Abstract: An automatic feeder for livestock including a device to meter and measure the amount of feed used. A thermal sensitive device is employed to provide a continuous supply of feed. The thermal sensing measures the heat insulation of feed in a container, and allows feed to drop from a bin into the container only when the layer of feed is so thin that the heat is radiated through the layer of feed.

Abstract: An aquarium or fish tank as disclosed. The tank includes a mesh shelf spaced above the bottom and a port through a side of the tank below the shelf. A tube extends through the port with a downwardly opening nozzle at the end thereof. A valve is disposed at an opposite end and a drain hole. The drain hole is adapted to be attached to a source of vacuum so that debris on the bottom of the tank will be sucked through the nozzle and exit the tube at the drain hole. A valve is disposed at the drain hole to control opening and closing thereof. A resilient seal is provided where the tube extends through the port so that the nozzle end of the tube can be moved both laterally across the bottom and longitudinally toward and away from the port.

Abstract: A disposable pet litter container is disclosed. The container is foldable between a collapsed state for storage and disposal, and an erect state for use. The container includes a lower box portion defining a litter-containing receptacle. The lower box portion includes a bottom, peripheral wall members extending upwardly from the bottom to form the litter-containing receptacle therewith, and a foldable top for covering the lower box portion in the collapsed state. An upper box portion is provided and is selectively extendable from the lower box portion. The upper box portion includes front and rear panels extending upwardly from one pair of oppositely disposed wall members of the lower box portion and are adapted for selectively folding into the lower box portion for storage when in its collapsed state. A pair of side panels are also provided and project upwardly from a second pair of oppositely disposed peripheral wall members and are adapted to form the top when in its collapsed state.

Abstract: The removable section of the handgrip is formed with an axial chamber designed to accommodate a lampholder which incorporates a circumferential groove and is seated against a spring that ejects it from the chamber; the spring is kept loaded by a retaining mechanism which locates in the groove, and the entire retaining mechanism is concealed by at least one tubular element that ensheaths the removable section and can be separated from it.

Abstract: An orthodontic bracket comprises a body having first and second ends, a first vertical sidewall for attachment to a molar band, and a second sidewall extending arcuate and upwardly away from a lower portion of the first sidewall. A contoured slot extends between the ends and downwardly from an upper portion of the first sidewall for defining an upper and a lower channel, and the lower channel permits the second sidewall to flex outwardly relative to the first sidewall. The upper channel includes a lower arcuate surface upon which an orthodontic wire seats. The second sidewall includes a pawl overlying the upper channel and extending substantially the length thereof for engaging and maintaining an orthodontic wire in the upper channel and against the lower arcuate surface.

Abstract: A dental post for retention a dental restoration onto a prepared tooth stub, includes an elongated cylindrical portion insertable into the tooth stub and a head portion extending from the surface of the tooth stub for securement within the dental restoration. The head portion of the post is anatomically shaped to conform to the shape of the dental restoration.

Abstract: A submerigible screw-type implant includes a longitudinal channel which directs bone chips towards the base of a bore in the patient's bone in which the implant is installed. These bone chips promote autogenous rapid regrowth of new bone to securely anchor the implant in place. In order to be able to position the implant at the most advantageous angle at the edentulous sight, angled abutments for supporting an artificial tooth structure or angularly adjustable abutments are provided. The angularly adjustable abutments may be in the form of a ball and socket joint in which the socket includes an inner casing having a peripheral extension that acts to lock the joint at the desired angle. Also, the support for an artificial tooth may include a shock-absorbing cushion to prevent some of the forces of mastication from disturbing the implant.

Abstract: A method of applying an orthodontic wire which is affixed to at least one of a row of teeth with an adhesive. A cast is made of the row of teeth. The wire is brought into the desired shape on the cast, and temporarily secured in position. Over the cast with wire, a layer of permanently resilient material is applied, which is deformed to conform to the shape of the cast to form a mold. The mold with the wire embedded therein is removed from the mold. The wire is temporarily removed from the mold, the mold is provided with perforations at the desired locations, which correspond to the shape and dimensions of the adhesive receiving places, the wire is re-positioned in the mold, and the perforations are filled with adhesive. The mold with the wire embedded therein and adhesive applied is then placed on, and over, the row of teeth and pressed into contact with them.

Abstract: A mirror particularly for dental care. The mounting (3) is securely mounted in a non-removable manner to the handle (2) or to an intermediate sleeve interposed between the mounting (3) and the handle (2) and the glass or reflective insert (4) is mounted removably on the mounting (3). The mounting comprises at the level of the inner ring (5) a groove while the edge of the glass (4) comprises a rounded edge. The branches (6, 7) may comprise one or several bends (14, 15), so that all angles are possible relative to the plane of the glass or reflective insert (4) which permits best visibility to the user.

Abstract: The present invention is a dental prophylactic polishing cup of unique design and shape having uniquely shaped turbine like vanes or ribs positioned at an angle to the long axis of the prophy cup in such a manner, that as the prophy cup is rotated during a dental prophylaxis the polishing paste held in the cup and brought to bear against the surface of the tooth will be acted on by the said turbine like vanes or ribs forcing the polishing paste back into the cup counteracting the forces that tend to dislodge and throw the paste out of the cup. Thus the polishing paste is held in the cup for a longer period of time and for a greater number of revolutions of the cup for greater efficiency reducing the number of times the prophy cup must be refilled or reloaded, saving time effort and materials, and making the whole procedure less messy. The turbine like vanes or ribs also make the prophy cup easier to load or fill as the vanes draw the paste into the cup as it is rotated against the polishing paste container.

Abstract: Orthodontic brackets or other dental attachments are provided with particulate material on the tooth engaging surface thereof to improve the bonding of bracket to a tooth surface.

Abstract: The present invention provides a dental instrument for attachment to a tooth providing a stable support for the use of other dental instruments such as those used to remove crowns. The instrument comprises a pair of arms, pivotably joined, each arm having a handle portion and an adjustable instrument mounting handle portion and an adjustable instrument mounting head portion which includes opposable tooth gripping means and a tool suitable for providing a stable support for dental instruments. The invention also provides a method of removing dental prostheses such as crowns utilizing the dental instrument of the invention as a stable support for a dental instrument used to apply pressure to the margin between the tooth and crown.

Abstract: An orthodontic appliance is provided which has upper and lower tooth receiving troughs which include sockets for the canines and posterior teeth, the sockets being laterally spaced at a distance greater than the normal lateral spacing of the patient's posterior teeth, and a mesio-distal dimension of the canine sockets is greater than the normal mesio-distal dimension of the patient's canines to provide expansion in a deciduous or mixed dentition.

Abstract: An improved tease comb or hair pick (10) includes a handle (12) and a row of teeth (14, 16 and 18) thereon. A medium length tooth (16) is provided between each pair of long teeth (14) and a short tooth (18) is provided between each medium tooth and the adjacent long tooth, in order quickly to provide more volume with less tangling and knotting.

Abstract: A cranial motion dental attachment for linking the interproximal walls of adjacent molded crowns while permitting relative movement therebetween. The attachment includes a piston having an integral retainer stem which is attached to a dental structure and a cylinder attached to an adjacent dental structure adapted to receive the piston so that the piston is moveable within the cylinder permitting horizontal or lateral movement between the adjacent dental pieces.

Abstract: A convenience article of manufacture of a cosmetic brush and mirror characterized by a hollow elongated brush handle which serves as a storage compartment for the mirror having a correspondingly elongated size so that when withdrawn from the compartment it provides an effective visual guide for the use of the brush, and wherein the mirror and brush are frictionally interengaged to contribute to their use conjointly.

Abstract: An adjustable bracket assembly for use with an arch wire includes a base member, an attachment member, and means for movably associating the base member with the attachment member, whereby the attachment member is slidably received within the base member, whereby a variable sized arch wire receiving channel may be formed.

Abstract: An implant portion of an oral implant arrangement for supporting an artificial tooth structure has an elongated body having a first and a second ends. The first end is adapted to receive at least a portion of the artificial tooth structure. The second end is adapted for insertion into a crypt in a bone located to support the artificial tooth in the vicinity of the occlusal plane of a patient. At least one longitudinal column projecting outwardly from the outside surface of the elongated body and extending at least part way toward the second end of the body is provided. A cutting arrangement is defined at the end of the longitudinal column toward the second end of the body. During insertion of said elongated body into the crypt in the bone the longitudinal column closely engages slots formed within the walls of the bone crypt by the cutting arrangement so as to create at least one antirotational pillar which resist accidental spinning of the implant portion in the crypt.

Abstract: A feed trough with rocking action for feeding livestock comprises a frusto-cylindrical body member being adapted to form a horizontally disposed channel having two side walls and a rounded bottom wall in contact with the ground. Each end of the channel is closed by an end wall that is connected to the body member and each of the side walls has a roll stop attached to the side wall such that the roll stop is not in contact with the ground when the body member is in an upright position with the rounded bottom wall in contact with the ground. The combination of the rounded bottom wall and the roll stops provide a rocking action, such that when the trouch is stepped on by an animal, the trough will rock in the direction of the force exerted by the animal until the roll stop comes into contact with the ground and operates to return the trough to its upright position.

Abstract: This invention is a unique and dentally supported intra-oral device designed to prevent the occlusion of the oro-pharngeal airway which occurs while sleeping for patients with sleep apnea consisting of a one-piece dental mouthpiece with a front beak housing an orifice airway and custom-fitted anchoring molar and labial wire clasps and guide. It is one of the first solutions in the new field of pulmonary medical practice treating nocturnal breathing disorders.