Abstract: A system and method for providing emergency reserve conditional credit to a customer of a financial institution. The emergency conditional credit may be provided to the customer in the form of a line-of-credit or a loan based on the occurrence of a predetermined condition, such as involuntary unemployment, disability or the like. The emergency reserve product of the present invention is a product that can be offered through a financial institution or other ER-providing entity and, as such, does not require the level of regulation required of an insurance product. The invention also provides for the emergency reserve product to be offered in conjunction with a debt cancellation feature, referred to as emergency reserve protection, which serves to cancel the outstanding debt associated with the loan or line-of-credit.

Abstract: A system and method for providing emergency conditional credit to a customer of a financial institution. The system includes a customer site and a financial institution. The financial institution determines actuarial data using past history of customers incurring specified events, the actuarial data useable to predict future specified events, determines a cost for offering an emergency reserve (ER) product using the actuarial data, determines a qualification standard for the ER product, and offers the ER product to a person at the customer site. An emergency reserve protection (ERP) feature that provides protection that cancels any ER balance on a monthly basis during a covered event may also be offered to customers. One or more vendor sites may be used to handle some of the processing or managing of the ER and ERP product offerings.

Abstract: A system and method for providing emergency reserve conditional credit to a customer of a financial institution. The emergency conditional credit may be provided to the customer in the form of a line-of-credit or a loan based on the occurrence of a predetermined condition, such as involuntary unemployment, disability or the like. The emergency reserve product of the present invention is a product that can be offered through a financial institution or other ER-providing entity and, as such, does not require the level of regulation required of an insurance product. The invention also provides for the emergency reserve product to be offered in conjunction with a debt cancellation feature, referred to as emergency reserve protection, which serves to cancel the outstanding debt associated with the loan or line-of-credit.

Abstract: A system and method for providing emergency conditional credit to a customer of a financial institution. The system includes a customer site and a financial institution. The financial institution determines actuarial data using past history of customers incurring specified events, the actuarial data useable to predict future specified events, determines a cost for offering an emergency reserve (ER) product using the actuarial data, determines a qualification standard for the ER product, and offers the ER product to a person at the customer site. An emergency reserve protection (ERP) feature that provides protection that cancels any ER balance on a monthly basis during a covered event may also be offered to customers. One or more vendor sites may be used to handle some of the processing or managing of the ER and ERP product offerings.

Abstract: A system for capturing and docking an active craft to a passive craft has a first docking assembly on the active craft with a first contact member and a spike projecting outwardly, a second docking assembly on the passive craft having a second contact member and a flexible net deployed over a target area with an open mesh for capturing the end of the spike of the active craft, and a motorized net drive for reeling in the net and active craft to mate with the passive craft's docking assembly. The spike has extendable tabs to allow it to become engaged with the net. The net's center is coupled to a net spool for reeling in. An alignment funnel has inclined walls to guide the net and captured spike towards the net spool. The passive craft's docking assembly includes circumferentially spaced preload wedges which are driven to lock the wedges against the contact member of the active craft.

Abstract: A clutch or brake device has locking sprags engageable between its inner and outer races which have a three-dimensional wedge shape with respect to the rotational (Z) axis. The 3D locking sprags have contact surfaces shaped to make rectangular area contact with the corresponding surfaces of the inner and outer races for reduction and improved distribution of contact stresses. The 3D sprags are also shaped with a constant-angle contact surface in cross-section in a plane normal to the Z-axis for self-compensation with wear and maintenance of effective locking angles under loads.

Abstract: A flexible band-gear system has an ring gear assembly with bands in electrical contact with and a ring gear in mechanical engagement with corresponding bands and gears of planet gear assemblies which are in turn in electrical contact and geared engagement with a sun gear assembly mounted to a rotating shaft. Electrical power and/or an electrical signal can thus be conducted across a rotating joint which also transfers mechanical power. The flexible band-gear system can also be used in linear applications to transfer electrical power/signal via rolling contact with a linear band. The geared aspect of the system simplifies axial alignment and maintains the relative positions (within the ring annulus) of the planet gears. Electrical power and signal capacity can be varied with the number of planet gears in the system. Multiple channels are added using segmented contact bands and/or multiple contact band layers.