1-9. (canceled)
10. An air blower for cooling an internal-combustion engine of a motor vehicle being tested on a roller-type test rig, including an air blower fan configured to blow air toward an air inlet opening of the vehicle to direct an air stream toward the engine cooling components, comprising:
a nozzle mounted between an outlet opening of the air blower fan and the air inlet opening of the vehicle, the nozzle having a cross section at right angles to the air stream that decreases progressively between an outlet opening of the fan and the air inlet opening of the vehicle;
wherein the nozzle comprises two side walls, each having an opening for passage of a strap, one of whose ends is configured to be fixed to the vehicle and the other to a fixed vertical wall positioned near the outlet of the fan.
11. The air blower as claimed in claim 10, wherein when the two straps are fixed, the two straps converge on a fixing point on the vehicle such that each strap enters through one of the openings of the nozzle and passes out of the nozzle through its outlet.
12. The air blower as claimed in claim 11, wherein the fixing point of the vehicle is a towing hook.
13. The air blower as claimed in claim 10, wherein each of the side openings in the nozzle includes a series of parallel vertical slots, each slot having a width configured for passage of one of the two straps.
14. The air blower as claimed in claim 13, wherein slots other than the slot being used for the passage of one of the straps are closed off with removable slats.
15. The air blower as claimed in claim 10, wherein the nozzle inlet is connected in a substantially airtight manner to the outlet of the blower fan.
16. The air blower as claimed in claim 10, wherein a cross section of the outlet of the nozzle corresponds approximately to an average cross section of inlet openings provided on a majority of production vehicles.
17. The air blower as claimed in claim 10, wherein a transverse cross section of the nozzle is basically rectangular.
18. The air blower as claimed in claim 17, wherein a top wall of the nozzle is rounded and its bottom wall is flat and approximately parallel to the ground.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A computer-implemented method for providing wagering games, comprising:
receiving, by a processor-based device, a request from a user device to engage in a wagering activity, wherein the request specifies a session wagering amount,
transmitting, by the processor-based device to an intermediary business system, the session wagering amount and a request for a block on a financial account of a user of the user device, the intermediary business system being communicatively coupled to a financial institution that maintains the financial account,
initiating, by the processor-based device, a wagering session with the user device, the wagering session including at least one wagering game,
receiving, by the processor-based device, an indication from the user device of a wager in the at least one wagering game,
verifying, via one or more communications between the processor-based device and the intermediary business system, availability of an amount no less than an amount of the wager in the at least one wagering game,
responsive to the verifying of the availability of the amount no less than the amount of the wager, providing, by the processor-based device, a gaming activity to the user device,
determining, by the processor-based device, a wager result based on the provided gaming activity, and
providing, by the processor-based device and via one or more additional communications between the processor-based device and the intermediary business system, the wager result to the intermediary business system.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
ending the wagering session and providing a notification to the intermediary business system reflecting an end of the gaming activity.
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
providing an interface to the user device for entering financial institution data.
4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:
passing the financial institution data to the intermediary business system as a pass-through.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the wager result is determined after the user commits funds to the at least one wagering game.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein committing the funds to the at least one wagering game comprises making the funds available for wagering over a course of several wagering decisions in the at least one wagering game.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the financial institution that maintains the financial account is a system of record for the financial account.
8. A computer-implemented method for providing wagering games, comprising:
receiving a request from a user device associated with a user, wherein the request specifies a desired wager amount,
requesting a financial block from a financial institution on a financial account associated with the user, wherein the requested financial block specifies the desired wager amount,
responsive to receiving a notification from the financial institution that the financial block was successful, beginning a wagering session, wherein the wagering session includes at least one wagering game with the user device,
responsive to a wagering result from the at least one wagering game, reporting the wagering result to the financial institution, and
settling a transaction with the financial institution responsive to the user ending the at least one wagering game, wherein the settling includes releasing the financial block on the financial account associated with the user.
9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein the settling with the financial institution is performed in substantially real-time with the user ending the at least one wagering game.
10. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein the wagering result is reported to the financial institution for each wagering result created by the at least one wagering game.
11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the at least one wagering game creates the wagering result after the user initiates a wagering activity, which commits user’s funds to the at least one wagering game.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein committing the user’s funds to the at least one wagering game comprises making the user’s funds available for wagering over a course of several wagering decisions in the at least one wagering game.
13. A computer-implemented method of authorizing a use of player funds, comprising:
receiving a request associated with a player to designate an amount of funds to make available for wagering at an interactive gaming system,
sending a request to a financial institution associated with the player to block the amount of funds in a financial account associated with the player,
receiving an indication from the financial institution that the amount of funds is blocked,
setting a wager balance based on the amount of funds blocked,
receiving a request to authorize a wager for a wager amount,
responsive to the request from the interactive gaming system, providing an authorization for the wager amount when the wager amount is less than or equal to the wager balance,
receiving a wager result indicating a win or loss,
receiving an indication of an end of a play session,
transmitting the wager result to the financial institution, and
responsive to receiving the indication of the end of the play session, sending a request to the financial institution to unblock the funds in the financial account associated with the player.
14. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, further comprising:
calculating an updated wager balance by updating the wager balance with the wager result,
receiving a second request to authorize a second wager amount, and
responsive to receiving the second request, providing an authorization for the second wager amount if the second wager amount is less than or equal to the updated wager balance.
15. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein a plurality of wager results is received, and wherein the plurality of wager results is transmitted to the financial institution as a batch.
16. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein a plurality of wager results is received, and a net result of the plurality of wager results is transmitted to the financial institution.
17. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, further comprising:
receiving a request from a user device operated by the player to associate the player with the financial account, and
associating the player with the requested financial account.
18. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, further comprising:
receiving a request from an interactive gaming system to associate the player with the financial account, and
associating the player with the requested financial account.
19. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein sending the request to block funds in the financial account associated with the player comprises a request to place a plurality of blocks in the financial account.
20. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein sending a request to unblock the funds in the financial account associated with the player comprises a request to unblock a plurality of blocks in the financial account.
21. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, further comprising:
generating a player’s account associated with the player.
22. The computer-implemented method of claim 21, wherein the player’s account is generated responsive to a request received from an interactive gaming system or a user device operated by the player.
23. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein the financial institution is a record holder for the financial account associated with the player.