Abstract: A rear mounted spare tire carrier which is suitable for very heavy tires and which may be used in demanding environments, such as environments encountered by off road vehicles and military vehicles, is disclosed.

Abstract: A system for facilitating contactless payment transactions across different contactless payment systems using a common mobile device that acts as a stored value device is provided. A combination of a mobile application and a communication module allows the mobile device, which is associated with one payment system, to emulate various transmission standards and data exchange formats that are used in different payment systems in order to perform contactless payment transactions with merchants that are associated with different contactless payment systems. A service application running in a service operator computer communicates with the various contactless payment systems to facilitate the settlement of the amount owed to various payment systems by the one payment system associated with the mobile device.

Abstract: A stealth weapon module (10) including a weapon support cage (11) and a weapon (12), with the weapon module (10) able to be stowed beneath a retractable hard roof (15). The roof (15) is raised and lowered by a hydraulic motor (16), and includes a stabilizing cloth (15b) that keeps the roof (15), made of interconnected slats (15a), from pulling apart or otherwise changing shape as it is raised and lowered, even at rates of travel of several inches per second. The weapon module (10), with any of various different roof designs including the retractable hard roof (15), can be incorporated into either a transportable shell (20), able to be moved from one application to another, or can be built into (and so specially adapted to) a structure, such as the back/cab of a sports utility vehicle.