Patent ID: 7599506

Claim:
A device to communicate sound to a user by the transmission of signals through the user's mouth to the user's ear, the device comprising: a signal source configured to produce signals corresponding to sound, music, or instructional material; a transducer operatively associated with the signal source to produce vibrations from the signals corresponding to sound, music, or instructional material; a sound-transmitting element operatively associated with the transducer to which the transducer can transmit vibrations; a power source associated with the signal source; a tension controller operatively associated with the transducer to adjust the volume of the produced signal based on the pressure applied by the device to the user's mouth; a housing; an independent-selective-activity structure, associated with the sound-transmitting element and housing, configured for use in a selectable activity different from denta-mandibular sound transmission; where the sound-transmitting element can transmit the vibrations to the user's mouth upon contact of the element with the mouth, so that the vibrations travel from the mouth to the user's ear where they can be perceived by the user as sounds; and where the sound-transmitting element is positioned adjacent to the transducer so that vibrations transmitted from the signal source to the sound-transmitting element are sufficient to be perceivable by the user as sound when the sound-transmitting element is in contact with the user's mouth.