What is claimed is:
1. An apparatus for electrically disposing of a hypodermic needle, comprising:
an insertion hole through which the hypodermic needle is inserted;
an electrode plate which comes in contact with the inserted hypodermic needle and provides the inserted hypodermic needle with electric power;
an electrode wing which comes in contact with the inserted hypodermic needle melts and eliminates the needle, the electrode wing having a polarity opposite to that of the electrode plate;
a motor for turning the electrode wing; and
a controller for controlling the motor.
2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a display for providing information about elimination state of the needle, power state, operation error, etc., and a fan for spreading heat and removing reek, wherein the electrode wing has a protrusion and depression formed thereon such that it comes in contact with the hypodermic needle.
3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or 2, further comprising a spring means for allowing the electrode plate and the needle inserted to come in close contact with each other.
4. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the motor is a stepping motor.
5. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or 2, further comprising a sensor for sensing the needle being inserted through the insertion hole and delivering it to the controller.
6. A method for electrically disposing of a hypodermic needle, comprising the steps of:
sensing if the hypodermic needle is inserted to come into contact with an electrode plate;
upon sensing of insertion of the hypodermic needle, a controller controlling a motor to drive it;
the motor turning an electrode wing to allow it to come into contact with the needle, to thereby heat and eliminate the needle, the electrode wing having a polarity opposite to that of the electrode plate;
the controller controlling the motor by an electric signal sent by a closed circuit consisting of the hypodermic needle, the electrode plate and the electrode wing; and
upon the electrode wing reaching a predetermined position, the controller controlling the motor to reverse the electrode wing to return it to its initial position.
7. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein the step of controlling the motor by the controller using the electric signal comprising the substeps of:
the controller detecting the potential of the electrode wing at the moment when the electrode wing comes into contact with the needle;
when the potential is 0V, the controller controlling the motor to stop the electrode wing and to vibrate it; and
when the potential is not equal to 0V, the controller controlling the motor to turn the electrode wing such that the electrode wing comes into contact with the hypodermic needle.
8. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the step of detecting the potential of the electrode wing by the controller comprising the substeps of:
inputting the potential of the electrode wing into an operational amplifier;
the controller controlling the motor to stop revolution of the electrode wing when the output of the operational amplifier is LOW; and
the controller controlling the motor to turn the electrode wing when the output of the operational amplifier is HIGH.
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 method comprising:
when transitioning a processing system from inactive mode to active mode, loading first stage resume content and second stage resume content into volatile memory of the processing system;
wherein the first stage resume content contains contextual data for a first program that was in use before the processing system transitioned to inactive mode; and
wherein the second stage resume content contains contextual data for another program that was in use before the processing system transitioned to inactive mode; and
providing a user interface for the first program before all of the second stage resume content has been loaded into the volatile memory.
2. A method according to claim 1, wherein:
the first stage resume content contains sufficient contextual data to allow the processing system to provide the user interface for the first program before all of the second stage resume content has been loaded into the volatile memory.
3. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:
when transitioning the processing system from inactive mode to active mode, retrieving a resume descriptor; and
determining initialization operations to be performed by an operating system (OS) in the processing system, based at least in part on the resume descriptor.
4. A method according to claim 3, wherein the operation of determining initialization operations to be performed by an OS in the processing system, based at least in part on the resume descriptor, comprises:
determining that the OS has been assigned to perform at least one initialization operation from the group consisting of:
initializing at least a portion of the volatile memory of the processing system; and
initializing a device in the processing system.
5. A method according to claim 3, wherein the operation of retrieving the resume descriptor comprises retrieving the resume descriptor from nonvolatile storage.
6. A method according to claim 3, wherein the resume descriptor contains information pertaining to the first stage resume content.
7. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:
in preparation for transitioning the processing system from active mode to inactive mode, saving a resume descriptor to nonvolatile storage, wherein the resume descriptor comprises information about initialization operations for an operating system.
8. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:
in preparation for transitioning the processing system from active mode to inactive mode, using a firmware variable to save a resume descriptor to nonvolatile storage, wherein the resume descriptor comprises information about initialization operations for an operating system.
9. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:
in preparation for transitioning the processing system from active mode to inactive mode, saving a resume descriptor to nonvolatile storage, saving the first stage resume content to nonvolatile storage, and saving the second stage resume content to nonvolatile storage, wherein the resume descriptor comprises information about initialization operations for an operating system.
10. A processing system comprising:
a processor;
volatile memory responsive to the processor;
a machine-accessible medium responsive to the processor; and
instructions in the machine accessible medium, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processing system, cause the processing system to perform operations comprising:
when transitioning the processing system from sleep inactive mode to active mode, loading first stage resume content and second stage resume content into the volatile memory;
wherein the first stage resume content contains contextual data for a first program that was in use before the processing system transitioned to inactive mode; and
wherein the second stage resume content contains contextual data for another program that was in use before the processing system transitioned to sleep inactive mode; and
providing a user interface for the first program before all of the second stage resume content has been loaded into the volatile memory.
11. A processing system according to claim 10, wherein the instructions cause the processing system to perform operations comprising:
when transitioning the processing system from inactive mode to active mode, retrieving a resume descriptor; and
determining initialization operations to be performed by an operating system (OS) in the processing system, based at least in part on the resume descriptor.
12. A processing system according to claim 11, wherein the operation of determining initialization operations to be performed by an OS in the processing system, based at least in part on the resume descriptor, comprises:
determining that the OS has been assigned to perform at least one initialization operation from the group consisting of:
initializing at least a portion of the volatile memory of the processing system; and
initializing a device in the processing system.
13. A processing system according to claim 11, wherein the instructions cause the processing system to perform operations comprising:
in preparation for transitioning the processing system from active mode to inactive mode, saving the resume descriptor to nonvolatile storage.
14. A processing system according to claim 11, wherein the instructions cause the processing system to perform operations comprising:
in preparation for transitioning the processing system from active mode to inactive mode, saving the resume descriptor to nonvolatile storage, saving the first stage resume content to nonvolatile storage, and saving the second stage resume content to nonvolatile storage.
15. An apparatus comprising:
a machine accessible medium; and
instructions in the machine accessible medium, wherein the instructions, when executed by a processing system, cause the processing system to perform operations comprising:
when transitioning the processing system from inactive mode to active mode, loading first stage resume content and second stage resume content into volatile memory of the processing system;
wherein the first stage resume content contains contextual data for a first program that was in use before the processing system transitioned to inactive mode; and
wherein the second stage resume content contains contextual data for another program that was in use before the processing system transitioned to inactive mode; and
providing a user interface for the first program before all of the second stage resume content has been loaded into the volatile memory.
16. An apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the instructions cause the processing system to perform operations comprising:
when transitioning the processing system from inactive mode to active mode, retrieving a resume descriptor; and
determining initialization operations to be performed by an operating system (OS) in the processing system, based at least in part on the resume descriptor.
17. An apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the operation of determining initialization operations to be performed by an OS in the processing system, based at least in part on the resume descriptor, comprises:
determining that the OS has been assigned to perform at least one initialization operation from the group consisting of:
initializing at least a portion of the volatile memory of the processing system; and
initializing a device in the processing system.
18. An apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the instructions cause the processing system to perform operations comprising:
in preparation for transitioning the processing system from active mode to inactive mode, saving a resume descriptor to nonvolatile storage, wherein the resume descriptor comprises information about initialization operations for an operating system.
19. An apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the instructions cause the processing system to perform operations comprising:
in preparation for transitioning the processing system from active mode to inactive mode, using a firmware variable to save a resume descriptor to nonvolatile storage, wherein the resume descriptor comprises information about initialization operations for an operating system.
20. An apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the instructions cause the processing system to perform operations comprising:
in preparation for transitioning the processing system from active mode to inactive mode, saving a resume descriptor to nonvolatile storage, saving the first stage resume content to nonvolatile storage, and saving the second stage resume content to nonvolatile storage, wherein the resume descriptor comprises information about initialization operations for an operating system.