What is claimed is:
1. A holder apparatus comprising:
first panel means having a top portion and a bottom portion;
second panel means connected to the bottom portion of said first panel means;
at least one of said first and second panel means having a rigid body portion to provide support therefor;
first roller means mounted about adjacent to the bottom portion of said second panel means and positioned to at least partially support said holder apparatus when in a generally upright position and to enable rolling movement of said holder apparatus across a surface when in an inclined position;
arm means having a first end and a second end, the first end of said arm means being pivotally mounted to said rigid body portion;
second roller means mounted about adjacent to the second end of said arm means and positioned to enable rolling movement of said holder apparatus across said surface;
bracket means connected between said rigid body portion and said arm means at a position different from the first end of said arm means, said bracket means movable between a deployed position in which said arm means is locked at an angle to said rigid body portion, and a retracted position in which said arm means is in juxtaposition to said rigid body portion;
said first and second roller means cooperating to fully support said holder apparatus when said bracket means is in the deployed position; and
handle means mounted about adjacent to said rigid body portion for effecting rolling movement of said holder apparatus across said surface.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein
said bracket means includes first link means pivotally mounted to said rigid body portion, and second link means pivotally mounted to said first link means and said arm means.
3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein
said arm means has an opening; and
said first and second link means are generally within the opening of said arm means in the retracted position.
4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein
said arm means and said first and second link means are generally parallel to said rigid body portion in the retracted position.
5. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein
one of said first and second link means includes pivot means for pivotally mounting said first and second link means;
said first and second link means include a common plane in the deployed position; and
said pivot means includes a pivot line which is offset from the common plane of said first and second link means in the deployed position.
6. A container comprising:
generally parallel spaced apart front and rear panels connected about their peripheries to a wall member, said wall member extending between said front and rear panels, thereby defining a volume, said wall member having a top portion and a bottom portion positioned opposite one another;
at least one of said rear panel, said front panel and said wall member having a rigid body portion to provide support therefor;
first roller means mounted about adjacent to the bottom portion of said wall member and positioned to at least partially support said container when in a generally upright position and to enable rolling movement of said container across a surface when in an inclined position;
arm means having a first end and a second end, the first end of said arm means being pivotally mounted to said rigid body portion;
second roller means mounted about adjacent to the second end of said arm means and positioned to enable rolling movement of said container across said surface;
first link means pivotally mounted to said rigid body portion;
second link means pivotally mounted to said first link means and said arm means;
said arm means being alternately retractable to a retracted position about adjacent to said rear panel, and deployable to a deployed position spaced outwardly from said rear panel;
said first and second roller means cooperating to fully support said container when said second roller means is deployed and said container is in a rolling position; and
handle means mounted about adjacent to said rigid body portion for effecting rolling movement of said container across said surface.
7. The container of claim 6, wherein
said second roller means includes at least one roller.
8. The container of claim 6, wherein
said second roller means includes a plurality of rollers.
9. The container of claim 7, wherein
said at least one roller is a plurality of rollers having plural rotational axes.
10. The container of claim 6, wherein
said handle means includes an alternately retractable and extendable pushpull handle.
11. The container of claim 6, wherein
one of said first and second link means includes pivot means for pivotally mounting said first and second link means;
said first and second link means include a common plane in the deployed position; and
said pivot means includes a pivot line which is offset from the common plane of said first and second link means in the deployed position.
12. The container of claim 6, wherein
said rear panel has a first rigid body portion;
said first link means and the first end of said arm means are pivotally mounted to the first rigid body portion;
said wall member has a second rigid body portion; and
at least one carry handle is mounted on the second rigid body portion of said wall member to permit carrying of said container with its weight fully supported by said carry handle.
13. The container of claim 12, wherein
said first roller means engage the first rigid body portion;
the top portion of said wall member includes the second rigid body portion; and
said at least one carry handle is secured to the second rigid body portion.
14. The container of claim 6, wherein
said container is a suitcase; and
said front panel is soft and has a periphery which includes a glide fastener for opening and closing said suitcase to permit access to said volume.
15. The container of claim 10, wherein
said rear panel has a first rigid body portion;
said first link means and the first end of said arm means are pivotally mounted to the first rigid body portion;
said wall member has a second rigid body portion; and
said first roller means includes a pair of rollers mounted adjacent to the first rigid body portion and positioned at the junction of said rear panel and said wall member.
16. The container of claim 6, wherein
said rear panel has a first rigid body portion;
said first link means and the first end of said arm means are pivotally mounted to the first rigid body portion; and
said front panel has a second rigid body portion and shelf means disposed on the second rigid body portion between the bottom portion and the top portion of said wall member.
17. The container of claim 16, wherein
said shelf means is pivotally mounted to the second rigid body portion of said front panel.
18. The container of claim 17, wherein
said first and second roller means define a center of balance of said container;
said shelf means is pivotable between a first position about adjacent said front panel and a second position which forms a shelf on said front panel; and
said shelf supports an object substantially within said center of balance.
19. The container of claim 6, wherein
said first and second roller means include a plurality of rollers having at least one rotational axis.
20. The container of claim 6, wherein
at least one of said first and second roller means includes a plurality of rollers; and
said rear panel has a plurality of skid bars operatively associated with said rollers.
21. The container of claim 6, wherein
said first and second link means are substantially coplanar in the deployed position.
22. The container of claim 6, wherein
said arm means includes means for engagement by a user for movement from the retracted position to the deployed position.
23. The container of claim 22, wherein
said means for engagement includes receptacle means for engagement by a user’s foot.
24. The container of claim 6, wherein
said second roller means is apart from said surface when said container is in the upright position.
25. The container of claim 6, wherein
said rear panel has said rigid body portion; and
the first end of said arm means includes hinge means for pivotally mounting said arm means to said rigid body portion of said rear panel.
26. The container of claim 6, wherein
said rear panel has an internal rigid body portion;
said arm means includes an external panel secured to said internal rigid body portion; and
the first end of said arm means includes hinge means for pivotally mounting said arm means to the external panel.
27. The container of claim 6, wherein
said rear panel has latch means for alternately latching said arm means to said rear panel in the retracted position, and for unlatching said arm means from said rear panel to enter the deployed position.
28. The container of claim 6, wherein
said wall member further has a first side portion and a second side portion positioned opposite one another with a first distance therebetween;
said second roller means is a pair of rollers having a second distance therebetween; and
said second distance is substantially the same as said first distance.
29. A cart comprising:
a first panel having a top portion and a bottom portion;
a second panel connected to the bottom portion of said first panel;
first roller means mounted about adjacent to said second panel and positioned to at least partially support said cart when in a generally upright position and to enable rolling movement of said cart across a surface when in an inclined position;
arm means having a first end and a second end, the first end of said arm means being pivotally mounted to said first panel;
second roller means mounted about adjacent to the second end of said arm means and positioned to enable rolling movement of said cart across said surface;
first link means pivotally mounted to said first panel;
second link means pivotally mounted to said first link means and said arm means;
said arm means being alternately retractable to a retracted position about adjacent to said first panel, and deployable to a deployed position spaced outwardly from said first panel;
said first and second roller means cooperating to fully support said cart when said second roller means is deployed and said cart is in a rolling position; and
handle means mounted about adjacent to said rigid body portion for effecting rolling movement of said cart across said surface.
30. A roller apparatus for use with a holder device including a first panel having a top portion and a bottom portion, a second panel connected to the bottom portion of said first panel, and handle means for effecting rolling movement of said holder device across a surface, said apparatus comprising:
first roller means mounted about adjacent to said second panel and positioned to at least partially support said holder device when in a generally upright position and to enable rolling movement of said holder device across said surface when in an inclined position;
arm means having a first end and a second end, the first end of said arm means being pivotally mounted to said first panel;
second roller means mounted about adjacent to the second end of said arm means and positioned to enable rolling movement of said holder device across said surface;
first link means pivotally mounted to said first panel;
second link means pivotally mounted to said first link means and said arm means;
said arm means being alternately retractable to a retracted position about adjacent to said first panel, and deployable to a deployed position spaced outwardly from said first panel; and
said first and second roller means cooperating to fully support said holder device when said second roller means is deployed and said holder device is in a rolling position.
31. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein
one of said first and second link means includes pivot means for pivotally mounting said first and second link means;
said first and second link means include a common plane in the deployed position; and
said pivot means includes a pivot line which is offset from the common plane of said first and second link means in the deployed position.
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 system, comprising:
a device that provides system management information;
a cache memory, that stores system management information, coupled to the device, the system management information is partitioned into a first portion and a second portion; and
a cache memory refresh controller that updates the system management information stored in the cache memory;
wherein the cache refresh controller refreshes the first portion after expiration of a pre-determined refresh time interval, and refreshes the second portion when the second portion is accessed.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the second portion comprises system management information selected based on the likelihood that the information will change more frequently than the period of the pre-determined refresh time interval.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the cache refresh controller causes system management information stored in the cache memory to be refreshed when system management information is written to a device.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein the system management information stored in the cache memory comprises Common Information Model (\u201cCIM\u201d) classes.
5. The system of claim 1, further comprising a provider coupled to the device, the Provider comprising the cache memory and the cache refresh controller.
6. The system of claim 1, further comprising a server coupled to a provider, the Server comprising the cache memory and the cache refresh controller.
7. The system of claim 1, wherein the first portion is refreshed when data in the first portion is requested after the pre-determined refresh time interval has elapsed.
8. The system of claim 1, wherein the cache refresh controller determines whether a system management information request is requesting information assigned to the first partition or information assigned to the second partition.
9. The system of claim 1, wherein the system is a distributed computer system.
10. A method, comprising:
partitioning system management information into a first set and a second set;
storing the first set and the second set in a cache memory;
refreshing the first set in cache memory after expiration of a pre-determined refresh time interval; and
refreshing the second set in cache memory when the second set is accessed.
11. The method of claim 10, further comprising selecting the management information included in the second set based on the likelihood that the information will change more frequently than the period of the pre-determined time interval.
12. The method of claim 10, further comprising refreshing system management information in the cache memory when system management information is written to a device that provides cacheable data.
13. The method of claim 10, further comprising storing a CIM class in the cache memory.
14. The method of claim 10, further comprising determining whether requested system management information is a member of the first set or the second set.
15. The method of claim 10, further comprising performing the cache storage and refresh operations in a provider coupled to a device from which the provider obtains system management information.
16. The method of claim 10, further comprising performing the cache storage and refresh operations in a server coupled to a provider.
17. The method of claim 10, further comprising refreshing the first set in cache memory when the first set is accessed after the pre-determined time interval has elapsed.
18. A computer program product, comprising:
a computer useable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein, the computer readable program code comprising:
instructions that access a first set and a second set of system management information in cache memory;
instructions that refresh the first set in cache memory after expiration of a pre-determined refresh time interval; and
instructions that refresh the second set in cache memory when the second set is accessed.
19. The computer program product of claim 18, further comprising instructions implementing a provider that interfaces to a device, the provider instructions comprising:
instructions that determine whether a system information access is accessing information contained in the first set or information contained in the second set;
the instructions that access the first set and second set of system management information in cache memory;
the instructions that refresh the first set after expiration of a pre-determined refresh time interval; and
the instructions that refresh the second set when the second set is accessed.
20. The distributed computer system of claim 18, further comprising instructions implementing a server that interfaces to a provider, the server instructions comprising:
instructions that determine whether a system information access is accessing information contained in the first set or information contained in the second set;
the instructions that access the first set and second set of system management information in cache memory;
the instructions that refresh the first set after expiration of a pre-determined refresh time interval; and
the instructions that refresh the second set when the second set is accessed.