Other

Third Wave Technologies, Inc.

Witold A Ziarno

Raymond Francis Cracauer

The present invention relates to nucleic acid synthesizers and methods of using and modifying nucleic acid synthesizers. For example, the present invention provides highly efficient, reliable, and safe synthesizers that find use, for example, in high throughput and automated nucleic acid synthesis, as well as methods of modifying pre-existing synthesizers to improve efficiency, reliability, and safety.

Nucleic acid synthesizers

An electronic fund-raising monetary contributions terminal and a method of inducing and facilitating the solicitation and making of hundreds of monetary contributions with the terminal at fund-raising drives, fund-raising sessions and events attended by a large number of potential contributors including cardholders of card records constituting pre-authorization by card issuing organizations for monetary transactions using their card records such as credit cards and debit cards. The terminal is self-powered and has a housing in the form of a case dimensioned for being held on the palm of a contributor and passed from one contributor to another for making successively individual monetary contributions by a multiplicity of contributors using respective pre-authorization cards. A card reader is provided on the housing for reading indicia on the card records presented to it for making monetary contributions and identifying the individual cardholder making a corresponding contribution. The terminal has manually activated operators for designating and entering in the terminal numerical information of the monetary amount of the corresponding contributions made. The numerical information entered is immediately recorded and stored correlated with the corresponding contributor's identification indicia for future down-loading to a network for post-contribution processing of the information recorded.

Fund-raising terminal and method for accepting monetary contributions by use of an information bearing card

The invention provides a method of capturing monetary donations or monetary gifts made by donors or gift givers at points in time and space in which said donors or gift givers are optimally motivated to make said donations or gifts, said donations or gifts being the donation or gift perferences of respective donors or gift givers. The method comprises the steps of inputting a multiplicity of sequences of data comprised of monetary donations or monetary gifts. The monetary donations or monetary gifts are made by a plurality of said respective donors or gift givers consecutively free of input of information unrelated to said respective monetary donations or monetary gifts at a multiplicity of distinct sites where said donations and gifts are being received in one variant. The sequences or strings of data are temporarily captured at the multiplicity of distinct sites on a plurality of respective electronic devices physically located at said sites to obtain temporarily captured sequences. The temporarily captured sequences are then transmitted from the electronic devices to a processing device remote from a plurality of said distinct sites for processing. The method further comprises the optional the step of statistically manipulating at least a respective sequence of said data. In one variant, the present invention provides a donation kettle for accepting information from an information bearing card. The electronic terminal includes means for tallying the amount of card donations accepted, and collecting, analyzing, and displaying information regarding the donation.

Method of maximizing statistical data throughput at remotely located

A method, apparatus and network for successively making contribution data inputs by a multiplicity of individual contributors in sequence is provided. The apparatus includes a portable, self-powered, contributor data input dependant, non-contributor external data source independent, electronic donations management terminal sized and weighted for manual passing thereof between successive contributors. The terminal has contribution input entry keypads, a routine for accepting and recording a plurality of successive contribution inputs free of any information unrelated to the contributions or contributors, and microprocessor for making of the successive contribution inputs uninterrupted by requests for verification of contributor credit, validation or approval of a successive individual contribution input for batch off-loading of a plurality of contributions from an electronic donations management terminal whereby recordation of each of the contributions is uninterrupted by verification of validation and/or authorization. The method includes provision and passing of the apparatus for entry of the contributions thereon.

Method of contributions management, and device and networks therefor

An offering plate that permits an attender at a religious service to make a donation that consists of a cash donation acceptor, an envelope donation acceptor, a credit card donation processor, and/or a debit card donation processor. The offering plate associates a donation with an account of a member, tallies information regarding a number of donations, and stores information regarding a donation, and a plurality of donations. The offering plate is part of an offering plate network which consists of an offering plate, a clergy member's terminal, and a communication link between the offering plate and the clergy member's terminal. The offering plate network collects, analyzes, and displays statistical information.

Method and system for interactive contributions solicitation and donation

The present invention provides a method, device and system of monetary transaction processing. The method includes the steps of entering and recording on the portable, self-powered, hand held monetary transaction processing device a plurality of monetary commitments consisting of a numerical amount and indicia read from an information bearing card. The method includes the step of batch off-loading of the data from the portable, self-powered, hand held monetary transaction processing device to a second device. Recordation of a plurality of monetary transactions is uninterrupted by verification of validation and/or authorization.

Method of processing monetary transaction data by batch off-loading of

A method of streamlining, simplifying and inducing the giving of contributions or gifts by prospective contributors or gift givers, receiving and immediately capturing thereof upon receipt is provided. The method comprises the steps of providing a stimulus for evoking an impulse to make a monetary contribution or gift commitment. The stimulus is selected from the group consisting of an audio stimulus, a video stimulus, and an audio/visual stimulus. The method further consists of the step of spreading amidst a crowd of prospective contributors or gift givers a plurality of electronic contributions or gifts management devices for immediate capture of a string of data that includes successive monetary contributions or gifts and batch off-loading of the data from the contributions or gifts management device whereby recordation of each of the contributions is uninterrupted by a verification of validation and/or authorization. The latent contribution potential of the crowd of prospective gift givers or contributors is activated and the contribution or gift preferences of the gift givers or contributors is accommodated. The contribution is selected from the group consisting of a political contribution, a charitable contribution, and a religious contribution, and the step of spreading includes advancing, dispersing, distributing, migrating, interspersing, and disseminating the devices; and the devices are optionally self-powered. The monetary gift is selected from the group consisting of a wedding gift, a funeral gift, a christening gift, a birthday gift, an anniversary gift, a graduation gift, a mother's day gift, a father's day gift, a baby shower gift, a first holy communion gift, a religious rite gift, and a baptism gift.

Method for streamlining the giving of contribution and gift commitments

A method of streamlining the acknowledgment of a plurality of contribution or gift commitments includes the steps of dispersing through a crowd of prospective contributors or gift givers located at a plurality of remote locations a plurality of portable, self-powered devices for the entry of data consisting essentially of monetary contribution or gift commitments, automatically correlating the data with address data of respective contributors or gift givers making monetary contribution or gift commitments, and acknowledging the respective contribution or gift commitments from a remote data processing location from where the contribution or gift commitments were entered. A multiplicity of contribution or gift commitments made at a plurality of remote locations, to distinct gift recipients or fund-raising organizations are readily acknowledged. Optionally, the method includes monitoring the frequency of the data of the contribution or gift commitments made by respective contributors, mailing acknowledgements of said contribution or gift commitments upon said frequency of the data reaching a threshold value for batch off-loading of the data inputs from the monetary contribution or gift acceptance devices to a data input receiving device whereby recordation of each of the contribution is uninterrupted by verification of validation and/or authorization, automatically correlating tax deductability status data to the contribution or gift commitment data.

Method of streamlining the acknowledgement of a multiplicity of

A method of and device for streamlining, simplifying and inducing the giving of contribution or gift commitments by contributors or prospective gift givers [, and receiving thereof upon receipt that] involves dispersing through a crowd of prospective contributors or gift givers a plurality of keyless, electronic contributions or gifts management devices for immediate entry of consecutive data comprising the identities of the contributors or gift givers making the monetary contribution commitments or monetary gift commitments, and device therefor. Optionally, the method and mode of operation of the device involves a plurality of gift recipients of the monetary contribution or monetary gift commitments, and further includes the step of supplanting a gift recipient or fund-raising organization with another gift recipient or fund-raising organization to which contribution or gift commitments are made. The method and mode of operation of the device has the advantage that the entry of gifts or contribution commitments to a plurality of the gift recipients or fund-raising organizations is simplified. [Optionally, the method and the mode of operation of device includes the step of correlating a numerical amount to the successive contributors' or gift givers' data to obtain contribution or gift data sets, and in which the step of dispersing is selected from the group consisting of spreading, distributing, migrating, advancing, disseminating, and diffusing the devices. The method and mode of operation of the device further includes the steps of communicating the data for a plurality of contribution or gift commitments in a substantially continuous stream to a remote device for immediate recordation thereof on the remote device. Optionally, the method or mode of operation of the devices involves a plurality of consecutive contribution or gift commitments entered on the devices unimpeded by verification of authorization whereby the throughput of contribution or gift commitments entered on the devices is enhanced. In yet another variant of the method or mode of operation of the device involves a first group of contributors or gift givers making gift or contribution commitments on the devices that are correlated to a numerical contribution or gift amount and in other contributors or gift givers making gift or contribution commitments correlated to mutable contribution numerical amounts. The numerical amount is selected from the group of a pre-programmed numerical amount, a prearranged numerical amount, a fixed numerical amount, a variable numerical amount, a numerical amount of an order inducing the making of a monetary contribution, and a post-programmed numerical amount. The entry of the consecutive contributions or gifts further comprises immediate recordation thereof on the devices, and optionally further including the step of communicating the contribution or gift data to a card account processor for processing thereof.

Method of fund-raising with a keyless contribution and gift commitment

A cursor control unit for controlling the position of a cursor on a display that has a magnetic stripe or smart card reader for reading information from an information bearing credit or debit card. The cursor control unit has a device for communicating information for controlling the movement of the cursor and card information to a personal computer or work station. Optionally, the cursor control unit encrypts the card information read by a reader on the cursor control unit. The link is a wireless communication link(s), a hardwired communication link(s), or a combination thereof. A method of simplifying and safeguarding the entry of monetary transaction information from information bearing credit cards and debit cards is also provided. The method comprises the step of providing the individuals making monetary transactions with a cursor control unit for controlling the movement of a cursor. An optional encryption step is provided in which respective card information is encrypted at the cursor control unit, along the communication link, on the electrical connector of the cursor control unit, computer, or combination thereof. In a variant, the method comprises the steps of multiple encryptions of the card information, or portion thereof, prior to transmission of the card information to the computer network.

Display cursor controlling device for reading card information from an

A donation kettle that permits a contributor to make a donation that consists of a display, keyboard, a surface for collecting a cash donation, a credit card and/or debit card donation processor. The donation kettle associates a donation with an account of a contributor, tallies information regarding a number of donations, and stores information regarding a donation, and a plurality of donations. The donation kettle is part of a donation kettle network which consists of a donation kettle, a terminal, and a communication link between the donation kettle and the terminal. The present invention also provides a method of processing a donation obtained via a donation kettle by a card account processor. A docking station on a donation kettle is provided for a card donation processor.

Growing community of inventors

Chicago, IL, United States of America

Witold A Ziarno