Multi-tray Instrument Case

Abstract

A multi-tray, protective storage and carrying case for delicate articles such as surgical instruments and the like. The case consists of a plurality of stackable instrument trays removably enclosed within a rigid, box-like case body. Each of the trays consists of a pad of elastically deformable plastic foam secured to and suspended within a peripheral frame. When stacked one on top of another within the case body, the top of one tray is situated in close proximity to the bottom of the overlying tray such that instruments resting on the first tray are cushioned from above and held in place by the foam pad in the overlying tray. Instruments in the uppermost tray of the stack are cushioned and held in place by a layer of elastically deformable plastic foam secured to the underside of the lid of the case. The trays can be removed from the case as a unit by means of handles secured to the rim of the lowermost tray.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a protective storage and carrying case for surgical instruments and other delicate articles.

Although this is an age of rapid advancement in instrumentation, there have been few innovations in the areas of storing and carrying surgical instruments. Existing cases for such instruments are in general archaic, consisting as they typically do of combinations of small containers and elastic straps.

It is an object of this invention to provide a durable, compact, convenient to use carrying case which will provide reliable protection for the vast assortment of small, variously-sized instruments that a surgeon is prone to carry. It is another object of this invention to provide a surgical instrument carrying case having a plurality of stackable instrument trays which cooperate with one another to cushion and hold in place instruments sandwiched therebetween. It is a further object of this invention to provide a tray for use in a surgical instrument carrying case, which tray when stacked on another like tray serves both to support and cushion instruments placed thereon and also to cushion and hold in place instruments supported by the underlying tray. Another object is to provide such a tray which enables most efficient utilization of space within the case. Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description and the drawings.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention is directed to a protective case for storing and carrying delicate articles such as surgical instruments. The case is comprised of a box-like case body, which is preferably of a rigid, double-walled construction, a lid for the case body, and a plurality of trays removably enclosed within the case body. Each of the trays comprises a soft, elastically deformable cushioning pad secured to and suspended with a substantially rigid frame extending peripherally around the pad. The trays are stacked one on another within the case body with the bottom of the pad in a first tray situated in close proximity to the top of the pad of a second tray such that articles supported on and cushioned by the pad of the second tray are also cushioned and held in place by the pad of the first tray. Preferably, a pad of soft, elastically deformable material is secured to the underside of the lid of the case, this pad serving to cushion and hold in place articles on the uppermost tray when the lid is closed. The several pads used in the case of this invention are preferably made from sheets of foamed plastic materials such as polyurethane foam and foamed rubber.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded isometric view of a preferred embodiment of the carrying case of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical section view longitudinally through the case of FIG. 1 in its closed position.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view as in FIG. 2 with surgical instruments enclosed within the case.

FIGS. 4-6 are partial, vertical section views of four different embodiments of the tray according to this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS AND THE INVENTION

Referring to FIGS. 1-3, a carrying case according to this invention comprises a deep, upwardly open case body 2 and a hinged lid 4. Toggle linkages 6 are provided for retaining the lid in its open position (FIG. 1). The case body is constructed of an outer shell 8 and an inner shell 10 (FIGS. 2 and 3), both of which are made of rigid, shock resistant, molded plastic. The two shells are held together at their upper edges by a crimped metal rim 12. The lid consists of a shallow downwardly open rigid plastic shell 14 and a metal rim 16 crimped over the lower edge thereof. Secured to the underside of the lid is a soft, elastically deformable pad 17, the function of which is explained hereinafter.

In the bottom of the case body there is a foam base pad 19 on top of which there is a second foam base pad 21 die-cut to receive bulky instruments such as speculae, cautery and knives in their original boxes. On top of the die-cut pad there rests a stack of four instrument trays 18. If it is desired to use a greater number of trays, one or both of pads 19 and 21 can be removed. Each of the trays consists of a soft, elastically deformable foam pad 24, secured to and suspended within a substantially rigid frame 22 extending peripherally about the pad. The lowermost tray is provided with upwardly extending handles 26 riveted to the ends of the frame. The handles extend upwardly beyond the uppermost tray of the stack so that the trays can be removed from the case as a set. After removal, the trays can be unstacked and placed on a flat surface, leaving each instrument clearly visible for selection.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3 in particular, it will be observed that the lowermost tray 18 rests on the die-cut pad 21 which in turn rests on the foam pad 19. The frame 22 of each succeeding tray rests on the foam pad of the next lower tray such that the pads in each tray are positioned in close proximity to one another. Each tray thus cooperates with the next lower tray to cushion and hold in place articles supported thereon, the lowermost tray cushioning articles situated in the die-cut pad. When the lid of the case is closed as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the foam pad on the underside of the lid is so disposed as to cushion and hold in place articles supported on the uppermost tray and also to press downwardly on the uppermost tray and the handles 26 sufficiently to compress the stack of trays causing the foam pads therein to conform to the instruments situated therebetween. Preferably, each of the tray pads is readily stretchable in either direction out of the plane of the frame to which it is secured such that the several tray pads can flex or yield cumulatively, enabling any tray to accomodate thick as well as thin objects and contributing to the combined protective capability of the trays. The lid of the case should be hinged to the case body such that, as the lid is being closed and the pad 17 on the underside of the lid contacts the uppermost tray, the movement of the lid is principally vertical such that articles supported on the uppermost tray will not be moved about.

FIGS. 4-6 show three different embodiments of the tray according to this invention. In each of these embodiments the foam pad is secured to a rigid plastic rim by an adhesive, not shown.

The tray of FIG. 4 is of the same construction as those shown in FIG. 1 through 3. The frame 22 has an upturned rim 28 about its upper outside edge and an inturned flange 30 about its bottom edge, the foam pad 24 resting on the latter. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the bottom of the frame in each tray rests upon the top surface of the foam pad of the tray immediately below, thus placing the pad in each tray in close proximity to the pads in the immediately overlying and underlying trays.

In the tray shown in FIG. 5, the top and bottom surfaces of the foam pad 24 are covered with layers of tightly woven fabric 32 which serve to prevent points on instruments or other articles stored in the case from sticking into the foam pads. The pad and layers of fabric are glued together about their edges. The edges of the pad and fabric are sandwiched between two frame elements 30 and 34, each of which is glued to the other and to the edges of the pad and fabric which it contacts. The two element frame construction facilitates rapid assembling of the tray, renders the frame more rigid, and serves to hide the adhesive used to secure together the various tray components.

In FIG. 6, the edge of the pad is sandwiched between two inturned flanges 36 and 38 extending around the top and bottom edges of the frame, the upper flange 36 hiding the adhesive securing the pad to the frame.

While the invention has been disclosed by reference to the presently preferred embodiments thereof, it will be recognized that changes and alterations can be made without departing from the spirit and intended scope of the following claims. For example, the top and bottom surfaces of the pads in the instrument trays can be corrugated or provided with slits or recesses for receiving particular instruments.

Claims

I claim:

1. A case for storing and transporting a plurality of delicate articles comprising a case body; a plurality of trays removably enclosed within said case body, each of said trays comprising a soft, elastically deformable pad and a substantially rigid framing element secured to and extending peripherally around said pad, said trays being stacked one on another with the bottom of the pad of a first tray situated in close proximity to the top of the pad of a second tray whereby articles supported on the pad of said second tray are cushioned and held in place by the pad of said first tray; and means for removing said trays from said case body as a unit, comprising a pair of handles secured to the lowermost of said trays.

2. The case of claim 1 wherein the pads in said trays are comprised of a foamed plastic.

3. The case of claim 1 wherein the top and bottom of a pad are each comprised of a layer of thin, flexible material.

4. The case of claim 1 wherein said case body comprises opposing top and bottom walls and first and second pairs of opposing side walls, said top wall being movable to open and close said case body and having a layer of soft, elastically deformable material secured to the underside thereof, said layer being operatively disposed when said case is closed proximate the uppermost of said trays to cushion and hold in place articles supported on the top of said uppermost tray.

5. The case of claim 4 wherein the pads in said trays and said layer of deformable material are comprised of a foamed plastic.

6. A case for storing and transporting a plurality of delicate articles comprising a rigid box-like enclosure having a bottom, sides and a lid that can be raised; soft, elastically deformable cushioning pads substantially covering the inside faces of said bottom and lid; and a stack of generally horizontal artical support trays extending substantially the distance between said pads, each of said trays comprising a soft, elastically deformable cushioning pad having exposed top and bottom faces proximately positioned to respectively adjacent pads, and a rigid framing element extending peripherally therearound, and each of said tray pads being stretchable out of the plane of the frame to which it is secured.

7. The case of claim 6 wherein said tray pads are comprised of foamed plastic.

8. The case of claim 6 wherein substantially the entire thickness of a tray pad consists of a single layer of foamed plastic.

9. A case for storing and transporting a plurality of delicate articles comprising a rigid box-like enclosure having a bottom, sides and a lid that can be raised; soft, elastically deformable cushioning pads substantially covering the inside faces of said bottom and lid; a stack of generally horizontal article support trays extending substantially the distance between said pads, each of said trays comprising a soft, elastically deformable cushioning pad having exposed top and bottom faces proximately positioned to respectively adjacent pads, and a rigid framing element extending peripherally therearound, and means for removing said stack as a unit, comprising a pair of oppositely disposed handles secured to the lowermost tray of said stack, and extending materially above said lowermost tray for accessibility.

10. A case for storing and transporting delicate articles, comprising a case body having a bottom and enclosing sides, support means in the bottom portion of the case body, and a plurality of collectively and individually removable trays arranged in a vertical stack on the support means, between the lower and upper limits of the sides of the case body, and each comprised of a substantially rigid framing element having a top and a bottom and a widely dimensioned vertical opening therein, and a continuously uninterrupted elastically deformable pad in the opening, the body of which pad substantially fills the opening and is peripherally interconnected with the framing element so as to be supportively retained in the opening with the upper and lower faces thereof extending across the opening substantially co-planar with the top and bottom of the element, said trays resting on top of one another in mutually adjacent relationship so that the upper face of each pad is proximate to the lower face of the pad immediately thereabove, and said support means operatively supporting the stack of pads so that articles interposed between each pair of pads will be cushioned and held in place by the respective pads.

11. The case according to claim 10 wherein the framing element of each tray has an upturned rim about the top thereof.

12. The case according to claim 11 wherein the rim of each tray is adapted so that the bottom of the tray immediately thereabove can rest on the pad of the respective tray, loosely within the rim thereof.

13. The case according to claim 10 wherein the framing element of each tray has an inturned flange about the bottom thereof.

14. The case according to claim 10 wherein the pads are adhesively bonded to the framing element of the respective trays.

15. The case according to claim 10 wherein the support means includes an elastically deformable pad having recesses for bulky articles in the upper surface thereof.

16. The case according to claim 10 further comprising a handle upstanding on one of the trays whereby the stack of trays can be manually grasped and lifted from the case body as a unit.

17. The case according to claim 10 further comprising a lid on the case body, said stack further comprising an additional tray which is arranged on top of the stack to project above the upper limit of the sides of the case body, said lid having an elastically deformable pad secured therein which is disposed in proximity to the additional tray to cushion and hold in place articles to be placed therebetween.

18. The case according to claim 17 wherein the lid is hingedly connected to the case body.