function _parseSettings(settings)
	{
		if (settings.minTime) {
			settings.minTime = _time2int(settings.minTime);
		}

		if (settings.maxTime) {
			settings.maxTime = _time2int(settings.maxTime);
		}

		if (settings.durationTime && typeof settings.durationTime !== 'function') {
			settings.durationTime = _time2int(settings.durationTime);
		}

		if (settings.disableTimeRanges.length > 0) {
			// convert string times to integers
			for (var i in settings.disableTimeRanges) {
				settings.disableTimeRanges[i] = [
					_time2int(settings.disableTimeRanges[i][0]),
					_time2int(settings.disableTimeRanges[i][1])
				];
			}

			// sort by starting time
			settings.disableTimeRanges = settings.disableTimeRanges.sort(function(a, b){
				return a[0] - b[0];
			});

			// merge any overlapping ranges
			for (var i = settings.disableTimeRanges.length-1; i > 0; i--) {
				if (settings.disableTimeRanges[i][0] <= settings.disableTimeRanges[i-1][1]) {
					settings.disableTimeRanges[i-1] = [
						Math.min(settings.disableTimeRanges[i][0], settings.disableTimeRanges[i-1][0]),
						Math.max(settings.disableTimeRanges[i][1], settings.disableTimeRanges[i-1][1])
					];
					settings.disableTimeRanges.splice(i, 1);
				}
			}
		}

		return settings;
	}
*********************
jquery-timepicker v1.3.5
http://jonthornton.github.com/jquery-timepicker/

requires jQuery 1.7+
**********************