1. A multimedia system comprising:
at least two multimedia devices having differing filesystems andor no filesystem(s);
one or more applications adapted to issue filesystem commands andor receive filesystem responses using a common filesystem representation with respect to files of the plurality of multimedia devices; and
a media filesystem adapted to communicate with the at least two multimedia devices and the one or more applications, where the media filesystem accepts the filesystem commands from the one or more applications and provides responses to filesystem commands to the one or more applications using the common filesystem representation.
2. The multimedia system of claim 1, where the common filesystem representation comprises POSIX commands and responses.
3. The multimedia system of claim 1, where the common filesystem representation comprises UNIX commands and responses.
4. The multimedia system of claim 1, where at least one of the one or more applications comprises a human machine interface module.
5. The multimedia system of claim I, where at least one of the one or more applications comprises a multimedia engine module.
6. The multimedia system of claim 1, where the media filesystem is further adapted to facilitate multimedia device discovery and synchronization.
7. The multimedia system of claim 1, where the media filesystem is further adapted to handle filesystem semantics.
8. The multimedia system of claim 7, where the filesystem semantics comprise semantics selected from the group consisting of pathname resolution, file access, directory access, symbolic linking, file access permissions, and block caching.
9. The multimedia system of claim 1, where the media filesystem mounts the at least two multimedia devices at a named directory corresponding to the device.
10. The multimedia system of claim 9, where the media filesystem designates the named directory for each device as fsdev_id, where dev_id indicates a type of device with a suffix representing an instance of the device.
11. The multimedia system of claim 1, where at least one multimedia device of the at least two multimedia devices does not include a filesystem that is directly accessible to the media filesystem.
12. The multimedia system of claim 11, where the media filesystem uses menu item selections of the at least one multimedia device to generate a filesystem structure for the at least one multimedia device.
13. The multimedia system of claim 1, where the multimedia system further comprises a database arranged to organize file content information associated with the at least two multimedia devices.
14. The multimedia system of claim 1, where the multimedia system further comprises a database arranged to organize playlist tables associated with the at least two multimedia devices.
15. The multimedia system of claim 1, where the multimedia system further comprises a database arranged to organize mediastores of the multimedia system.
16. The multimedia system of claim 1, where the multimedia system further comprises a database arranged to organize slots for the at least two multimedia devices.
17. A multimedia system comprising:
at least two multimedia devices having differing filesystems andor no filesystem(s);
one or more applications adapted to issue filesystem commands and receive filesystem responses with respect to files of the at least two multimedia devices, where the filesystem commands and responses are sent to and received by the one or more applications using a common filesystem representation;
a unified filesystem module adapted to communicate with the one or more applications using the common filesystem representation; and
at least two multimedia device drivers in communication with the at least two multimedia devices and responsive to filesystem commands received from the unified filesystem module.
18. The multimedia system of claim 17, where the common filesystem representation comprises POSIX commands and responses.
19. The multimedia system of claim 17, where the common filesystem representation comprises UNIX commands and responses.
20. The multimedia system of claim 17, where at least one of the one or more applications comprises a human machine interface module.
21. The multimedia system of claim 17, where at least one of the one or more applications comprises a multimedia engine module.
22. The multimedia system of claim 17, where the unified filesystem module is further adapted to handle filesystem semantics.
23. The multimedia system of claim 22, where the filesystem semantics comprise semantics selected from the group consisting of pathname resolution, file access, directory access, symbolic linking, file access permissions, and block caching.
24. The multimedia system of claim 17, where the unified filesystem module mounts the at least two multimedia devices at a named directory corresponding to the device.
25. The multimedia system of claim 24, where the unified filesystem module designates the named directory for each device as fsdev_id, where dev_id indicates a type of device with a suffix representing an instance number of the device.
26. The multimedia system of claim 17, where at least one multimedia device of the at least two multimedia devices does not include a filesystem that is directly accessible to the unified filesystem module.
27. The multimedia system of claim 26, where the unified filesystem module uses menu item selections of the at least one multimedia device to generate a filesystem structure for the at least one multimedia device.
28. The multimedia system of claim 17, where the multimedia system further comprises a database arranged to organize file content information associated with the at least two multimedia devices.
29. The multimedia system of claim 17, where the multimedia system further comprises a database arranged to organize playlist tables associated with the at least two multimedia devices.
30. The multimedia system of claim 17, where the multimedia system further comprises a database arranged to organize mediastores of the multimedia system.
31. The multimedia system of claim 17, where the multimedia system further comprises a database arranged to organize slots for the at least two multimedia devices.
32. A multimedia system comprising:
at least two device drivers adapted to communicate with at least two multimedia devices having different filesystems andor no filesystem(s);
at least two multimedia applications hierarchically disposed above the device drivers;
a filesystem abstraction layer in communication with the at least two device drivers and the at least two multimedia applications, where the filesystem abstraction layer is adapted to provide a common filesystem interface with the at least two multimedia applications.
33. The multimedia system of claim 32, where the common filesystem interface comprises POSIX commands and responses.
34. The multimedia system of claim 32, where the common filesystem interface comprises UNIX commands and responses.
35. The multimedia system of claim 32, where at least one of the at least two multimedia applications comprises a human machine interface module.
36. The multimedia system of claim 32, where at least one of the at least two of multimedia applications comprises a multimedia engine module.
37. The multimedia system of claim 32, where the filesystem abstraction layer mounts the at least two multimedia devices at a named directory corresponding to the respective device.
38. The multimedia system of claim 37, where the filesystem abstraction layer designates the named directory for each of respective device as fsdev_id, where dev_id indicates a device type with a suffix representing an instance number for the respective device.
39. The multimedia system of claim 32, where at least one multimedia device of the at least two multimedia devices does not include a filesystem that is directly accessible to the filesystem abstraction layer.
40. The multimedia system of claim 39, where the filesystem abstraction layer uses menu item selections of the at least one multimedia device to generate a filesystem structure for the at least one multimedia device.
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 vehicle including:
a body defining an opening;
a slide-out component disposed in said opening; and
a slide assembly coupled between said body and said slide-out component, said slide assembly including
a contoured guide member coupled to one of said body and said slide-out component, said contoured guide member including a tube having a generally elliptical cross section, and
a complementary contoured roller coupled to the other of said body and said slide-out component, and disposed to roll on said contoured guide member.
2. A vehicle according to claim 1, wherein said contoured guide member is fixed with respect to said body.
3. A vehicle according to claim 2, wherein:
said slide assembly further includes a support member coupled to said slide-out component; and
said roller is mounted to said support member.
4. A vehicle according to claim 3, wherein said slide assembly includes a housing mounted to said vehicle body.
5. A vehicle according to claim 4, wherein:
said housing includes a first end wall and a second end wall;
a first end of said contoured guide member is mounted to said first end wall of said housing; and
a second end of said contoured guide member is mounted to said second end wall of said housing.
6. A vehicle according to claim 5, wherein:
said housing further includes an intermediate wall disposed between said first end wall and said second end wall.
7. A vehicle according to claim 6, wherein said housing together with a portion of said body generally surrounds said contoured guide member and said roller.
8. A vehicle according to claim 6, wherein said contoured guide member traverses said intermediate wall.
9. A vehicle according to claim 8, wherein:
said first end wall and said intermediate wall define apertures to facilitate the passage of said support member.
10. A vehicle according to claim 9, wherein:
said support member includes two separate elongated members spaced apart from one another;
said rollers are mounted between said elongated members; and
said first end wall and said intermediate wall define apertures to facilitate the passage of each said elongated member.
11. A vehicle according to claim 8, wherein said contoured guide member passes through an opening in said intermediate wall.
12. A vehicle according to claim 8, wherein:
said contoured guide member includes a first section and a second section;
said first section of said contoured guide member includes a first end coupled to said first end wall of said housing and a second end mounted to said intermediate wall of said housing; and
said second section of said contoured guide member includes a first end mounted to said intermediate wall of said housing and a second end mounted to said second end wall of said housing.
13. A vehicle according to claim 12, wherein each of said first and second sections of said contoured guide member includes a generally horizontal portion and an inclined portion.
14. A vehicle according to claim 4 wherein said vehicle has a plurality of said slide assemblies.
15. A vehicle according to claim 3, wherein said roller is positioned on a top side of said contoured guide member.
16. A vehicle according to claim 15, wherein:
said slide assembly further comprises a second roller; and
said second roller is positioned on a bottom side of said contoured guide member,
said first roller and said second roller forming a roller pair.
17. A vehicle according to claim 16, wherein said slide assembly has a plurality of said roller pairs spaced apart horizontally.
18. A vehicle according to claim 17, wherein said roller pairs are pivotally mounted to said support member.
19. A vehicle according to claim 3, wherein:
said support member includes two separate elongated members spaced apart from one another; and
said roller is mounted between said elongated members.
20. A vehicle according to claim 3, wherein said slide assembly further includes:
a first end mount for securing a first end of said contoured guide member to said body; and
a second end mount for securing a second end of said contoured guide member to said body.
21. A vehicle according to claim 20, wherein said first end mount defines a passage for said support member.
22. A vehicle according to claim 20, further comprising an intermediate mount disposed between said first end mount and said second end mount for supporting an intermediate section of said contoured guide member.
23. A vehicle according to claim 22, wherein said contoured guide member passes through said intermediate mount.
24. A vehicle according to claim 22, wherein:
said contoured guide member includes a first section and a second section;
said first section of said contoured guide member includes a first end coupled to said first end mount and a second end mounted to said intermediate mount; and
said second section of said contoured guide member includes a first end mounted to said intermediate mount and a second end mounted to said second end mount.
25. A vehicle according to claim 24, wherein each of said first and second sections of said contoured guide member includes a generally horizontal portion and an inclined portion.
26. A vehicle according to claim 22, wherein:
said support member includes two separate elongated members spaced apart from one another;
said roller is mounted between said elongated members; and
said intermediate mount facilitates the passage of said elongated members.
27. A vehicle according to claim 1, wherein said contoured guide member includes a horizontal section disposed horizontally with respect to said vehicle body.
28. A vehicle according to claim 27, wherein said slide-out component moves horizontally with respect to said vehicle body when said roller rolls along said horizontal section of said contoured guide member.
29. A vehicle according to claim 1, wherein:
said contoured guide member includes a horizontal section with respect to said vehicle body; and
said contoured guide member includes an inclined section with respect to said vehicle body.
30. A vehicle according to claim 29, wherein:
said slide-out component moves generally horizontally when said roller rolls along said horizontal section of said contoured guide member; and
said slide out component moves both horizontally and vertically when said roller rolls along said inclined section of said contoured guide member.
31. A vehicle according to claim 1, wherein said roller has a concave contour.
32. A vehicle according to claim 1, wherein said slide assembly further comprises at least one assist device connected to exert a force to urge said slide assembly into at least one of an expanded or contracted position.
33. A vehicle according to claim 32, wherein said assist device includes a biasing member that is deformed during the expansion of said slide assembly and exerts a restoring force upon contraction of said slide assembly.
34. A vehicle according to claim 1, wherein said slide out component is a room expander of a recreational vehicle.
35. A vehicle according to claim 1, wherein said slide out component is a storage tank carrier of a recreational vehicle.
36. A vehicle according to claim 1, wherein said slide out component is a storage tray of a recreational vehicle.
37. A vehicle including:
a body defining an opening;
a slide-out component disposed in said opening; and
a slide assembly coupled between said body and said slide-out component, said slide assembly including
a contoured guide member coupled to and fixed with respect to said body,
a complementary contoured roller coupled to the other of said body and said slide-out component, and disposed to roll on said contoured guide member,
a support member coupled to said slide-out component, said roller being mounted to said support member, and
a housing mounted to said vehicle body, said housing including a first end wall and a second end wall; and wherein
a first, end of said contoured guide member is mounted to said first end wall of said housing; and
a second end of said contoured guide member is mounted to said second end wall of said housing.
38. A vehicle according to claim 37, wherein:
said housing includes a first end wall and a second end wall;
a first end of said contoured guide member is mounted to said first end wall of said housing; and
a second end of said contoured guide member is mounted to said second end wall of said housing.
39. A vehicle according to claim 38, wherein:
said housing further includes an intermediate wall disposed between said first end wall and said second end wall.
40. A vehicle according to claim 39, wherein said housing together with a portion of said body generally surrounds said contoured guide member and said roller.
41. A vehicle according to claim 39, wherein said contoured guide member traverses said intermediate wall.
42. A vehicle according to claim 41, wherein:
said first end wall and said intermediate wall define apertures to facilitate the passage of said support member.
43. A vehicle according to claim 42, wherein:
said support member includes two separate elongated members spaced apart from one another;
said rollers are mounted between said elongated members; and
said first end wall and said intermediate wall define apertures to facilitate the passage of each said elongated member.
44. A vehicle according to claim 41, wherein said contoured guide member passes through an opening in said intermediate wall.
45. A vehicle according to claim 41, wherein:
said contoured guide member includes a first section and a second section;
said first section of said contoured guide member includes a first end coupled to said first end wall of said housing and a second end mounted to said intermediate wall of said housing; and
said second section of said contoured guide member includes a first end mounted to said intermediate wall of said housing and a second end mounted to said second end wall of said housing.
46. A vehicle according to claim 45, wherein each of said first and second sections of said contoured guide member includes a generally horizontal portion and an inclined portion.
47. A vehicle including:
a body defining an opening;
a slide-out component disposed in said opening; and
a slide assembly coupled between said body and said slide-out component, said slide assembly including
a contoured guide member coupled to and fixed with respect to said body,
a complementary contoured roller coupled to the other of said body and said slide-out component, and disposed to roll on said contoured guide member,
a support member coupled to said slide-out component, said roller being mounted to said support member,
a first end mount for securing a first end of said contoured guide member to said body,
a second end mount for securing a second end of said contoured guide member to said body, and
an intermediate mount disposed between said first end mount and said second end mount for supporting an intermediate section of said contoured guide member.
48. A vehicle according to claim 47, wherein said contoured guide member passes through said intermediate mount.
49. A vehicle according to claim 47, wherein:
said contoured guide member includes a first section and a second section;
said first section of said contoured guide member includes a first end coupled to said first end mount and a second end mounted to said intermediate mount; and
said second section of said contoured guide member includes a first end mounted to said intermediate mount and a second end mounted to said second end mount.
50. A vehicle according to claim 49, wherein each of said first and second sections of said contoured guide member includes a generally horizontal portion and an inclined portion.
51. A vehicle according to claim 47, wherein:
said support member includes two separate elongated members spaced apart from one another;
said rollers are mounted between said elongated members; and
said intermediate mount facilitates the passage of said elongated members.