficially sends the remittance advice to the payee, which might be a hardcopy delivery or an electronic delivery.
The payee receives and processes the remittance advice in step 115, which might be by electronic delivery, or by hardcopy delivery. Processing the received remittance advice includes posting the payment to the payor's account with the payee (crediting the payment amount to the payor's account). The amount of time between receiving remittance advice and a payee posting a payor's account varies among payees. At this point payment to the payee on behalf of the payor is completed. Either prior to, concurrent with, or subsequent to the service provider transmitting the electronic funds transfer file onto the ACH network, the service provider obtains funds at least in the amount of the payment from the payor. This can include electronically debiting a demand deposit account of the payor, credit account of the payor or stored value account of the payor in favor of a demand deposit account of the service provider. Also, this can include the service provider preparing and issuing a draft drawn on the demand deposit account of the payor payable to the service provider. It is also possible, though rare, for a service provider to bill a payor.
FIG. 1B is a simplified depiction of the payment flow in completing payment to a payee on behalf of a payor utilizing ACH-Direct Send payment. At step 101 a service provider transmits an electronic funds transfer file onto the ACH network. This electronic funds transfer file includes only a credit request, not remittance advice. As described above, some service providers store the date and optionally time that remittance is issued in a payment history. At step 101′, substantially concurrent with step 101, the service provider electronically transmits remittance advice directly to the payee. Though not shown, the remittance advice could, as desired, be transmitted to a concentrator or lockbox processor providing a service to the payee. In this case, the payee would obtain the remittance advice directly from this entity, not the service provider. Also, the remittance advice could be delivered to the payee in hard copy. Typically, the transmitted remittance advice is tailored (as to content and/or structure) according to desires of the payee.
At step 106 the Federal Reserve receives the electronic funds transfer file and processes information included therein to identify the payee's financial institution. Via the ACH network, the credit request is then further transmitted to the payee's financial institution.
At step 111 the payee's financial institution receives the electronic funds transfer file. Upon receipt the payee's financial institution posts a credit in the amount of the payment to the payee's demand deposit account.
In step 116 the payee receives and processes the remittance advice. Processing the received remittance advice, as discussed above, includes posting the payment to the payor's account with the payee. At this point payment to the payee on behalf of the payor is completed. Either prior to, concurrent with, or subsequent to the service provider transmitting the electronic funds transfer file onto the ACH network, the service provider obtains funds at least in the amount of the payment from the payor, as described above.
FIG. 1C is a simplified depiction of the steps in completing payment to a payee on behalf of a payor utilizing Third Party payment. At step 102 a service provider transmits a third party electronic funds transfer file onto a third party remittance network. The particular remittance processor operating the third party remittance network defines the format for the third party electronic funds transfer file. At a minimum, the file includes information identifying the payee, information identifying the payor, and a payment amount. As above, some service providers may store the date and optionally time of the transmission of the electronic funds transfer file onto the third party remittance network in a payment history.
At step 107 the third party remittance network receives the transmitted third party electronic funds transfer file and processes payment to the payee based upon the contents of the file. The actual operations to deliver funds and remittance advice to the payee vary between third party networks. At some point the payee receives funds and remittance advice from the third party remittance network and posts the payment to the payor's account with the payee. At this point payment to the payee on behalf of the payor is completed. Either prior to, concurrent with, or subsequent to the service provider transmitting the third party electronic funds transfer file onto the third party remittance network, the service provider obtains funds at least in the payment amount from the payor, as described above.
FIG. 1D is a simplified depiction of the payment flow in completing payment utilizing a corporate check. At step 103 a service provider issues a corporate check drawn on a demand deposit account belonging to the service provider and payable to the payee in the amount of the payment. The corporate check includes remittance advice printed thereon (or associated therewith). The service provider causes the corporate check to be delivered to the payee, typically via postal delivery. Some service providers store the date and optionally time that a corporate check is issued, which could be time prepared, or time mailed.
At step 108 the payee receives the corporate check and then deposits the same into a demand deposit account maintained at a payee's financial institution. The payee's financial institution receives the deposited check at step 113 and posts a credit in the amount of the payment to the payee's account. Some financial institutions print a time and date a check is deposited onto the deposited check. To actually receive funds, the payee's financial institution then sends the corporate check to the service provider's financial institution that maintains the service provider's demand deposit account.
At step 118 the service provider's financial institution receives the corporate check and settles with the payee's financial institution. Typically, settlement involves the service provider's financial institution transmitting an electronic funds transfer file, including a credit in the amount of the payment, to the payee's financial institution via the ACH network. The service provider's financial institution also posts the corporate check against the service provider's demand deposit account (debiting the service provider's demand deposit account in the amount of the payment). As a part of posting, the service provider's financial institution records the date, if not also time, of the debiting.
The service provider's financial institution, at step 123, sends a periodic account statement to the service provider reflecting the posted debit, including at least the date, if not also the time, of the debiting. Periodic account statements are typically sent in paper form, though sometimes electronically. Many financial institutions make information found in account statements available to account holders via a Web-based interface, and/or telephone-based interface. Most financial institutions include actual cancelled checks with periodic account statements delivered in paper form. Images of canceled checks may be available with an electronic presentation of an account statement.
At some point subsequent to receipt of the corporate check, at step 128, the payee posts the payment amount to the payor's account with the payee. Typically, posting to a payor's account is done subsequent to the depositing of the check with the payee's financial institution. At this point payment to the payee on behalf of the payor is completed. Either prior to, concurrent with, or subsequent to the service provider issuing the corporate check, the service provider obtains funds at least in the amount of the payment from the payor, as described above.
FIG. 1E is a simplified depiction of the payment flow in completing payment to a payee on behalf of a payor utilizing a draft. At step 104 a service provider issues a draft drawn on a demand deposit account belonging to the payor and payable to the payee in the amount of the payment. The draft includes remittance advice printed thereon (or associated therewith). The service provider causes the draft to be delivered to the payee, typically via postal delivery. Some service providers store the date and optionally time that a draft is issued.
At step 109 the payee receives the draft and then deposits the same into a demand deposit account maintained at a financial institution. The payee's financial institution receives the deposited draft at step 114 and posts a credit in the amount of the payment to the payee's account. As noted above, some financial institutions print a time and date a check (draft) is deposited onto the deposited instrument. To actually receive funds, the payee's financial institution then sends the draft to the financial institution that maintains the payor's demand deposit account.
At step 119 the payor's financial institution receives the draft and settles with the payee's financial institution. The payor's financial institution also posts the draft against the payor's demand deposit account (debiting the payor's account). The payor's financial institution, at step 124, sends a periodic account statement to the payor reflecting the posted debit, as discussed above.
At some point subsequent to receipt of the draft, at step 129, the payee posts the payment to the payor's account with the payee. Typically, posting to a payor's account is done subsequent to the depositing of the check with the payee's financial institution. At this point payment to the payee on behalf of the payor is completed.
Consolidated payments can be made utilizing any payment mechanism other than draft. In consolidated payment a service provider makes payment to a single payee on behalf of multiple payors utilizing a single credit. The remittance advice associated with a consolidated payment identifies each payor in association with each payment amount.
An electronic biller is a biller that presents at least a subset of its bills, for at least a subset of its customers, electronically, either directly or through a biller service provider (BSP). A biller service provider is an entity that electronically presents bills to customers of an electronic biller on behalf of the electronic biller. A biller service provider can also be an electronic payment service provider. Such service providers are known as electronic billing and payment (EBP) service providers. Electronic bill presentment can be via any one of several electronic user interfaces, including Web-based interfaces, PC application-based interfaces, PDA-based interfaces, mobile phone-based interfaces, and set-top box-based interfaces.
Some service providers only make payments to electronic billers on whose behalf those electronic payment service providers electronically present bills. Such payment service providers are said to offer a "closed" electronic payment service. A subscriber of such a service provider can only direct payment of bills that the service provider has electronically presented to the subscriber.
Other electronic payment service providers only make payments to electronic merchants. Such electronic payment service providers are also said to offer a "closed" electronic payment service. An electronic merchant may or may not be an electronic biller. That is, an electronic merchant does not necessarily bill customers electronically.
Still other service providers make payments to any payee, as long as the service provider knows the payee's name and address, typically obtained from a payor. Such service providers are said to offer an "open", or "pay anyone", electronic payment service. Of course, a payment to a payee that is not an electronic payee has to be a paper (check or draft) payment.
A payment request, dependent upon payment processing supported by a particular service provider, can include a payment date as "immediate", "future", or "recurring". For immediate payment dates, payment processing performed by a service provider is triggered promptly, such as at a next batch processing cycle. For future payment dates, a subscriber specifies a future date that directly or indirectly defines when payment processing is to begin. For recurring payment dates, a subscriber defines a recurring schedule of fixed-amount payments for either a finite or indefinite duration. Recurring payments are not especially suited for those payments that have varying due dates and/or amounts.
A subscriber-specified date in future-dated payment requests and recurring payment requests can, dependent upon a particular service provider, be either a process date or a due date. In a process date context, the subscriber-specified date triggers payment processing. The actual date on which a payee receives funds is dependent upon the type of remittance issued at the completion of payment processing. For payment of a bill, a payer must specify a payment date which takes into account payment processing and delivery time to ensure that the payee receives funds by the bill's due date.
In a due date context, the subscriber is specifying when a payee must receive funds. Thereinafter, a service provider determines when payment processing should start to ensure that funds are received by the subscriber-specified due date. A service provider often utilizes standard lead time to determine when payment processing should start. A service provider establishes a standard lead time by determining if a particular payee is an electronic merchant or an electronic payee. Often the standard lead time for electronic merchants and electronic payees is indicated as two days, and the standard lead time for non-electronic merchants and non-electronic payees is indicated as four business days. Standard lead times are based upon common knowledge that electronic information typically takes up to two days to reach a recipient, and that physical delivery of information typically takes up to four days to reach a recipient.
For immediate, future, and recurring payment dates a service provider cannot accurately and immediately inform a subscriber as to when payment will be completed. One reason is that payment processing is often utilized to determine a type of remittance, i.e., paper or electronic. Electronic remittance typically results in delivery of remittance to a payee in a shorter amount of time than paper remittance. For those service providers that perform payment processing in a batch mode at some time subsequent to receiving a payment request, these service providers cannot inform a subscriber, at the time the subscriber submits payment request, when remittance will be delivered to a payee, because the form of remittance is not known at the time, unless, of course, the service provider makes all, or most, payments according to a single payment mechanism.
Some service providers require that a subscriber establish a payee list. A payee list identifies payees a subscriber intends to pay utilizing services of the service provider. The process to establish an entry in a payee list is known as payee set-up. During payee-set up a subscriber provides to a service provider information identifying a payee, including at least the payee's name and address. The electronic payment service provider stores this information, often in a subscriber profile database, for later use in making payment to set-up payees.
For a payment request that originates at a Web-based interface, and sometimes other type interfaces, a subscriber's payee list is presented for the subscriber to select a payee for the payment request. Sometimes a presented payee list includes a standard lead time for each included electronic payee and each included non-electronic payee for the subscriber to utilize in determining a date of the payment request. That is, a presented payee list will have at most two different standard lead times, one for electronic payees and one for non-electronic payees. A presented lead time informs a subscriber that it may be expected that payment to a payee will be completed within a certain time frame. Standard lead time information is often stored with payee lists.
Another reason a service provider cannot accurately and immediately inform a subscriber as to when payment will be completed is that there is typically considerable variance between payees as to when received remittance will be posted in an Accounts Receivable ledger. Further, when remittance is paper, physical delivery of the remittance is typically out of control of the electronic payment service provider.
As a result of a service provider being unable to accurately and immediately inform a subscriber as to when a payment will be completed, a subscriber cannot retain control of funds for as long as possible, and cannot efficiently manage cash flow. Further, some payees receive late payment even when a payment request is submitted to a service provider prior to a due date of a payment. Consequently, a subscriber often has to assume a "worst-case" scenario and schedule the payment with more than the necessary lead time.
Accordingly, a need exists for a technique for an electronic payment service provider to accurately and immediately inform a subscriber as to when a payment to a payee will be completed.
Some service providers offer notification of pending due bill payments when those service providers electronically present those bills. Whenever an electronic bill is available for presentment the service provider presenting the bill transmits a notification to the appropriate subscriber that the electronic bill is available for viewing. This notification is sometimes an email notification, other times it is EBP application-based. In application situations a notification is not delivered to a subscriber until the subscriber accesses a service provider system via a network and provides log-in information, such as user name and password. Thereafter a notification is transmitted from the service provider system to the subscriber. Some service providers transmit a second notification if a payment request to pay a bill has not been received prior to a predetermined time before a due date of the bill. Other service providers transmit not only a notification of bill availability, but bill summary information, such as amount and due date, to a subscriber. Notices transmitted by some service providers also often include a link for submitting a payment request to pay the bill with which a notice is associated.
Other service providers offer the service of automatic payment of a bill. This service is known as autopay. In autopay, a biller transmits billing information, which may be bill summary information or bill detail information, to a service provider. Upon receipt, the service provider pays the bill on behalf of the subscriber without receiving a payment request to pay that particular bill. Oftentimes the received billing information is never electronically presented to the subscriber by the EBP service provider in autopay techniques. The subscriber provides the service provider with authorization to autopay a particular biller, and may even establish conditions for doing so.
As will be understood from the discussion above, the only bills that a subscriber might receive notification of having payment due, from an EBP service provider, are bills which that EBP service provider electronically presents. Further, no service provider that does not electronically present bills provides notification of payment being due.
Accordingly a need exists for a technique of notifying a subscriber of a due payment of a bill that is not electronically presented by a service provider.
Typically included in a biller's bill is posting information associated with a previous payment made by a customer, whether that be a payment made by the customer, or a payment made on behalf of the customer by a service provider. This posting information includes at least a date upon which the previous payment was applied to the customer's account with the biller. Some billers offer telephone-based or Web-based systems through which a customer can receive early posting information associated with a previous payment, no matter what entity made the payment.
The services offered by electronic payment service providers and EBP service providers have become widely accepted. Millions of bills are electronically presented to subscribers each month, and millions of payments are completed on behalf of subscribers each month. Many subscribers pay all of their bills utilizing an electronic payment service provider or an EBP service provider. Thus, a service provider has become a central point of bill payment activity for these subscribers.
Many subscribers desire to know, prior to receiving a next bill, when payments have been posted. These subscribers must contact billers directly, as discussed above, to obtain posting information instead of receiving posting information from a service provider. Thus, even though a subscriber pays a bill utilizing an electronic payment service, and may even have received that bill from the service provider offering the electronic payment service, that subscriber must interact directly with a biller to obtain posting information prior to receiving a next bill. To date, no electronic payment service provider and no EBP service provider offers the service of providing early posting information to subscribers. At most, some service providers present completed payment information stored in a payment history to subscribers. This lets a subscriber know to whom a payment was made, the payment amount, and when remittance was issued, but not posting information. Some subscribers contact a service provider seeking early posting information, which is costly in customer service.
Accordingly, a need exists for a technique for a service provider, whether that service provider is an electronic payment service provider or an EBP service provider, to make early posting information available to a subscriber.
A claim arises when a payment, for some reason, cannot be correctly posted at a payee. This could be due to failure to properly deliver any portion of the payment to the payee, or failure of the payee to properly handle the received payment. For example, the payee does not properly identity a payor's account to credit. Typically, a claim will arise because the service provider based a payment on incorrect and/or incomplete information obtained from a subscriber during payee set-up. Also, some subscriber-provided information might be correct when it is provided during payee set-up, but due to changes made by a payee, it becomes incorrect and/or incomplete over time. These changes include, but are not limited to, payee name and address changes and account scheme changes.
Either a payee or a subscriber can bring a claim to the attention of a service provider. A payee brings a claim to attention oftentimes when the payee cannot identify the correct subscriber (customer/payor of the payee) with which to associate the payment received from the service provider. In some such instances, a payee might post a payment to a wrong account. In other such instances, a payee might actually return a payment to a service provider because the payee cannot identify any customer. A subscriber brings a claim to attention oftentimes when a payee does not post a payment in a timely manner, or at all.
Claim resolution is a process in which claims support personnel associated with a service provider aid in resolving a claim. That is, they work with the payee and/or the subscriber to ensure that a payment is correctly posted.
If a payment is posted by a payee to a wrong account, or posted to the correct account late, a service provider is not aware of this unless and until a subscriber brings a claim to the attention of the service provider. Also, if a payee cannot post a payment to any account, a service provider is not aware of this unless and until either a subscriber or a payee brings a claim to the attention of the service provider.
Unposted payment and untimely payment posting cost a subscriber in one or more of damaged credit rating, late fees, interest charges, and service interruptions. Claim resolution associated with unposted and untimely posted payments both service providers and payees in man-hours. There currently is no technique for a service provider to recognize that an issued payment has not been posted or timely posted without intervention from a subscriber and/or a payee.
Accordingly, a need exists for a technique for a service provider to ensure that an issued payment is timely posted without requiring a subscriber and/or a payee to notify the service provider of a posting problem.
Introduced above, payment service providers provide remittance advice to payees in association with payments made on behalf of subscribers. In each of the five payment mechanisms discussed above, remittance advice is received essentially concurrent with, or exactly concurrent with, a credit. A payment service provider issuing remittance has knowledge of the payment from the instance of processing a received payment request. However, a payee has no knowledge of the payment until remittance is actually received.
Payees, especially billers, often maintain information associated with received payments. Payees utilize this maintained information for a myriad of purposes, including, but not limited to, customer relationship management (CRM), customer service, and cash flow forecasting.
CRM techniques are utilized to maximize profits received from a payee. This includes tracking a payee's behavior, including purchasing habits and/or payment habits, to identify up-sell and cross-sell opportunities. Thus, maintained payment information is often utilized to identify payees that payors wish to target to maximize profits.
Customer service includes claim resolution, discussed above. Thus, maintained payment information is often utilized in resolution of payment posting problems, as well as resolution of other customer service issues. In clash flow forecasting a payee projects funds receipt based upon, among other factors, the timing of receipt of past payments. Thus, maintained payment information is often utilized to determine future income.
A payee cannot utilize information associated with a payment made by a payment service provider on behalf of a payor in CRM, customer service, and cash flow forecasting until that payee receives the payment from the payment service provider, even though the payment service provider has knowledge of the payment prior to issuing remittance to complete the payment. Accordingly, a need exists for a payment technique in which information associated with a payment is available for use by a payee prior to a payment service provider issuing the payment to the payee.

Technique for information flow to payees


A moire interferometer which is both portable and shielded from the environment, as well as a corresponding moire interferometric method, are disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains generally to moire interferometry, and more particularly to a portable moire interferometer and to a corresponding moire interferometric method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Moire interferometry is an optical technique for measuring the in-plane displacements of a specimen under load. As described, for example, in Chapter 4 of the book by Daniel Post, Bongtae Han and Peter Ifju entitled High Sensitivity Moire (Springer-Verlag, New York, 1994), and as depicted in FIG. 1, in moire interferometry the specimen surface of interest is provided with a crossed-line diffraction grating, i.e., a diffraction grating having grating lines in two orthogonal directions. This specimen grating deforms together with the specimen when the specimen is subjected to a mechanical or thermal load. Therefore, the in-plane deformations suffered by the specimen grating represent the in-plane deformations suffered by the specimen.
As depicted in FIG. 1, when measuring displacements in, for example, the X-direction via moire interferometry, two mutually coherent beams of light, B.sub.1 and B.sub.2, of identical wavelength, lambda.sub.x, which lie in the X-Z plane, are impinged upon the specimen grating. These beams are impinged at angles of, respectively, +alpha.sub.x and -alpha.sub.x, relative to the normal to the specimen surface, and each beam is reflectively diffracted by the specimen grating. Significantly, the angles +alpha.sub.x and -alpha.sub.x (which are of equal magnitudes) are chosen so that each incident beam results in a diffraction order, i.e., the +1 diffraction order or the -1 diffraction order, which emerges from the specimen grating perpendicularly to the specimen surface. Such a choice implies that alpha.sub.x, lambda.sub.x and the specimen grating frequency in the X-direction, f.sub.sx, satisfy the relationship EQU sin alpha.sub.x =lambda.sub.x *f.sub.sx ( 1)
The resulting two diffraction orders then interfere with one another to produce a moire fringe pattern, which is readily imaged with a camera, as depicted in FIG. 1. It should be noted that such a fringe pattern constitutes a contour map where displacements in the X-direction, U, are related to fringe order, N.sub.x, by EQU U=N.sub.x /2f.sub.sx. ( 2)
If displacements in the Y-direction are to be measured, then two mutually coherent beams of light, B.sub.3 and B.sub.4, of identical wavelength, lambda.sub.y, which lie in the Y-Z plane, are impinged upon the specimen grating. Again, the beams B.sub.3 and B.sub.4 are impinged at angles of, respectively, +alpha.sub.y and -alpha.sub.y, relative to the normal to the specimen surface. As before, the angles +alpha.sub.y and -alpha.sub.y are chosen so that each incident beam results in a diffraction order which emerges from the specimen grating, perpendicularly to the specimen surface. This implies that alpha.sub.y, lambda.sub.y and the specimen grating frequency in the Y-direction, f.sub.sy satisfy the relationship EQU sin alpha.sub.y =lambda.sub.y *f.sub.sy ( 3)
The interference between the resulting two diffraction orders then produces a moire fringe pattern which is also readily imaged with a camera. As before, such a fringe pattern constitutes a contour map where displacements in the Y-direction, V, are related to fringe order, N.sub.y, by EQU V=N.sub.y /2f.sub.sy ( 4)
Obviously, if the wavelengths lambda.sub.x and lambda.sub.y are equal to one another, and these identical wavelengths are denoted by lambda, and if the specimen grating frequencies f.sub.sx and f.sub.sy are equal to one another, and these identical frequencies are denoted by f.sub.s, then it follows from Eqs. (1) and (3) that EQU sin alpha.sub.x =sin alpha.sub.y =lambda*f.sub.s, (5)
and therefore EQU alpha.sub.x =alpha.sub.y =alpha. (6)
In addition, from Eqs (2) and (4), it follows that EQU U=N.sub.x /2f.sub.s ( 7)
and EQU V=N.sub.y /2f.sub.s. (8)
Interestingly, the concept of a virtual diffraction grating is sometimes used to explain the above-described diffraction and interference phenomena. That is, it is sometimes imagined that each pair of incident, coherent beams of light, e.g., the pair B.sub.1 and B.sub.2, initially interfere with one another in front of the specimen grating to form a virtual diffraction grating having a grating frequency, f, where EQU f=2*sin alpha/lambda=2*f.sub.s. (9)
It is then imagined that the virtual grating is superimposed upon the specimen grating, and the interaction between the two gratings forms a fringe pattern.
With reference now to FIG. 2, a conventional moire interferometer 10 typically includes a source of coherent light, such as a laser 20. This source serves to produce a collimated beam of coherent light which is impinged upon a beam splitter 30. The latter serves to creates two mutually coherent beams of light, which are directed to mirrors 40 and 50. These mirrors then serve to direct the two coherent beams of light to a specimen diffraction grating 70 mounted on a specimen 60. The two resulting diffraction orders which emerge from the specimen diffraction grating 70 interfere with each other to produce a moire fringe pattern, which is imaged with a camera.
It should be noted that prior to subjecting the specimen 60 to a mechanical or thermal load and imaging the corresponding moire fringe pattern, it is essential that the positions of the mirrors 40 and 50 be initially adjusted to achieve a null field. That is, in the absence of a load on the specimen 60, the positions of the mirrors 40 and 50 must be adjusted so as to achieve a moire fringe pattern which has no fringes, or no more than a minimum number of fringes. Otherwise, the moire fringe pattern produced when the specimen is subjected to a load will contain fringes which are unrelated to the load and are therefore misleading.
Although not shown in FIG. 2, a conventional moire interferometer includes the optical elements, described above, mounted on a relatively large optical table. Consequently, such a conventional moire interferometer is not at all portable, which limits its utility. Moreover, the optical elements of a conventional moire interferometer are necessarily exposed to the surrounding air, and therefore to air currents. But, such air currents can induce changes in refractive index which, in turn, can, for example, alter the optical path length of one of the beams incident on the specimen diffraction grating. Such a change in optical path length can introduce significant errors into the corresponding moire fringe pattern.
One attempt to overcome the lack of portability of conventional moire interferometer is described by D. Mollenhauer, P. G. Ifju and B. Han in "A Compact, Economical and Versatile Moire Interferometer", Proc. 1993 SEM Spring Conference on Experimental Mechanics, Society for Experimental Mechanics, Bethel, Conn., pp. 954-963 (1993). Here, the authors describe a new design for what is, in effect, a portable moire interferometer. In this design, the main structural feature is an aluminum ring, on which all of the optical elements are mounted. One of these optical elements is a crossed-line reference diffraction grating having a grating frequency of 1200 lines per millimeter (lines/mm).
In the operation of the above-described portable moire interferometer, a coherent light beam from a He-Ne laser is communicated by a single-mode optical fiber to optical elements mounted on the aluminum ring, which serve to direct this light beam at normal incidence onto the reference diffraction grating. This beam is then diffracted by both sets of grating lines to produce +1 and -1 diffraction orders in two orthogonal planes. These two pairs of mutually coherent beams of light are then directed by four mirrors mounted on the aluminum ring, two of which are manually adjustable, toward a crossed-line specimen diffraction grating. As a result, moire fringe patterns corresponding to in-plane displacements in both the X- and Y-directions are achieved.
While the above-described moire interferometer is portable and therefore overcomes one of the disadvantages associated with conventional moire interferometers, all of the optical elements of this moire interferometer are still exposed to the surrounding air. Therefore, this moire interferometer is still subject to undesirable changes in refractive index associated with air currents.
Thus, those engaged in the development of moire interferometry have sought, thus far without success, moire interferometers which are both portable and shielded from the surrounding Environment.

Portable moire interferometer and corresponding moire interferometric method

International Business Machines Corporation


There is disclosed a showcase provided with a light device capable of simplifying a maintenance operation and improving a cooling efficiency in a display chamber. In a showcase 1 of the present invention, a display chamber 11 is formed in an insulating wall 2 to display commodities in the display chamber 11 while cooling the commodities, the showcase includes LED lights 40 which illuminate the inside of the display chamber 11, and a light transmitting shade 46 which covers the LED lights 40, and the shade 46 has a structure to diffuse light from the LED lights 40.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a showcase in which a display chamber is formed in an insulating wall to display commodities in the display chamber while cooling the commodities. More particularly, it relates to lights in the display chamber.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, as this type of showcase, for example, there has been an open showcase 100 disclosed in Patent Document 1 and shown in FIG. 10. FIG. 10 shows a vertical side view of the conventional open showcase 100. In this open showcase 100, cold air is discharged from a discharge port 103 formed in an upper edge of an opening 102 of an insulating wall 101 having a substantially U-shaped section toward a suction port 104 of a lower edge of the opening 102, whereby a cold air curtain is formed in the opening 102. In consequence, the inside of a display chamber 105 surrounded with the insulating wall 101 is cooled to a predetermined temperature. Then, a plurality of fluorescent lamps 108 are attached to a canopy 107 positioned outside the upper edge of the opening 102, opposite side edges of the opening 102 and lower surfaces of front parts of shelves 106 to illuminate the inside of the display chamber 105 and the showcase 100 itself.
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-146346
However, in the conventional open showcase 100, the fluorescent lamps 108 are used as light devices, and the fluorescent lamps 108 are provided on an upper front part of the display chamber 105, the lower surfaces of the shelves 106 disposed in the display chamber 105 and the like, so that there has been a problem that a thermal load is generated in the display chamber 105 owing to the fluorescent lamps 108. A usual fluorescent lamp converts electric energy into visible radiation, infrared radiation and ultraviolet radiation to radiate a visible ray for use as the light. In this case, a thermal loss is generated, and hence there is a problem that the inside of the display chamber 105 is heated by not only the fluorescent lamps themselves but also radiant heat of the fluorescent lamps.
Therefore, in a cooling showcase in which the inside of the display chamber 105 is cooled to the predetermined temperature, a cooling operation is performed in consideration of a thermal load due to the light, so that a cooling efficiency lowers. In consequence, there has been a problem that steep rise of running cost is incurred. Commodities displayed in the display chamber 105 are irradiated with an ultraviolet ray, so that there is a problem that the commodities are adversely affected.
Furthermore, the fluorescent lamps have a problem that flicker is generated owing to use of an alternating current, so that there is a problem that eyes are adversely affected.
In addition, to attach the fluorescent lamps 108 in the display chamber 105, components such as sockets and stabilizers are required. Therefore, in attachment positions, attachment places for not only the fluorescent lamps but also the sockets, stabilizers and the like need to be secured. The fluorescent lamps have to be connected to wires in order to supply power to the lamps. There are problems that assembly operability is deteriorated and that increase of the number of the components and steep rise of production cost are incurred.
In recent years, a thickness of the whole shelves 106 tends to be reduced for a purpose of improving a display efficiency in the display chamber 105. In actual, there is a problem that a thickness dimension of each shelf 106 is limited by the fluorescent lamp provided under the shelf 106.
Moreover, a replacement operation of the fluorescent lamps 108 is forcibly required owing to luminance decrease and light defect caused with elapse of years. Therefore, a user is forced to perform the replacement operation of the fluorescent lamps 108, and the operation disadvantageously becomes laborious. The new fluorescent lamp 108 for replacement needs to be always prepared, and a storage place of the fluorescent lamp 108 needs to be secured. Furthermore, the fluorescent lamp 108 contains mercury, resulting in a problem that the used fluorescent lamp 108 cannot easily be discarded.


The invention is directed to methods of transfering catalyst particles into and within reaction systems. The reaction systems are those that use catalysts that comprise molecular sieves, particularly metalloaluminophosphate molecular sieves, especially metalloaluminophosphate molecular sieves which are susceptible to loss of catalytic activity due to contact with water molecules. The transfer methods provide appropriate mechanisms for transporting catalyst into and within a reactor to protect against loss of catalytic activity that can occur due to contact with water molecules.

Molecular sieves are generally derived from alumina silicate materials and contain a pore system, which is a network of uniform pores and empty cavities. These pores and cavities catch molecules that have a size equal to or less than the size of the pores and cavities, and repel molecules of a larger size.
The pores and cavities of molecular sieves are formed as a result of adding template materials during the molecular sieve manufacturing process. During the formation of the molecular sieves themselves, a lattice type chemical structure is formed from the alumina silicate type materials. This lattice type structure essentially wraps around the template material, with the template material acting as a means of forming the pore structure within the molecular sieve. The resulting molecular sieve may be combined with other components for the benefit of adjusting various properties of the molecular sieve or to form larger particles.
To make the molecular sieve suitable for use, the template must be removed so that the pores and cavities are open to catch molecules, either for the purpose of adsorbing the molecules from the environment or to react the molecules to form a desired product. The reaction occurs when the molecules come into contact with catalytic sites located within the pore system, particularly within one or more of the empty cavities or cages as sometimes called.
The template is conventionally removed from the molecular sieve by calcining or burning out the template. An elution process can also be used to remove the template, although calcination is preferred. Once the template is removed, the molecular sieve is considered to be activated or ready for use. The activated molecular sieve has its pore system, including the empty cavities or cages open to the immediate environment, and ready for use.
Activated metalloaluminophosphate molecular sieves that have catalytic sites within their microporous structure, e.g., silicoaluminophosphate (SAPO) molecular sieves, have been found to be sensitive to moisture. In general, significant exposure of the activated molecular sieves to moisture has been found to deactivate the catalytic activity of the molecular sieves. Unfortunately, methods of protecting activated metalloaluminophosphate molecular sieves against the harmful effects of moisture are limited.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,316,683 B1 (Janssen et al.) discloses a method of protecting catalytic activity of a SAPO molecular sieve by shielding the internal active sites of the molecular sieve from contact with moisture. The template itself can serve as the shield, or an anhydrous blanket can serve as a shield for an activated sieve that does not include template. It is desirable to shield the active sites, because activated SAPO molecular sieves will exhibit a loss of catalytic activity when exposed to moisture.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,764,269 (Edwards et al.) discloses a method of protecting SAPO-37 catalyst from deactivating as a result of contact with moisture. The catalyst is maintained under storage conditions such that the organic template component of the molecular sieve is retained in the SAPO-37 molecular sieve, until such time as the catalyst is placed into a catalytic cracking unit. When the catalyst is exposed to the FCC reaction conditions, wherein the reactor is operated at 400° to 600° C. and the regenerator operated at about 600° to 850° C., the organic template is removed from the molecular sieve pore structure, and the catalyst becomes activated for the cracking of hydrocarbons. According to this procedure, there is little if any contact with moisture.
Mees et al., "Improvement of the Hydrothermal Stability of SAPO-34," Chem. Commun., 2003, (1), 44-45, first published as an advance article on the web Nov. 22, 2002, discloses a method of protecting SAPO-34 molecular sieve, based on a reversible reaction of NH3 with acid sites of the sieve. The method transforms a H+-SAPO-34 into an NH4+-SAPO-34 in reversible way. The NH4+-SAPO-34 is said to be able to withstand severe steaming for an extended period of time without loss of structural integrity and acidity.
As new large scale, commercial production facilities, which use molecular sieves in the production process, continue to be implemented, protecting the activated molecular sieves from loss of catalytic activity as a result of contact with moisture continues to become an even greater challenge. What is needed are additional methods for reducing the exposure of catalyst particles to water molecules, so that the amount of water vapor that comes into contact with catalyst particles is controlled and minimized throughout the reaction system.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method of transferring catalyst in a reaction system


A manually operated reciprocating liquid pump of the type comprising a plunger that reciprocates vertically in a pump chamber to dispense liquid from a container to which the pump is attached includes a vent opening to vent air to the interior of the container as liquid is drawn from the container by the pump. The pump plunger locks in its vertically downward position in the pump chamber and is provided with a stopper that plugs the vent opening and prevents liquid in the container from passing through the vent opening when the plunger is in its locked position.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to a manually operated reciprocating liquid pump of the type comprising a plunger that reciprocates vertically in a pump chamber to dispense liquid from a container to which the pump is attached. The pump includes a vent opening to vent air to the interior of the container as liquid is drawn from the container by the pump. The pump plunger locks in its vertically downward position in the pump chamber and is provided with a stopper that plugs the vent opening and prevents liquid in the container from passing through the vent opening when the plunger is in its locked position.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Manually operated reciprocating liquid pumps are typically comprised of a vertically oriented pump chamber having a dip tube extending from its bottom end and a closure cap at its top end employed in attaching the pump to a liquid container. A vertically reciprocating piston is received in the pump chamber and a hollow tubular plunger extends upwardly from the piston to a dispensing head at the top end of the plunger. A spring is positioned between the bottom of the pump chamber and the piston and biases the piston, plunger and dispensing head upwardly. The plunger is manually depressed downwardly and returns upwardly under the bias of the spring when operating the pump to draw liquid from the container interior into the pump chamber and then through the plunger hollow interior and the dispensing head. An example of such a manually operated reciprocating liquid pump is disclosed in the U.S. Patent of Foster et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,401,148, which is incorporated herein by reference.
Many manually operated reciprocating liquid pumps such as that disclosed in the above-referenced patent are provided with vent openings. The vent openings communicate the exterior atmosphere of the pump with the interior of the container when the pump plunger is reciprocated between its charge and discharge positions. The vent openings allow air to pass through the openings and enter the liquid container to fill the volume in the container interior left vacant by the liquid being dispensed by the operation of the pump. Without such vent openings, as liquid is dispensed from the container a vacuum would be created in the container that would eventually overcome the vacuum created by the pump piston moving to its charge position in the pump chamber, preventing the pump from drawing further liquid into the pump chamber, or could possibly result in the collapsing of the container inwardly on itself.
As disclosed in the above-referenced patent, many vent openings are provided in a sidewall of the pump chamber above the path of travel or the stroke of the pump piston. It has been observed that, with the pump plunger pushed downwardly to its discharge position and locked when not in use, if the container and pump are positioned on their side the liquid filling the container will pass through the vent opening and enter the portion of the pump chamber above the piston. The liquid filling the pump chamber surrounds the exterior surface of the plunger. The next time the pump is prepared for use by unlocking the plunger and permitting the spring to push the plunger out of the pump chamber to the charge position of the piston, residue of the liquid surrounding the plunger above the piston often adheres to the plunger. It is often undesirable to have the liquid product adhering to the exterior surface of the extended plunger where it can come into contact with the user's clothing possibly staining the clothing, and where it gives a generally undesirable appearance to the extended pump plunger.
This problem with prior art manually reciprocated pumps could be overcome if the pump were provided with a mechanism that would close the vent opening when the pump was not in use, thereby preventing the undesirable leakage of liquid through the vent opening into the pump chamber if the pump and container were positioned on their side.

Manually operated reciprocating liquid pump with sealing vent opening

Continental Sprayers International, Inc.


An information processing apparatus for customizing a printer driver includes a receiving unit, a detection unit, and a notification unit. The receiving unit receives a fixing instruction to fix a specific setting item on the printer driver at a specific setting through operation input from an operator. The detection unit detects a setting that is a setting of a different setting item from the specific setting item and that is in a prohibited relationship with the specific setting as a corresponding prohibited setting resulting from the fixing instruction. The notification unit notifies the operator of the corresponding prohibited setting detected by the detection unit.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a program for customizing a printer driver and a technique related thereto.
2. Background Art
Some printer drivers can be customized by their administrators. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-040002 (Patent Document 1) discloses a technique for fixing the settings of some setting items on a printer driver, using a program for customizing a printer driver (also referred to as the "customization program"). To be more specific, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for fixing a specific setting item (e.g., "Print Type") at a specific setting (e.g., "Two-Sided Printing") in accordance with operation input from an administrator (in other words, preventing the specific setting item from being changed to a setting other than the specific setting). For example, when the setting item "Print Type" on a printer driver is fixed to "Two-Sided Printing", print processing in an image forming apparatus is always executed with the setting "Two-Sided Printing," and thus it is possible to reduce the cost of printing such as paper.
Meanwhile, there is a plurality of settings of different setting items that cannot be used in combination (hereinafter, "prohibited settings" or "prohibited conditions") due to functional limitations and/or the specifications of the apparatus. In other words, there are prohibited conditions concerning prohibited combinations of a plurality of settings.
When a specific setting item on a printer driver is fixed at a specific setting, there can possibly be a setting that is in a prohibited relationship with the specific setting. For example, when the setting item "Print Type" is fixed at "Two-Sided Printing," relatively small paper (e.g., "A6" size paper) cannot be used, and as a result, settings such as "A6" of a setting item "Paper Size" become prohibited settings.
In view of this, Patent Document 1 described above discloses a technique used in a printer driver for graying out (disabling) options corresponding to settings that are unavailable due to prohibition processing (settings that meet prohibited conditions). In other words, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for preventing settings that are in a prohibited relationship with the specific setting of the specific setting item fixed upon receipt of an instruction to fix the specific setting item (fixing instruction) from being selected on setting screens of the printer driver.
Incidentally, in situations where a printer driver is customized by an administrator as described above, it is preferable for the administrator to know settings that are in a prohibited relationship with a specific setting item fixed at a specific setting (settings of different setting items from the specific setting item). In other words, it is preferable for the administrator to know settings in the printer driver that are made unavailable upon receipt of the fixing instruction.
However, in the case of using the technique of Patent Document 1 described above, normally, the administrator customizes a printer driver using the aforementioned customization program and then distributes the customized printer driver to users of the printer driver. At last the users of the printer driver know the presence of settings that are made unavailable as a result of fixing processing (customization processing) at the stage of using the printer driver. In other words, the administrator or the like who has customized the printer driver cannot know settings that will be made unavailable as a result of fixing processing, at the stage before the printer driver is used.

Information processing apparatus and recording medium


The invention pertains to osteoclast transporter proteins and genes encoding such proteins, as well as fragments and biologically functional variants thereof. The invention also pertains to therapeutics and diagnostics involving the foregoing proteins and genes and agents that bind the foregoing proteins and genes, to influence osteoclast activity and bone remodeling.

The remodeling of bone is a dynamic process. Cells continuously lay down and resorb bone material. An imbalance in the activity of cells that lay down new bone (osteoblasts) and cells that resorb bone (osteoclasts) can result in serious, and sometimes even fatal, disorders.
Osteoporosis is a term used for a number of diseases of diverse etiology, all involving a reduction in the mass of bone per unit volume. Osteoporosis is the most common of the metabolic bone diseases. Twenty-five million people in the United States and more than two hundred million people worldwide are affected by osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is frequent among post-menopausal women and is an important cause of morbidity in the elderly. It commonly results in bone fractures, and death can be a frequent occurance in the months following fractures, particularly those of the hip in elderly individuals.
Osteopetrosis is a disorder involving an increase in the mass of bone per unit volume. Its incidence is rare compared to osteoporosis, but it typically is life threatening. Despite having multiple causes, a defect in bone resorption is always the underlying mechanism. In many instances, the disorder is inherited as an autosomal recessive trait and involves abnormal osteoclast function. Bone marrow transplants from normal donors have been attempted to restore normal osteoclast precursor cells, but this therapy has shown only limited success.
Present treatments for osteoporosis and osteopetrosis are inadequate.
There exists a need to influence favorably the bone remodeling process to treat osteoporosis and osteopetrosis. There also exists a need to identify the gene(s) responsible for osteopetrosis and to provide a genetic therapy for treating osteopetrosis.
An object of the invention is to provide compounds that desirably influence the bone remodeling process.
Another object of the invention is to provide therapeutics for treating osteoporosis.
Another object of the invention is to provide therapeutics for treating osteopetrosis.
Still another object of the invention is to provide diagnostics and research tools relating to osteoporosis and osteopetrosis. These and other objects will be described in greater detail below.


An ejectable/retractable interface module is disclosed. AN exemplary interface module may include a display trolley assembly, and a display module pivotally connected to the display trolley assembly. A management cable connects the display module to a computer board in the display trolley assembly. The display trolley assembly and display module are configured for during ejection and retraction in a blade enclosure so that the display module folds flat and retracts into the blade enclosure to reduce damage during shipping. The display module pivots to a desired viewing angle during use.

Rack systems are widely available in a variety of different sizes and configurations. In general, rack systems enable high-density computer systems in which processing units, storage units, and other peripheral devices are provided as modules (also referred to as "blade enclosures") that can be readily added, removed, replaced, or upgraded without having to replace the entire computer system.
Often, these rack systems are provided with separate interface modules (e.g., display and/or keypad devices), and due to space constraints the interface modules are typically connected to the rack system in front of the blade enclosures so as not to waste any space. As the density of electronic enclosures increases, space for peripheral components such as interface modules (e.g., input devices and displays) has grown smaller and more limited. In order to accommodate an interface module, it has to be positioned in front of the blade slots. With the interface modules in front of the blades slots, however, it is not feasible to have a protective sheet metal structure surrounding the interface module, leaving it vulnerable to damage during shipping/handling.
In previous designs, interface modules are mounted in front of the power supplies. The display slides from side to side to offer access to the power supplies. The interface device is protected from damage by a sheet metal structure at the top and bottom of the interface device. However, the middle of the interface device (e.g., the display portion) is still susceptible to damage during shipping/handling and installation of the product into the rack environment.

Ejectable/retractable interface module for a computer system

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


An improved fishing pant or hunting wader, exposure suit or foul weather pants/bib incorporates a novel waterproof connectable hatch to provide access for urination. The low profile and lightweight waterproof hatch is centered over the groin area and allows the wearer of a fishing wader, or similar foul weather gear pants, to be able to quickly open the hatch and urinate without removing the cumbersome garment. A hinged or connectable lid may swing upwards and downwards and features a hook-and-loop fastener, a magnetic, or mechanical fastener so that the lid is held up in place and out of the way. After urination, the lid may conveniently snap back into place against a seal or O-ring thereby forming a water tight seal. A middle line separates an aperture top half and bottom half, wherein the top half comprises a larger amount of surface area as compared to the bottom half.

Waist and chest waders are commonly used worldwide by both fly fishermen, spin fishermen, hunters and the like. Modern waders typically have built-in feet and in many cases, these are built-in stocking feet or neoprene-type feet or boots. Similar equipment is worn by crab fishermen or other mariners in foul weather situations wherein chest-type rain pants with suspenders are used with a jacket over the top. In a fly or spin fishing application, a fishing vest is normally worn over the wader suspenders and also a foul weather jacket may be placed over top. For example, when a fisherman is in Alaska, it is not unusual for the fisherman to have on a pair of undergarments, such as jeans over a fleece, the chest waders and suspenders, a fly fishing vest, a rain proof over jacket, a wading safety belt, and another belt containing either a canister of pepper spray or a pistol for protection against bears and other wildlife.
For both fishing and foul weather gear applications, the wader or rain protection garment may be worn for many hours or even an entire day. Hunting waders are also very popular. Hunting waders come in a variety of camouflage patterns and accommodate the hunter who is wading through bogs or tundra or even lakes (for example—duck hunters). Another name for these systems is "Waders With Bibs." One is referred to any search engine of the internet where one can enter the search term "waders" and see the wide variety that is available. Fishing wader manufacturers include Cabela's®, Orvis®, Simms®, Redbull®, Hodgman® and many others. Waders can either be simple waders or rain protection suits. Pants or chest high waders can be rubber or of modern high technical fabrics that breathe, such as Gore-tex®.
Taking the waders and all of this equipment off to urinate is a real hassle. Not only is it inconvenient, but in a driving rain storm, one can get very wet during the process. For an Alaska fly fisherman, taking off and laying down your fly fishing vest and jacket often results in it being laid along the muddy banks of a river or worse. Furthermore, taking off all of the gear could temporarily leave a fisherman or hunter without access to a firearm or bear spray if the need to defend themselves from wildlife occurred at that same moment. Even if this unfortunate situation never happens, it is still quite disconcerting to the fisherman or hunter every time they need to remove their gear and put themselves in greater harm.
Dehydration is another important issue which can happen to a fly fisherman or hunter. With the advent of modern breathable waders, it is now possible to hike for many miles wearing your waders. In July and August of 2012, the inventors of this patent application extensively fished Southeast Alaska's rivers and streams. The inventors found there is a tendency to drink very little water because it is so much of a hassle to remove all of the gear and the waders to urinate. Leg cramps and other symptoms due to dehydration became apparent on many occasions. This is simply an unhealthy situation. What is needed is to allow a fisherman or hunter wearing a wader to drink as much as they would like and still be able to relieve themselves in a quick and efficient manner.
Many have already attempted to address such issues and concerns, yet were either unsuccessful or unable to bring their inventions to market. Orvis's® U.S. Pat. No. 7,770,235 describes a typical modern fishing wader consisting of a lightweight nylon-faced laminate material utilizing tape or sonic welds to achieve a durable, lightweight and comfortable wader. The '235 patent has no provision to facilitate urination. However, a number of rubber clothing or wader patents do disclose features for urination. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 291,854 to Platt shows a strapped opening in the front of the wader with folds to prevent water entry. This is, of course, a very crude and cumbersome approach compared to the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,385,816 illustrates a waterproof sealing closure zipper, which again, is very difficult and cumbersome to use and also, is not completely waterproof during long-term immersion, for example, in a river or a lake.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,570,019 illustrates a protrusion with a drawstring to facilitate urination. This has a number of obvious disadvantages. Not only is it aesthetically unacceptable, it would also tend to be very messy.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,746,113 illustrates yet another type of waterproof zipper, which again, is not completely waterproof during long-term immersion.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,853,758 shows a method of rolling the fabric tightly and then clamping it down to attempt a waterproof seal. This also has a lacing structure over it. Of course, all of this would be very cumbersome and probably no more efficient than simply removing the garment.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,274,159 illustrates a type of tube with a roll-up and a waterproof zipper. It is aesthetically unacceptable, messy and also cumbersome.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,601,085 illustrates a water resistant slide fastener which appears very cumbersome and difficult to use in practice.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,888,859 also illustrates a water tight slide fastener which appears to be not completely waterproof during long-term immersion.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,210,879 illustrates waders equipped with an opening and closing means to allow fisherman to urinate without having to draw the garment down. However, this opening is in the form of a tubular member, which must be coiled and then closed over with Velcro® to prevent ingress of water. Again, this is aesthetically not pleasing, messy and it is also dubious whether this would truly form a water tight seal.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,444,898 illustrates another type of water resistant closure, involving a slide fastening assembly and a pair of stringer tapes integrated with waterproof fabric. In the field, this would be difficult to use and very difficult to close back up again.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,105,214 illustrates a water resistant slide fastener with gripper elements positioned along the edges. Again, this looks like it would be very difficult to use and is of dubious quality during long-term immersion.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,223,349 illustrates a closure device for a slit opening of an aquatic sports suit. This is a type of zipper closure that may or may not be waterproof during total immersion. In any event, it would be difficult to use in the field and impractical for a chest wader. Most waders come up to well above the waist area. The drawing shown in FIG. 5 of the '349 patent is really not practical. In other words, one is not going to be able to open up the zipper at the top of the garment analogous to a pair of Levis. This is because the wader typically goes up onto the chest where there may be one or more pockets for holding fly fishing boxes and the like. This is an essential problem with all of the zipper approaches in that there is really no way to open them in the traditional way at the top. This is because the garment goes a very long way above the groin area. Zipping the entire garment, from the chest all the way down to the groin then involves pockets, a safety belt and the suspenders which rapidly becomes very impractical.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,317,893 is a good illustration of a prior art wader with a safety belt 24 and suspenders 14. This particular invention does not have provision for urination, but does illustrate the difficulty of removing the wader and pulling it down. Wader safety belt 24 is essential because if the person wearing the wader were to slip in a river or a lake, the wader legs would very quickly fill with water which could immediately add a lot of weight to the system and be life-threatening. Accordingly, one or more wader belts 24 or 18 are worn to prevent such water ingress into the system. Even if the water was not life-threatening, it would certainly wet the undergarments and make the wearer very wet and miserable for the remainder of the day.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,363,531 and Pat. No. 6,438,757 illustrate types of waterproof zippers. The '757 patent shows a zipper that is designed with a flap enclosure at the top so that it would not have to be zipped all the way up the chest area. However, the next problem it ensues is one ends up with a very narrow slit, in terms of enough of an opening, to be able to conveniently urinate.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,389,598 illustrates a sealably accessible wader system. This particular invention attempts to create a wader material that forms an opening. A removably discrete and separate closure element is detachable from the wader. This creates problems in that the closure element must be placed on the ground during urination or held with one of the user's hands. This can become awkward and difficult to operate when in use. If the closure element is placed down on the ground it can become soiled and then later interfere with the watertight seal when reattached. There is no provision to attach the closure element to the wader where it does not interfere with the urination process. Furthermore, this particular invention does not disclose or teach how such a structure will be manufactured as the wader material is not a suitable material to be used to form a water tight hatch. Wader material is substantially flexible, malleable and flowing and does not hold its shape because it is not substantially rigid. The disclosure of the patent fails to enable one skilled in the art to actually practice the invention because its structures cannot be manufactured nor do the structures work in reality.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide a convenient access hatch in the wader or equivalent garment, which can be easily flipped open allowing the wearer to urinate without removing any of the other garments, belts or accessories. None of the prior art illustrates a sealed enclosure area with a hinged lid, which can be quickly opened. The present invention provides a hinged access cover which can be round, oval or of many shapes that when shut provides a high integrity waterproof seal. It is provided with a quick release snap so that it can be opened quite readily. The opening is sufficiently large to conveniently access undergarments and to be able to urinate, and the entire system does not feature tubes or tunnels, which could become messy during urination. In addition, the access cover is provided with a convenient attachment mechanism so that it can be put up out of the way during the process. It is readily closed by snapping it back into place and once again forming a waterproof seal for the wader or garment. The present invention fulfills the needs discussed above and provides other related advantages.

Urination relief hatch for waterproof waders and foul weather gear


An in-plane switching liquid crystal display device includes an inorganic alignment layer having low anchoring energy and an organic alignment layer having higher anchoring energy than that of the inorganic alignment layer. Applying the voltage between electrodes, only liquid crystal molecules in the vicinity of the inorganic alignment layer are affected by the electric field to be twisted about 90.degree. in the liquid crystal layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device, and more particularly, to an in-plane switching mode liquid crystal display device having high brightness.
2. Discussion of Related Art
A great need has arisen recently for thin film transistor liquid crystal display devices (TFT LCD) having wide-angle images, for use in such applications as portable televisions, notebook computers, etc. However, the TFT LCD's in use today have a problem in that their contrast ratio depends on the viewing-angle. In order to overcome this problem, a number of approaches have been proposed, including, for example, a twisted nematic LCD having a mounted optical compensator, and a multi-domain LCD, among others. However, it is not expected that the contrast ratio and color shifting dependence on the viewing angle will be adequately solved by such LCDs.
Another proposal discloses an in-plane switching liquid crystal display device. It is suggested that such a device will have a wider viewing angle, as disclosed, for example, in the JAPAN DISPLAY 92 P457, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 7-36058, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 7-225338, and ASIA DISPLAY 95 P707.
FIGS. 1 and 2A-2B show a conventional in-plane switching mode liquid crystal display device. As shown in these figures, the alignment directions of the substrates 10, 11 are approximately perpendicular to the gate bus line 1 formed on the first substrate 10 to align the liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer 19. A first polarizer 25 having a polarization axis parallel to the gate bus line 1 is attached to the substrate 10, and a second polarizer 26 having polarization axis direction parallel to the alignment direction of the alignment layers 21a, 21b is attached to the second substrate 11. Data (or pixel) electrodes 5 and common electrodes 6 are formed in the direction perpendicular to the gate bus lines 1 and the data bus lines 2. The common bus line 7 is parallel to the gate bus line 1. A thin film transistor, having a gate electrode 4 connected to the gate bus line 1 and whose source/drain electrodes 3 are connected to the data bus line 2 and the pixel electrode 5, is formed at the cross region of the gate bus line 1 and the data bus line 2. The liquid crystal display device also includes a shielding layer 8 such as black matrix on the second substrate 11, a color filter layer 17, and passivation layers 16a, 16b.
When no voltage is applied, the liquid crystal molecules are obliquely aligned in the direction of the data and common electrodes 5, 6 along the alignment direction. When voltage is applied, the liquid crystal molecules are rotated and aligned parallel to the gate bus line 1 because of a horizontal electric field parallel to the gate bus line 1. The rotation of the liquid crystal molecules in turn controls the transmittance through the liquid crystal layer 19.
In this in-plane switching mode liquid crystal display device, since the liquid crystal molecules are switching parallel to the surface of the substrate 10, 11, the viewing-angle dependence problem is solved and contrast ratio is improved.
If the liquid crystal is a negative type (N-type) liquid crystal, with dielectric anisotropy .DELTA..epsilon.<0, the liquid crystal molecules 20 in the liquid crystal layer 19 are aligned perpendicular to the electrodes 5, 6 over the entire liquid crystal layer 19, when no voltage is applied, as shown in FIG. 2A. When voltage is applied, the liquid crystal molecules are rotated and aligned perpendicular to the direction of the field applied between the electrodes 5, 6 because of .DELTA..epsilon.<0. Since the first and second alignment layers 21a, 21b are made of organic materials, such as, for example, indium tin oxide (ITO), having anchoring energy higher than the turning effect of the liquid crystal molecules due to the horizontal electric field, the only rotated liquid crystal molecules are those in the vicinity of the middle plane of the liquid crystal layer 19 and not those in the vicinity of the first and second substrates 10, 11. As a result, the liquid crystal molecules 29 are aligned as shown in FIG. 2B.
FIGS. 3A-3B show an in-plane switching mode liquid crystal display device having a positive type (P-type) liquid crystal and a birefringent anisotropy .DELTA..epsilon.<0. When no voltage is applied, as shown in FIG. 3A, the liquid crystal molecules 20 are aligned approximately parallel to the data and common electrodes 5, 6. When voltage is applied, as shown in FIG. 3B, the liquid crystal molecules are rotated and aligned parallel to the direction of the electric field. At this time, however, only liquid crystal molecules 20 in the vicinity of the middle of the liquid crystal layer 19 are rotated, excluding those molecules near the first and second substrates 10, 11, due to the presence of an organic material-coated layer 21a, 21b.
In the conventional in-plane switching liquid crystal display device described above, the liquid crystal molecules are rotated only in the vicinity of the middle plane of the liquid crystal layer 19, so that light transmittance is controlled using the birefringence of the transmitting material. Thus, insufficient light passes through the liquid crystal layer causing image quality deterioration.

In-plane switching mode liquid crystal display with alignment layers of different anchoring energies


A information processing apparatus (2000) includes a determination unit (2160) and a deletion unit (2180). The determination unit (2160) determines whether feature information to be determined satisfies a predetermined condition. When feature information to be determined is determined to satisfy the predetermined condition, the deletion unit (2180) deletes the feature information to be determined from the storage apparatus (120).

At stores, such as a convenience store and a supermarket, products are displayed in display spaces. Information processing technologies to make more efficient operation relating to such display of products have been developed. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for automatically determining whether relationships between products placed in a display space and shelf labels assigned to the display space are correct by recognizing products and price tags from a captured image in which the display space is captured.
In order to recognize a specific object from a captured image, it is required to prepare information (hereinafter, referred to as feature information) representing a feature of an appearance of the object in advance. Examples of the feature information include an image of an object. In Patent Document 2, generating, from an image in which an object is included, a master image for use in the detection of the object is described.

Information processing apparatus, control method, and program


The present invention provides an energy-saving control method for a cell in a heterogeneous system, including: receiving, by an access control device of a serving cell, a service request of a multi-mode user equipment UE; and when a radio resource of the serving cell cannot satisfy the service request of the multi-mode UE, if the access control device of the serving cell determines that a heterogeneous-system neighboring cell of the serving cell is in an energy-saving state, sending, by the access control device of the serving cell, an exit energy-saving state request message to an access control device of the heterogeneous-system neighboring cell, where the exit energy-saving state request message is used to request the heterogeneous-system neighboring cell to exit the energy-saving state. The technical solution implements energy-saving control for a cell in a heterogeneous system.

A self-organizing network (SON, Self-Organizing Network) is a specific standardization task of the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project) international standard organization. The core idea thereof is to reduce, by using an automation process in network planning, deployment, optimization, and maintenance stages, conventional manual operations, thereby reducing maintenance costs of a network operator. Energy saving (ES, Energy Saving) or an energy-saving control method is a very important subject in the SON standardization task, which is especially true for a cell in a heterogeneous system or an inter-radio-access technology (Inter-RAT, Inter Radio Access Technology) cell.
A heterogeneous-system cell refers to a cell where different radio access technologies (that is, different radio standards) for example, a second generation mobile communications technology (2G, that is, Global System for Mobile Communications (Global System of Mobile communication, GSM)), a third generation mobile communications technology (3G, that is, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System, UMTS)), and a fourth generation mobile communications technology (4G, that is, a Long-Term Evolution (Long Term Evolution) system, also referred to as an LTE system), are superimposed and cover the same geographic region. Generally, a cell using a 4G standard (also referred to as an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN, Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network) cell, hereinafter referred to as an E-UTRAN cell) provides capacity extensibility for some hot spot (hot spot) areas within the region, thereby ensuring high-speed data services or multimedia services in the hot spot areas; a cell using a 3G standard (also referred to as an Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN, Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network) cell, hereinafter referred to as an UTRAN cell) or a cell using a 2G standard provides basic coverage for the entire geographic region and ensures basic services within the region, such as the provision of voice services and low- and medium-speed data services.
In the prior art, an energy-saving control method for a cell is limited to an intra-LTE (Intra-LTE) cell. That is, a cell for which energy saving can be switched on/off is an E-UTRAN cell, and in an energy-saving process, basic coverage and support is also provided by the E-UTRAN cell. The energy-saving control method is merely based on monitoring of a traffic load (traffic load) threshold of an E-UTRAN cell. However, in a scenario of energy-saving for a cell in a heterogeneous system, the method based on monitoring of a traffic load threshold of a cell in the prior art has its obvious limitation. The method cannot smoothly cater for the problem of deteriorated quality of service due to a difference between services of cells in heterogeneous systems when a multi-mode user equipment (UE, User Equipment) moves between the cells in the heterogeneous systems. This is an urgent problem to be solved for energy-saving control between cells in heterogeneous systems.

Energy-saving control method and device for cell in heterogeneous system