Patents Examined by April A. Nowlin
  • Patent number: 6354490
    Abstract: An integrated financial system that includes a single customer account that permits a customer to perform various financial transactions. The account includes at least banking components and brokerage components. A consistent user interface is provided to allow a customer to access the account from different sources including at least an automatic teller machine, a phone and a personal teller transaction. The account is flexible enough to include a variety of other components such as a credit card component, a line of credit component, a secured credit component and a money market component. A system and method for opening a single integrated account for a customer in a single session is also described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 16, 2000
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2002
    Assignee: Citibank, N.A.
    Inventors: Lawrence Weiss, Marylou Dowd
  • Patent number: 6354493
    Abstract: A method for operator feedback when utilizing an RFID reader to find a specific RFID tagged article located in a plurality of RFID tagged articles is provided. Specific search criteria associated with a desired article are entered into the RFID reader. To begin searching for the specific RFID tagged article, the RFID reader sends out an interrogation signal to the RFID tags. An RFID tag responds with the desired RFID tag data. A processor compares the number of RFID tags matching the search criteria to the total number of RFID tags received. A feedback signal is generated according to the ratio of RFID tags matching the search criteria to the total number of RFID tags received.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 1999
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2002
    Assignee: Sensormatic Electronics Corporation
    Inventor: Jorge Mon
  • Patent number: 6340117
    Abstract: An element which can be plugged into an electronic data processing (EDP) device, for receiving a user card which is equipped with components, including at least one of a processor and/or data memory, a frame having an exterior form, which is designed to accommodate the user card, a first interface for transferring data between the element and the EDP device, and a second interface formed by contacts on the user card and on the frame, for transferring data to and from the user card. The exterior form of the frame is that of a diskette so that it can be inserted into a diskette station of an EDP device. The first interface between the element and the EDP device is designed in a standard fashion, so that data can be transferred using a standard read/write device already present in the diskette station of the EDP device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2000
    Date of Patent: January 22, 2002
    Assignee: SmartDisk Corporation
    Inventors: Raymund Eisele, Axel Burkart, Paul Barrett, Andrew Ryan, Peter Holy, Shaun Tantony
  • Patent number: 6325283
    Abstract: The NYTBridge allows a user to bridge the gap between data collected by hand-held scanning devices and conventional databases used in the field of inventory management without database or procedural programming knowledge on the part of the user. The NYTBridge does this by first allowing the user to access an existing database. The user may then select data fields, such as the location of an item in inventory, from the database without writing coded database queries. The NYTBridge then allows the user to download the selected data fields as a data set along with a scanner program that will read the created data set. Both the data set and the scanner program are either saved on a PCMCIA card to be used in a scanner, or downloaded directly into the hand held scanner via either serial port communication or communication dock tethering. When the scanner program is run on the scanner, the scanner program creates a scanner file for the collected, verified and/or corrected data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2000
    Date of Patent: December 4, 2001
    Inventors: Soy Chu, Edward Chu, Steven Lin
  • Patent number: 6290130
    Abstract: The invention is a method and system for inhibiting the use of counterfeited optical memory cards and hybrid smart cards that use Drexon™ reflective laser recordable media for recording and storing data. Use of such counterfeit versions of Drexon™ optical memory cards can be inhibited by use of two or more LEDs, or semiconductor lasers, which would focus their light beams on the apparent Drexon™ optical memory stripe. Using photodetectors, the reflectivity of the Drexon™ stripe would be measured at two or more wavelengths including the visible and the infrared so as to identify the Drexon™ media, a silver particle-based material which has a unique reflectivity vs. wavelength characteristic. If the relative reflectivities match those predetermined characteristics of the Drexon™ media, the card would not be rejected; otherwise it would be rejected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 13, 2000
    Date of Patent: September 18, 2001
    Assignee: Drexler Technology Corporation
    Inventor: Jerome Drexler