Author: claimsbot

1. An outdoor apparatus to mitigate wildfire ignition of a protected structure, including
a supporting weak link located to be in an anticipated direct path of a wild fire;
the supporting weak link also located where the expected travel time of the wildfire to the protected structure is at least 1 second;
the supporting weak link also constructed and configured to fail when at least one point of the link experiences a temperature exceeding the boiling point of water or becomes directly exposed to the environment of the wildfire;
a weight supported by the weak link, the weight configured to mechanically open a fluid flow valve upon configured failure of the supporting weak link;
the valve configured to supply water to an outdoor dispersal system located between the protected structure and the hair trigger; and
the system also configured to be easily turned off or on by manual intervention.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the active fire suppression ingredient of the fluid flow is water reliably provided on site.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein
the fluid flow valve includes a ball valve.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein
the valve includes a drain-down valve.
5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein
the hair trigger is placed within 2 feet of the earth surface.
6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein
the mechanism to open the valve is a direct connection to the valve that requires less than 180 degrees of valve stem rotation to fully open the valve.
7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein
the mechanism causing the valve to open configured to require less motion than provided by the length of travel of the weight when it becomes unsupported by the configured failure of the supporting weak link.
8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the supporting weak link is placed remotely so as to be directly in the expected wildfire environment and to be upwind of the protected structure by a distance exceeding the distance that known wildfires can propagate during 2 seconds or less.
9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the weak link is placed within 2 feet of the ground
10. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the configuration controlling the dispersal of fire retardant is configured to be independent of the function of any electronic component, gears or pulleys.
11. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein
the supporting weak link supports the weight against gravity;
a link mechanism providing looseness or slack in connecting a point on the opening control element of the valve with a connecting point of the weight;
the looseness or slack of the connecting link to open the valve also configured so that it does not become taught or rigid until the weight has acquired at least sufficient kinetic energy to jerk open the valve.
12. The apparatus of claim 11
wherein the connecting link mechanism includes a connecting element that is slack while the weak link is supporting the weight
13. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein length of the connecting link mechanism is longer than the shortest distance between the connecting point of the weight and the connecting point on the control element of the valve, assuring slack.
14. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein
the weak link is configured to span horizontally.
15. The apparatus of claim 14 where
the horizontal span over which the weak link stretches is greater than 1 meter.
16. The apparatus of claim 15 including
a structure to protect a segment of the horizontal span of the weak link.
17. The apparatus as in claim 16 where
the structure protecting the horizontally spanning weak link includes a fence element.
18. The apparatus as in claim 16 where
the weak link is protected by a fence element above it and a fence element below it.
19. An outdoor apparatus to mitigate wildfire ignition of a protected structure, including
a supporting weak link located over a region including an anticipated direct path of a wild fire;
the supporting weak link also located over a region where the expected travel time of the wildfire to the protected structure is at least 1 second;
the supporting weak link also constructed and configured to fail when at least one point of the link becomes directly exposed to the environment of the wildfire;
a weight supported by the weak link, the weight configured to mechanically open a fluid flow valve upon configured failure of the supporting weak link;
the valve configured to supply commonly available water to an outdoor dispersal system located between the protected structure and the hair trigger;
the valve also configured to be easily turned on by manual intervention; and
the water feed system configured to be easily turned off by supervisory intervention.

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 gaming machine disposed on a predetermined play area, comprising:
a memory for storing play history data generated according to a game result of a player, a plurality of voice generation original data for generating a predetermined voice message, and a predetermined threshold value data in relation to the play history data;
a speaker for outputting a voice message;
a microphone for collecting a voice generated by a player;
a dialogue voice database for identifying a type of voice based on player’s voices; and
a controller programmed to carry out the following processing of:
(a) executing a game and paying out a predetermined amount of credits according to a game result;
(b) generating voice data based on a player’s voice collected by the microphone;
(c) identifying a voice pattern corresponding to the voice data by retrieving the dialogue voice database and identifying a type of voice corresponding to the voice data, so as to store the voice data along with the voice pattern into the memory;
(d) calculating at least one of an input credit amount, an accumulated input credit amount, a payout amount, an accumulated payout amount, a payout rate, an accumulated play time, and an accumulated number of times played, according to a game result of a player, and updating the play history data stored in the memory using the result of the calculation;
(e) comparing, upon updating the play history data stored in the memory, the play history data thus updated and stored in the memory with a predetermined threshold value data;
(f) generating voice data according to the voice pattern stored in the memory based on the play history data if a result of the comparison in the processing (e) indicates that the play history data thus updated exceeds the predetermined threshold value data; and
(g) outputting voices from the speaker based on the voice data generated in the processing (f) with the voice pattern.
2. A gaming machine as set forth in claim 1, further comprising an input section for receiving a voice input instruction, wherein
the controller carries out the processing of, when the voice input instruction is received by the input section, collecting player’s voices in the processing (b).
3. A gaming machine as set forth in claim 1, further comprising a voice pattern specifying device for specifying a voice pattern, wherein
the controller, in the processing (c), carries out the processing of identifying the voice pattern specified by the voice pattern specifying device as a voice pattern corresponding to the voice data.
4. A gaming machine as set forth in claim 1, wherein
the controller, in the processing (f), carries out the processing of changing the voice pattern in view of the play history data thus updated.
5. A gaming machine as set forth in claim 1, wherein
the voice pattern includes at least one of a man’s voice pattern, a woman’s voice pattern, a dialect pattern, a suppressed voice pattern, and an elevated voice pattern.
6. A gaming machine as set forth in claim 1, wherein
the controller further carries out the following processing of:
(h) setting a language type; and
(i) outputting voices from the speaker based on the language type thus set, and the play history data and the voice generation original data stored in the memory.
7. A gaming machine disposed on a predetermined play area, comprising:
a memory for storing play history data generated according to a game result of a player, a plurality of voice generation original data for generating a predetermined voice message, and a predetermined threshold value data in relation to the play history data;
a speaker for outputting a voice message;
a microphone for collecting a voice generated by a player;
an input section for receiving a voice input instruction;
a dialogue voice database for identifying a type of voice based on player’s voices; and
a controller programmed to carry out the following processing of:
(a) executing a game and paying out a predetermined amount of credits according to a game result;
(b) generating voice data based on a player’s voice collected by the microphone when the voice input instruction is received by the input section;
(c) identifying a voice pattern corresponding to the voice data by retrieving the dialogue voice database and identifying a type of voice corresponding to the voice data, so as to store the voice data along with the voice pattern into the memory;
(d) calculating at least one of an input credit amount, an accumulated input credit amount, a payout amount, an accumulated payout amount, a payout rate, an accumulated play time, and an accumulated number of times played, according to a game result of a player, and updating the play history data stored in the memory using the result of the calculation;
(e) comparing, upon updating the play history data stored in the memory, the play history data thus updated and stored in the memory with a predetermined threshold value data;
(f) generating voice data according to the voice pattern stored in the memory based on the play history data if a result of the comparison in the processing (e) indicates that the play history data thus updated exceeds the predetermined threshold value data; and
(g) outputting voices from the speaker based on the voice data generated in the processing (f) with the voice pattern.
8. A gaming machine disposed on a predetermined play area, comprising:
a memory for storing play history data generated according to a game result of a player, a plurality of voice generation original data for generating a predetermined voice message, and a predetermined threshold value data in relation to the play history data;
a speaker for outputting a voice message;
a microphone for collecting a voice generated by a player;
an input section for receiving a voice input instruction;
a dialogue voice database for identifying a type of voice based on player’s voices; and
a controller programmed to carry out the following processing of:
(a) executing a game and paying out a predetermined amount of credits according to a game result;
(b) generating voice data based on a player’s voice collected by the microphone when the voice input instruction is received by the input section;
(c) identifying a voice pattern including at least one of a man’s voice pattern, a woman’s voice pattern, a dialect pattern, a suppressed voice pattern, and an elevated voice pattern, corresponding to the voice data by retrieving the dialogue voice database and identifying a type of voice corresponding to the voice data, so as to store the voice data along with the voice pattern into the memory;
(d) calculating at least one of an input credit amount, an accumulated input credit amount, a payout amount, an accumulated payout amount, a payout rate, an accumulated play time, and an accumulated number of times played, according to a game result of a player, and updating the play history data stored in the memory using the result of the calculation;
(e) comparing, upon updating the play history data stored in the memory, the play history data thus updated and stored in the memory with a predetermined threshold value data;
(f) generating voice data according to the voice pattern stored in the memory based on the play history data if a result of the comparison in the processing (e) indicates that the play history data thus updated exceeds the predetermined threshold value data; and
(g) outputting voices from the speaker based on the voice data generated in the processing (f) with the voice pattern.

1. Process for chemically modifying, within its thickness, a polymer matrix chosen from matrices made of fluoropolymers and matrices made of aliphatic polymers, characterized in that said process comprises at least one step consisting in irradiating said matrix with UV light having a wavelength of less than 300 nm in order to generate, within the thickness of said matrix, zones that have short polymer chains, formed by scission of the existing chains during the passage of the UV radiation and that have free radicals denoted hereinbelow as \u201cactivated zones\u201d.
2. Process according to claim 1, characterized in that said polymer matrix is a matrix made of a fluoropolymer chosen from the group consisting in homopolymers and copolymers of vinylidenefluoride; homopolymers and copolymers of trifluoroethylene; copolymers of fluoroethylene and of propylene; copolymers of tetrafluoroethylene and of tetrafluoropropylene; copolymers of ethylene and of at least one fluoromonomer; and mixtures thereof.
3. Process according to claim 1, characterized in that said polymer matrix is a matrix made of an aliphatic polymer comprising several units, which are identical or different, of formula (I):
\u2014C(R1)(R2)\u2014C(R3)(R4)\u2014\u2003\u2003(I)

in which the groups R1, R2, R3 and R4, which are identical or different, are chosen from a hydrogen, a halogen, an optionally substituted alkyl group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms and an optionally substituted heteroalkyl group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms, a nitro group, a cyano group, an amine group, a carboxylic acid group, a sulfonic acid group, an amide group, an ester group, an imide group and an ether group.
4. Process according to claim 1, characterized in that said polymer matrix is a matrix made of polypropylene (PP) or of polyethylene (PE).
5. Process according to claim 1, characterized in that said irradiation is generated by a laser.
6. Process according to claim 1, characterized in that said irradiation is generated by an excimer lamp.
7. Process according to claim 1, characterized in that said irradiation is carried out in the presence of a mask.
8. Process according to claim 1, characterized in that said irradiation is carried out under vacuum or under gas.
9. Process according to claim 1, characterized in that said process comprises the steps consisting in:
a1) irradiating said matrix with UV light having a wavelength of less than 300 nm; and
b1) bringing said irradiated matrix obtained in step (a1) into contact with at least one compound bearing at least one ethylenically unsaturated group.
10. Process according to claim 9, characterized in that said compound having at least one ethylenically unsaturated group is a compound of formula (II):
(R4)(R5)C\u2550C(R6)(R7)\u2003\u2003(II)

in which the groups R4 to R7, which are identical or different, represent a non-metallic monovalent atom such as a halogen atom, a hydrogen atom, a saturated or unsaturated chemical group such as an alkyl or aryl group, a \u2014COOR8 or \u2014OC(O)R8 group in which R8 represents a hydrogen atom or a C1-C12, and preferably C1-C6, alkyl group, a nitrile, a carbonyl, an amine or an amide.
11. Process according to claim 9, characterized in that said compound having at least one ethylenically unsaturated group is chosen from the group constituted by vinyl acetate, acrylic acid, acrylonitrile, methacrylonitrile, methyl methacrylate, 2-hydroxymethyl methacrylate, ethyl methacrylate, 2-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate, butyl methacrylate, propyl methacrylate, hydroxyethyl methacrylate, hydroxypropyl methacrylate, glycidyl methacrylate, hydroxyethyl methacrylate, and derivatives thereof; an acrylamide and in particular an aminoethyl, propyl, butyl, pentyl and hexyl methacrylamide, a cyanoacrylate, a diacrylate and dimethacrylate, a triacrylate and trimethacrylate, a tetraacrylate and tetramethacrylate, styrene and derivatives thereof, para-chlorostyrene, pentafluorostyrene, N-vinylpyrrolidone, 4-vinylpyridine, 2-vinylpyridine, vinyl, acryloyl or methacryloyl halides, and divinylbenzene (DVB).
12. Process according to claim 1, characterized in that said process comprises the steps that consist in:
a) irradiating said matrix with UV light having a wavelength of less than 300 nm; and
b) chemically developing the activated zones created by the UV radiation.
13. Process according to claim 12, characterized in that the activated zones are treated with a highly basic and oxidizing solution.
14. Process for structuring a polymer matrix made of a fluoropolymer or of an aliphatic polymer consisting in subjecting the latter to a process as defined in claim 1.
15. Polymer matrix made of a fluoropolymer or of an aliphatic polymer capable of being chemically modified by a process as defined in claim 1.
16. Polymer matrix made of a fluoropolymer or of an aliphatic polymer according to claim 15, characterized in that at least one (co)polymer formed from units derived from one or more compound(s) bearing at least one ethylenically unsaturated group is grafted to said polymer matrix, within its thickness.
17. Polymer matrix made of a fluoropolymer or of an aliphatic polymer according to claim 15, characterized in that it has hollow channels within its thickness.

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 for measuring critical dimensions of a mask design pattern, comprising:
setting up a server comprising a measure system;
establishing a connection between the server and a remote terminal through the Internet; and
utilizing the remote terminal to login the server so as to transmit the mask design pattern to the server and remotely control the measure system to measure the critical dimensions of the mask design pattern.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
providing a login system in the server; and
utilizing the login system for determining whether the remote terminal can login the server according to security rules;
wherein if login data inputted by the remote terminal into the login system conforms to the security rules, the login system allows the remote terminal to login the server.
3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
setting up a database for storing the critical dimensions.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein an interface of the measure system is a web page.
5. A system for measuring critical dimensions of a mask design pattern, comprising:
a server comprising a measure system which is utilized for measuring the critical dimensions of the mask design pattern; and
a remote terminal coupled to the server through the Internet for transmitting the mask design pattern to the server and remotely controlling the measure system to measure the critical dimensions of the mask design pattern.
6. The system of claim 5, wherein the server further comprises:
a login system for determining whether the remote terminal can login the server according to security rules;
wherein if login data inputted by the remote terminal into the login system conforms to the security rules, the login system allows the remote terminal to login the server.
7. The system of claim 5 further comprising:
a database for storing the critical dimensions.
8. The system of claim 5, wherein an interface of the measure system is a web page.
9. A method for measuring critical dimensions of a mask design pattern, comprising:
setting up a server and a host, wherein the host comprises a measure system;
providing a security mechanism for ensuring that only the server can be connected to the host and control the measure system;
establishing a connection between the server and a remote terminal through the Internet; and
utilizing the remote terminal to login the server so as to transmit the mask design pattern to the host and remotely control the measure system to measure the critical dimensions of the mask design pattern through the server.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein the security mechanism is provided by a firewall.
11. The method of claim 9 further comprising:
providing a login system in the server; and
utilizing the login system for determining whether the remote terminal can login the server according to security rules;
wherein if login data inputted by the remote terminal into the login system conforms to the security rules, the login system allows the remote terminal to login the server.
12. The method of claim 9 further comprising:
setting up a database for storing the critical dimensions.
13. The method of claim 9, wherein an interface of the measure system is a web page.
14. A system for measuring critical dimensions of a mask design pattern, comprising:
a server;
a host coupled to the server through a security mechanism and having a measure system, wherein the measure system is utilized for measuring the critical dimensions of the mask design pattern and the security mechanism is utilized for ensuring that only the server can be connected to the host and control the measure system; and
a remote terminal coupled to the server through the Internet for transmitting the mask design pattern to the host and remotely controlling the measure system to measure the critical dimensions of the mask design pattern through the server.
15. The system of claim 14, wherein the security mechanism is a firewall.
16. The system of claim 14, wherein the server comprises:
a login system for determining whether the remote terminal can login the server according to security rules;
wherein if login data inputted by the remote terminal into the login system conforms to the security rules, the login system allows the remote terminal to login the server.
17. The system of claim 14 further comprising:
a database for storing the critical dimensions.
18. The system of claim 14, wherein an interface of the measure system is a web page.