Instrument cassette

An instrument cassette for holding and sterilizing dental instruments comprising:

• a lower tray having a bottom and four tray sidewalls defining a tray interior;
• an upper cover having a top and four cover sidewalls defining a cover interior;
• a hinge positioned on a first tray sidewall and a first cover sidewall for hingeably joining the tray and the cover together for pivotal movement between an open position and a closed position;
• instrument positioning racks mounted within the tray interior and the cover interior for positioning the instruments in side-by-side relation within the tray and the cover;
• an instrument retainer removably mounted within the cover, the instrument retainer comprising a retaining bar having means at a first end thereof for pivotally mounting the instrument retainer within the cover for pivotal movement in at least two planes between a retaining position and a non-retaining position, and means at a second end thereof for releasably fastening the retaining bar to the cover, and a resilient retaining member mounted on the retaining bar, the resilient retaining member transversely pressingly contacting the instruments in the positioning racks in the tray and the cover when the cassette is in the closed position and the instrument retainer is in the retaining position to thereby retain the instruments in the positioning racks.

An instrument cassette for holding and sterilizing instruments comprising:

• a lower tray having a bottom and four tray sidewalls defining a tray interior;
• an upper cover having a top and four cover sidewalls defining a cover interior;
• a hinge positioned on a first tray sidewall and a first cover sidewall for hingeably joining the tray and the cover together for pivotal movement between an open position and a closed position;
• instrument positioning racks mounted within the tray interior and the cover interior for positioning the instruments in side-by-side relation within the tray and the cover;
• an instrument retainer removably mounted within the cover, the instrument retainer comprising a retaining bar having means at a first end thereof for pivotally mounting the instrument retainer within the cover for pivotal movement in at least two planes between a retaining position and a non-retaining position, the pivotal mounting means comprising a hooked projection having a stem portion that projects outwardly from the first end of the retaining bar in a direction that is coaxial with a central longitudinal axis extending through the retaining bar, a curved portion that is perpendicular to the stem portion and co-planar with the stem portion and the central longitudinal axis, and a tongue portion that extends outwardly from the curved portion in a direction substantially perpendicular to a plane containing the central longitudinal axis and the stem portion, the retaining bar further having means at a second end thereof for releasably fastening the retaining bar to the cover, and a resilient retaining member mounted on the retaining bar, the resilient retaining member transversely pressingly contacting the instruments in the positioning racks in the tray and the cover when the cassette is in the closed position and the instrument retainer is in the retaining position to thereby retain the instruments in the positioning racks.

An instrument cassette for holding and sterilizing instruments comprising:

• (a) a lower tray and an upper cover hingeably joined together for movement between an open position and a closed position;
• (b) instrument positioning racks fastened to the tray and the cover for positioning the instruments in side-by-side relation within the tray and the cover;
• (c) an instrument retainer removably mounted within the cover and adjustable between a first position and a second, inverted position, the instrument retainer comprising
• a retaining bar having means at a first end thereof for pivotally mounting the retaining bar to the cover, and means at a second end thereof for releasably fastening the retaining bar to the cover, and a resilient retaining member mounted on the retaining bar, the pivotal mounting means being releasable from the cover to permit adjustment of the instrument retainer from the first position to the second, inverted position;
• (d) means for slidably receiving the fastening means in the first and second position comprising respective upper and lower slots;
• whereby when the instrument retainer is in the first position, it pressingly contacts the instruments positioned in the positioning racks in the tray and the cover when the cassette is in the closed position, and when the instrument retainer is in the second position, it pressingly contacts the instruments positioned in the positioning rack in the tray and contacts the cover when the cassette in the closed position.