The invention pertains to instrument sterilizing cassettes. More particularly, the invention pertains to cassettes of a type that are configurable by a dental practitioner in accordance with his/her preferences in arranging sets of instruments for sterilization, and subsequent use.
Dental practitioners are known to have very specific preferences as to the arrangement of instruments to be used in a given dental procedure. Differing procedures call for different sets of instruments and different arrangements of those instruments prior to starting the procedure.
Subsequent to the procedure, the instruments need to be cleaned and sterilized. They also need to be placed into the practitioner's preferred configuration for subsequent use.
It has been known to load sets of instruments into bags for sterilization subsequent to a procedure. The sterile bag of instruments can then be provided to the practitioner at the start of the next procedure. One of the disadvantages of using sterilization bags is that the instruments are loose in the bag and are not arranged as preferred by the practitioner.
Dental instrument cassettes represent another approach to sterilizing, and storing arranged instruments for use by a practitioner. Such cassettes can be formed of sterilizable heat resistant plastic or medical grade stainless steel. Known cassettes often have hinged sections which can be closed upon one another to form an interior region. The instruments can be arranged in the interior region for sterilization and storage until the practitioner is ready to use them for the next procedure. When the cassette is opened, the instruments are presented to the practitioner in his/her preferred arrangement.
Plastic sterilization and storage cassettes have been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,541,992 entitled “Apparatus for Organizing, Sterilizing and Maintaining Medical/Dental Instruments”, U.S. Pat. No. 5,294,413 entitled “Sterilization and Storage Cassette”, U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,929 entitled “Sterilization and Storage Cassette”. Metal storage cassettes have been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,854,475 entitled “Instrument Cassette”, U.S. Pat. No. 5,215,726 entitled “Two-Tiered Sterilization and Storage Cassette”, U.S. Pat. No. 5,84,632 entitled “Two-Tiered Sterilization and Storage Cassette”, Des. Patent No. D 441,457 entitled “Sterilization Cassette” and Des. Patent No. D 360,697 entitled “Sterilization Cassette”. The previously enumerated patents are all assigned to the assignee hereof and incorporated by reference herein.
While the known cassettes have been useful and effective for their intended purposes, there continues to be a need for cassettes which enable dental practitioners to more readily arrange instruments in accordance with their preferences. Preferably such cassettes could also be readily reconfigurable in the event that the practitioner wishes to change the instrument set, or, wants to modify the instrument arrangement. It would also be desirable if the cassettes could be configured so as to have a minimal footprint when opened.
FIG, 8D illustrates a compression rail usable with the cassette of
While embodiments of this invention can take many different forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown in the drawings and will be described herein in detail with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention, as well as the best mode of practicing same, and is not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiment illustrated.
The members 12a, b can be molded of any high strength autoclavable thermoplastic. Alternately, one or both of members 12a, b can be formed of metal.
Members 12a, b when closed against one another, as illustrated in
The upper region or cover 12a,
The base rail assemblies 16a, b are either directly coupled to or indirectly coupled to the base 12b via base rail anchors 18, by engaging various members of an elongated plurality of openings, such as the representative opening 26 in base 12b. The openings 26 are spaced axially along the base 12b. Shorter openings 26-1 are spaced axially along the base 12b and provide additional locations to which the rails 16a,b and/or base rail anchors 18, clips or instrument holders can be attached.
The cover 12a also includes a plurality of circular perforations such as representative perforation 28. It will be understood that the elongated perforations or openings 26, 26-1 and circular openings 28 not only facilitate locating and attachment of various instrument support elements, they also contribute to and facilitate sterilization of the instruments carried in the cassette 10 when in a closed state, such as in
It will also be understood that the cover 12a and base 12b could be identical. In this configuration, the perforations 26, 26-1 and 28 would also be identical.
Clips for hinged instruments, such as clips 32a, 32b can be releasibly attached to selected ones of the openings 28 in accordance with the practitioner's preferences. A hinged instrument, such as scissors I-2 can be carried by the hinged instrument clips such as 32a, b. As will be understood by those of skill in the art, the hinged instrument clips as well as the instruments for rails and rail base anchors can be arranged in a variety of configurations relative to covers 12a and base 12b. These arrangements are preferably based on the preference of the practitioner.
An alternate instrument configuration 10-2 is illustrated in
The cassette 10 is also advantageous in that a practitioner can initially use insrument configuration 10-1 and subsequently change the same in accordance with his/her preferences. Similarly, the hinged instruments such as instrument I-2 can be added or deleted from the instrument set.
The cover 12a and base 12b can be latched together with a pair of elongated latches 38a, b. The latches 38a, b are preferably carried on cover 12a. They slidably engage respective latching elements 40a, b on the base 12b when the cover 12a is closed against the base 12b. Other latch configurations come within the spirit and scope of the invention, for example the latches could be carried on the base 12b.
Those of skill will understand that instrument configurations 10-1, -2 are exemplary only. Other configurations come within the spirit and scope of the present invention.
The hinge 44 has two spaced apart parallel pivoting axis 44a, b. The two axis are joined by an intervening, elongated rigid member 46a. Rigid elongated member members 46b and 46c of hinge 44, rotate relative to the member 46a about the axis 44a, b. The members 46b,c slidably and removably engage cover 12a and base 12b at slots 12-1,-2.
The members 46b,c extend through slots such as slots 12-1, -2, respectively formed in cover 12a and base 12b. As the members 46b, c slide into the respective slots, 12-1, -2, perforations therein, such as perforations 48a, 48b slidably receive spring biased ends 50a and 50b. The ends 50a, b are carried within members 50-1 and 50-2 and releasibly lock the hinge 44 to cover 12a and base 12b.
A needle cap holder 56a is slidably mounted on another molded post 56b. The clips 54a and needle cap holder 56a are exemplary only. Neither their configuration nor their characteristics are limitations of the present invention. Other clips come within the spirit and scope of the invention.
For example, and without limitation, instruments can be stored in a deep tray 66a or one of two shallow trays 66b, 66c. The trays can be retained by resin tie downs 68 which slidably engage posts, such as post 70 to clamp the respective trays to the base 12b.
In addition to the trays, hinged instrument clips, such as the clips 32i discussed previously, can be slidably attached to the cover 12a for purposes of carrying one or more hinged instruments as would be understood by those of skill in the art. It will be understood that other tray based instrument storage arrangements come within the spirit and scope of the present invention. It will also be understood that all elements or components usable in the cassette 10 could be formed of resin or metal.
From the foregoing, it will be observed that numerous variations and modifications may be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is to be understood that no limitation with respect to the specific apparatus illustrated herein is intended or should be inferred. It is, of course, intended to cover by the appended claims all such modifications as fall within the scope of the claims.
This application claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S. Provisional Application No.60/525,274 filed Nov. 26, 2003, entitled “Configurable Cassettes”.
Number | Date | Country | |
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60525274 | Nov 2003 | US |