Patent application number | Description | Published |
20110251952 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR BILL PRESENTMENT AND PAYMENT - A bill presentment service, wherein bills received from a plurality of billing entities are made available to a plurality of consuming entities via a plurality of consuming entity service providers, is provided under control of an operator of a payment processing network. Registration and preference data pertaining to each of the plurality of consuming entities are stored in a database, accessible to the operator of the payment processing network. A given one of the consuming entities which has switched from a first one of the consuming entity service providers to a second one of the consuming entity service providers is allowed to access the bill presentment service via the first one of the consuming entity service providers, prior to the switching, and via the second one of the consuming entity service providers, subsequent to the switching, using the stored registration and preference data. A subset of the registration and preference data pertains to the given one of the consuming entities. The given one of the consuming entities is allowed to access the bill presentment service via the second one of the consuming entity service providers without having to take any updating action as to at least a portion of the subset of the registration and preference data. Methods for a “one click” payment aspect, an aspect wherein a bill having a single biller account number associated therewith is routed from a billing entity to multiple consuming entity service providers for presentation to a consuming entity, and a transaction tracking aspect are also provided, as are corresponding apparatuses and computer program products. | 10-13-2011 |
20140156520 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR BILL PRESENTMENT AND PAYMENT - Under control of an operator of a payment processing network, a bill presentment service is provided, wherein bills received from a plurality of billing entities are made available to a plurality of consuming entities. The operator also provides at least a portion of a bill payment service wherein the consuming entities are afforded an option of paying the bills from the plurality of billing entities. The operator stores, in a database, registration and preference data pertaining to each of the plurality of consuming entities. At least portion of the registration and preference data includes payment preference data specifying how a given one of the consuming entities wishes to pay at least two of the billing entities. The given one of the consuming entities is afforded an option to pay the at least two of the billing entities with a single command, in accordance with the payment preference data. | 06-05-2014 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080277487 | Load management thermostat - A thermostat is provided that is capable of reliably reducing the operation of an air conditioner and other systems to provide energy cost savings to the consumer and load reduction to a utility provider. The thermostat includes at least one sensor configured to communicate information indicative of the temperature within the space, and a memory for storing at least one temperature offset value associated with a request for reduced heating or reduced cooling operation. The thermostat further includes a controller in communication with the at least one sensor, which is configured to periodically determine a temperature value for the space and to control heating or cooling of the space until the determined temperature value has substantially reached the set-point temperature. The periodically determined temperature value is in part based on information received from the at least one sensor, and may include at least one temperature offset value when a request for reduced operation has been received by the thermostat. | 11-13-2008 |
20090045263 | THERMOSTAT CAPABLE OF DISPLAYING RECEIVED INFORMATION - A thermostat for controlling a climate control system is provided that comprises a network interface for establishing an internet connection with a website of a remote service provider, and a microprocessor for controlling the operation of a climate control system. The microprocessor is in communication with the network interface for establishing an internet connection and receiving user-specified information from a remote service provider that maintains a user-profile of information requested by the user. The thermostat further comprises a display device responsive to the microprocessor for displaying user-specified information received via the network controller from the remote service provider. | 02-19-2009 |
20090069946 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR ISOLATING A TEMPERATURE SENSING DEVICE IN A THERMOSTAT - An improved thermostat is provided that comprises a first wall disposed within the thermostat, which partitions off a portion of the interior space to form a compartment along a side wall of the thermostat that is separated from the rest of the thermostat's interior space. The thermostat includes a second wall that is adjacent to and spaced from the first wall, so as to define an insulating space between the compartment and the rest of the interior space. The thermostat further includes a first aperture that permits communication of airflow in a lower portion of the compartment, and a second aperture that permits communication of airflow at an upper portion of the compartment. A temperature sensing element is disposed within the compartment defined by the first wall. The temperature sensing device is thermally insulated from heat generated in the interior of the thermostat by the insulating space between the compartment and interior space. | 03-12-2009 |
20090236433 | THERMOSTAT CONTROL SYSTEM PROVIDING POWER SAVING TRANSMISSIONS - A thermostat control system having remote devices and/or other internally powered devices provides transmissions at different power levels and at different data transfer rates to conserve power life. Thermostat control system components and devices may be powered by replaceable power supplies that are conserved by transmitting at a lower power level more often than at a higher power level. A higher power level transmission is provided at a lower data transfer rate, and a lower power level transmission is provided at a higher data transfer rate. A higher power transmission is provided periodically to ensure reliable communication of temperature information. | 09-24-2009 |
20090261767 | Universal apparatus and method for configurably controlling a heating or cooling system - A system controller is disclosed that includes a communication means for transmitting and receiving information from an installed blower motor controller, and a removable memory device connected to the system controller. The removable memory device includes system parameter information stored thereon that relates to the particular heating or cooling system, where the system parameter information includes at least motor related parameters relating to the operation of one or more types of blower motors. The system controller further includes a processor configured to receive via the communication means the communication of identifying information from the blower motor controller that identifies the type of blower motor installed in the system. The processor is configured to retrieve motor related parameters corresponding to the specific identified blower motor controller from the memory device, and to send said corresponding motor related parameters to the blower motor controller. | 10-22-2009 |
20110000659 | LOAD MANAGEMENT THERMOSTAT - A thermostat is provided that is capable of reliably reducing the operation of an air conditioner and other systems to provide energy cost savings to the consumer and load reduction to a utility provider. The thermostat includes at least one sensor configured to communicate information indicative of the temperature within the space, and a memory for storing at least one temperature offset value associated with a request for reduced heating or reduced cooling operation. The thermostat further includes a controller in communication with the at least one sensor, which is configured to periodically determine a temperature value for the space and to control heating or cooling of the space until the determined temperature value has substantially reached the set-point temperature. The periodically determined temperature value is in part based on information received from the at least one sensor, and may include at least one temperature offset value when a request for reduced operation has been received by the thermostat. | 01-06-2011 |
20110066289 | UNIVERSAL APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONFIGURABLY CONTROLLING A HEATING OR COOLING SYSTEM - A system controller is disclosed that includes a communication means for transmitting and receiving information from an installed blower motor controller, and a removable memory device connected to the system controller. The removable memory device includes system parameter information stored thereon that relates to the particular heating or cooling system, where the system parameter information includes at least motor related parameters relating to the operation of one or more types of blower motors. The system controller further includes a processor configured to receive via the communication means the communication of identifying information from the blower motor controller that identifies the type of blower motor installed in the system. The processor is configured to retrieve motor related parameters corresponding to the specific identified blower motor controller from the memory device, and to send said corresponding motor related parameters to the blower motor controller. | 03-17-2011 |
20120226388 | Controllers and Related Methods - Controllers and methods for controlling operation of a climate control appliance for heating and/or cooling a space are provided. One example controller includes a memory for storing at least one temperature offset and a processor coupled to the memory. The processor is configured to receive the reduced operation request from at least one of a utility provider and a user of the controller, to receive a sensed temperature from at least one sensor disposed within the space, and to determine an artificial temperature based on the sensed temperature and the at least one temperature offset associated with the reduced operation request. The processor is configured to, in response to the reduced operation request, operate the climate control appliance based on a comparison of the set-point temperature and artificial temperature during a reduced operation interval, to thereby reduce operation of the climate control appliance in response to the reduced operation request. | 09-06-2012 |
20140148958 | Universal Apparatus and Method for Configurably Controlling a Heating or Cooling System - A system for controlling the operation of a heating or cooling system includes a system controller, a memory in which system parameter information relating to the heating or cooling system is stored, and a communication device through which the system controller is configured to transmit and receive signals to/from at least one component controller. The system controller is configured to receive via the communication device a data signal from the at least one component controller that includes information relating to operational parameters for at least one system component installed in the heating and cooling system. The system controller is configured to store in the memory the received operational parameters corresponding to the at least one system component. The stored operational parameters may be retrievable for communication to a replacement component controller in the event that the at least one component controller is replaced. | 05-29-2014 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090114711 | Cash letter print verification - A printed cash letter includes a machine-readable identifier, such as a barcode, identifying the cash letter. Upon printing, information from the identifier is read and stored in a first record. To determine whether the cash letter is a duplicate, a check presentment module compares information from the identifier with information in the first record. If information identifying the cash letter already exists in the first record, the cash letter is a duplicate. To verify cash letter printing, information identifying multiple cash letters to be printed is stored in a second record. Upon printing a portion of the cash letters, information read from identifiers on the printed cash letters is compared with information in the second record. If the second record includes information regarding a cash letter not identified in the information scanned from the barcodes, then the check presentment module identifies the cash letter as having not been printed. | 05-07-2009 |
20090114715 | Identifying duplicate printed paper cash letters - A printed cash letter includes a machine-readable identifier, such as a barcode, identifying the cash letter. Upon printing, information from the identifier is read and stored in a first record. To determine whether the cash letter is a duplicate, a check presentment module compares information from the identifier with information in the first record. If information identifying the cash letter already exists in the first record, the cash letter is a duplicate. To verify cash letter printing, information identifying multiple cash letters to be printed is stored in a second record. Upon printing a portion of the cash letters, information read from identifiers on the printed cash letters is compared with information in the second record. If the second record includes information regarding a cash letter not identified in the information scanned from the barcodes, then the check presentment module identifies the cash letter as having not been printed. | 05-07-2009 |
20090196485 | Tag validation for efficiently assessing electronic check image quality - Efficiently assessing the quality of an electronic check image by determining whether the check image is suitable for image quality analysis prior to performing the image quality analysis. A check processing module of a check processor can determine whether the check image is suitable for image quality analysis by validating certain tags in the image. For example, such validation can include determining whether the check image includes certain mandatory tags and whether any optional tags present in the image are valid. The check processing module can determine that the check image is not suitable for image quality analysis if it does not include the mandatory tags or if it includes any invalid optional tags. The check processing module can assign a failure value to any check image that is not suitable for image quality analysis. The failure value can indicate a reason for the unsuitability of the check image. | 08-06-2009 |
20090236413 | Expanded Mass Data Sets For Electronic Check Processing - Accommodating the data needed to process checks for payment under the Check Clearing for the 21 | 09-24-2009 |
20100176192 | Cash Letter Print Streams - Producing print streams for efficiently generating properly formatted and ordered paper cash letters comprises print stream file that includes electronic form definitions for each cash letter document. The cash letter documents can include a cover page, one or more bundles of substitute checks, a bundle summary for each substitute check bundle, and/or a cash letter bundle summary. Information from an electronic image cash letter file can be input in data fields of the electronic form definitions. Printing the information in the print stream file results in a properly formatted and ordered paper cash letter including substitute checks and audit data. Each substitute check can include all of the MICR data provided on a corresponding, original paper check. The audit data includes the cover page, bundle summary(ies), and/or cash letter bundle summary, which can each detail the documents printed concurrently therewith. | 07-15-2010 |