Instrument cleaning cassette with guided double hinge

摘要

A cassette for retaining medical, dental and veterinary instruments during fluid-carried ultrasonic vibration cleaning comprising generally rectangular, registered top and bottom interiorly open solid frames formed of synthetic organic plastic material having a tendency to dampen ultrasonic vibrations and molded to define interior instrument supports and resistant to cleaning conditions and defining a recess sized to receive the instruments, a series of separately formed and movable instrument support brackets, a series of support bracket mounts within the cavity integrally formed with the frames in opposed registration for mounting the support brackets in instrument receiving relation; a hinge linking like ends of the top and bottom frames for hinged pivoted movement opening and closing the cassette to receive and disgorge the instruments, the hinge comprising on each of the top and bottom frames a hinge pin and flange arrangement and an elongated link having an intermediate extent and terminal portions journaling the hinge pins for separate hinging movement such that the frames are registerable with each other in normal position to form the cavity and in inverted position to provide a display of the instruments in one frame elevated by being atop the other frame inverted and registered, and separately formed fluid-passing top and bottom frame panels respectively closing the top and bottom frames to contain the instruments within the cassette against injury to persons handling the cassette, the top and bottom frame panels being metallic and fluid porous to have less tendency to dampen ultrasonic vibrations than the frames, the cassette being molded to receive the instruments and the instruments being cleanable within the cassette by ultrasonic means.