1. An apparatus for measuring and recording skull vibration in-situ comprising:
a receiving means capable of simultaneously engaging an undercut area in a gingival one-third of at least one maxillary tooth and an interproximal area between two adjacent maxillary teeth on both a buccal surface and a lingual surface within a mouth of a user;
a transducer coupled to said receiving means, said transducer capable of transducing mechanical vibration within a dental bone conduction pathway into electrical signals; and
recordation hardware and software capable of receiving and processing said electrical signals from said transducer.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a metallic spring for biasedly retaining the receiving means in the undercut area in the gingival one-third of at least one maxillary tooth and the interproximal area between two adjacent maxillary teeth on both the buccal and the lingual surfaces.
3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said metallic spring is configured from orthodontic spring wire containing stainless steel, nickel, titanium, or alloys of stainless steel, nickel or titanium.
4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said receiving means is spring-loaded into the undercut area in the gingival one-third of at least one maxillary tooth and the interproximal area between two adjacent maxillary teeth on both the buccal and the lingual surfaces and wherein said receiving means contains a mouth safe polymer.
5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the mouth safe polymer is selected from the group consisting of acrylates, methacrylates, urethanes, polyesters, polyvinylcholoride (PVC), polyethylene, polystyrene, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), polyetheretherketone (PEEK), and ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA).
6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said receiving means is spring-loaded for biased retention into the undercut area in the gingival one-third of at least one maxillary tooth and the interproximal area between two adjacent maxillary teeth on both the buccal and the lingual surfaces and wherein said receiving means is made of a mouth-safe metal.
7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the mouth safe metal is selected from the group consisting of stainless steel, nickel, chromium, cobalt, titanium, and alloys of stainless steel, nickel, chromium, cobalt or titanium.
8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said receiving means is rigid and is made of autoclavable and reusable mouth-safe metal.
9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the mouth safe metal is selected from the group consisting of stainless steel, nickel, chromium, cobalt, titanium, and alloys of stainless steel, nickel, chromium, cobalt or titanium.
10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said receiving means comprises flanges located in a supra-gingival position relative to the undercut area in the gingival one-third of at least one maxillary tooth, said flanges configured for aiding in removal of said apparatus from the mouth of the user.
11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said receiving means is filled with a mouth-safe dental material capable of flowing around teeth within the receiving means and setting to a rigid, semi-rigid, or adhesive state.
12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein said dental material is selected from the group consisting of a poly-vinyl siloxane, a polyether, a zinc-oxide, a dental impression compound, a dental cement, and a dental adhesive.
13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said transducer comprises a piezoelectric, a magnetostrictive, a magnetoresistive, or a voice coil effect material.
14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said transducer is one of a uni-axial transducer, a bi-axial transducer, or a tri-axial transducer.
15. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising an extra-orally disposed wire attached to at least one of said transducer or said receiving means.
16. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a disposable sanitary sheath covering said transducer.
17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the sheath is made of a flexible plastic having a thickness of less than about 0.5 mm.
18. A method of placing a transducer in an apparatus for recording and measuring in-situ skull vibration, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) selecting a receiving means capable of simultaneously engaging an undercut area in a gingival one-third of at least one maxillary tooth and an interproximal area between two adjacent maxillary teeth, thereby engaging said at least one maxillary tooth and said two adjacent maxillary teeth on both a buccal surface and a lingual surface within a mouth of a user, wherein a transducer is coupled to said receiving means, said transducer capable of transducing mechanical vibration within a dental bone conduction pathway into electrical signals;
(b) covering said transducer with a sheath, and placing said covered transducer into said receiving means; and
(c) electrically coupling said transducer to a recording system, said recording system capable of receiving and processing the electrical signals from said transducer, and said recording system disposed outside of the mouth of the user so that said transducer is in communication with said recording system for recording the electrical signals produced by the transducer.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein said apparatus comprises a signal conditioner, a pre-amplifier, an amplifier, and an electronic data recording device.
20. The method of claim 19, wherein said signal conditioner is linked wirelessly to said electronic data recording device.
21. The method of claim 18, wherein the receiving means contains an encapsulated transducer ab initio.
22. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said recordation hardware comprises a signal conditioner, a pre-amplifier, an amplifier, and an electronic data recording device.
23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein said signal conditioner is linked wirelessly to said electronic data recording device.
24. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said transducer is encapsulated by said receiving means.
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 container packaging apparatus comprising:
a bag opening means for opening a transversely-mounted packaging bag in its site of an opening region defined exclusively in a tip end portion of said packaging bag;
a container insertion means for inserting a container into said packaging bag through an opening that has been actually opened in said packaging bag in its site of said opening region;
a bag sealing means having a pair of upper and lower sealing members for sealing said opening;
a deaeration means for exhausting air inside said packaging bag through a deaeration nozzle that has been inserted from a space defined between said sealing members into said packaging bag through said opening; and
a side edge chuck member for positioning and holding both side ends of said opening during a deaeration operation by said deaeration means.
2. A container packaging apparatus in accordance with claim 1, further comprising a container positioning means for restricting migration of said container within said packaging bag during a deaeration operation by said deaeration means.