BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to the field of sterilization devices. It further relates to cassettes used to hold small parts to prevent their loss or damage during the sterilization process.

It is a common problem in the fitting of orthodontic bands that many of the bands are lost or damaged during the fitting, cleaning or sterilizing process. In fitting orthodontic bands it is frequently necessary to try numerous variously sized orthodontic bands until the appropriately sized band is found for a particular tooth. Each band which is attempted and not appropriately sized is removed from the mouth and then placed on a counter until the fitting process is completed. After the fitting is completed it is necessary for the orthodontist or an assistant to collect the unused bands, wash them by hand and then collect the bands and sterilize them. Due to the small size of the bands, they are easily dropped or mishandled which can cause them to be lost or damaged. Further, after the bands are removed from sterilization, they must be sorted by hand, and replaced in the appropriate containers for the next use. This sorting requires a great deal of time and effort.

The placement of the orthodontic bands on a counter after they have been removed from a patients mouth increases the possibility that the orthodontist or his or her assistants may come into contact with the bands which are exposed to oral fluids. This increases the risk to the orthodontist or assistants of exposure to germs or disease.

Many types of cassettes or boxes are known for use in sterilizing equipment used in a medical or dental setting. Examples of these inventions are shown in the Brewer patent, U.S. Patent No. 4,959,199 which discloses a cassette used for

" the sterilization of dental instruments; the Riihimaki, et al . patent, U.S. Patent No. 4,854,475 which discloses a cassette for sterilizing dental instruments; the Maly patent U.S. Patent No. 4,402,407 which discloses a surgeon's chest for sterilizing surgical instruments; and the Dietz patent U.S. Patent No. 3,092,443 which discloses a dental burr holder and sterilizer.

The art also discloses boxes for storage of small parts such as orthodontic brackets as shown by the Georgakis patent, U.S. Patent No. 4,898,276.

The problem in the art is that most of the sterilization devices are designed for the sterilization of dental instruments which are of a sufficient size that there is little risk of these items being lost in the sterilization process. Further dental and surgical instruments are of sufficient size and strength so that they are not likely to be damaged during the handling or processing necessary in the sterilization phase. There is not known a cassette manufactured of sufficient materials to readily withstand repeated use in the dental sterilization process and which can be used to hold small parts, such as orthodontic bands, and that can assist in the segregation and organization of these parts.

Another problem with the current method of sterilizing orthodontic bands is that they are often placed in standard autoclave bags for sterilization. These bags are disposed of after each use which causes a repeated expense.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a cassette used in a dental or orthodontic office to separate orthodontic bands and in which those orthodontic bands can be sterilized. The cassette is

manufactured from materials, such as stainless steel, that can withstand repeated sterilization processing. The cassette is divided into multiple compartments, each compartment labeled to correspond to a different class of orthodontic bands.

The cassette comprises two substantially parallel sidewalls. The cassette has a base and two endwalls which are attached to the sidewalls which define an open topped container. There are multiple dividers placed in between the sidewalls parallel to the endwalls. These dividers divide the cassette into multiple compartments. The cassette incorporates a sliding lid which slides in grooves incorporated into the sidewalls near the top of the cassette. This lid allows the cassette to be selectively opened to allow access to some or all of the compartments.

The cassette further contains labels or other indicia corresponding to the different compartments in each cassette. This allows small parts to be segregated into the different compartments in the cassette. The cassette is perforated to allow the penetration of steam, if an autoclave is used for sterilization, or the penetration of other liquid sterilizers.

It is an object of the invention to provide a cassette which prevents or minimizes the loss or damage to orthodontic bands occurring during the fitting and sterilization process.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a cassette which allows for the segregation of orthodontic bands during the fitting process.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a sterilization cassette which reduces the time spent sorting orthodontic bands or other small parts after sterilization.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a cassette which assists in maintaining a clean and sterile

environment in an orthodontic or dental office during the procedure of fitting orthodontic bands.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a reusable sterilization cassette which reduces the cost of sterilizing orthodontic bands.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a cross-section view of the present invention taken along line 2-2 of Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is an cross-section view of the present invention taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a cross-section view of the second embodiment of the present invention taken along line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a top view showing the lid of the second embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The present invention consists of a cassette with multiple compartments for temporary storage of orthodontic bands during the sterilization process. As shown in Fig. 1, the cassette 10 is formed in the shape of a box having a base 11, endwalls 12, and two substantially parallel sidewalls 13. Dividers 15 are shown in Fig. 2, which is a cross-section view of the cassette.

The cassette 10 comprises a lid 14 which slides open to allow access to the interior compartments of the cassette 10. The cassette 10 further comprises a first indicia 16 which indicates the various compartments of the cassette 10 and a second indicia 17, such as a label, which indicates the contents of the cassette. Second indicia 17 is used to identify each cassette if multiple cassettes are used. It is anticipated that multiple cassettes will be used by an orthodontist in the band fitting process.

When used for segregation of orthodontic bands second indicia 17 will indicate the type of tooth the bands are designed for, such as maxillary and mandibular cuspids, maxillary and mandibular 1st bicuspids, maxillary and mandibular 2nd bicuspids, maxillary and mandibular 1st molars, maxillary and mandibular 2nd molars, maxillary and mandibular centrals, and maxillary and mandibular laterals, and the first indicia 16 will further segregate the bands by indicating whether they are for an upper or lower right or left tooth. Other indicia could of course be used for a different segregation method.

The lid 14 for the cassette 10 consists of a sliding member which slides in a groove 30 which is incorporated into the top of the sidewalls 13, as shown in Fig. 3. This sliding lid 14 could include a lip, such as shown by 31, designed to prevent full removal of the sliding member. The lid 14 is selectively held open or closed by friction with the groove 30 in which it slides. The lid 14 slides in the direction indicated by arrow 3 in Fig. 1 in order to close the cassette 10.

Further if it is desired, the lid 14 could be securely closed with a variety of known methods. One such method would be to incorporate notches (not shown) at predetermined places in the groove 30 in which the lid 14 slides and a spring activated lever (not shown) which engages said notch. The

'lever could be released by the orthodontist or assistant manually releasing the lever. Other simple types of mechanisms to allow the lid to be releasably secured in an open, partially open, or closed position are commonly known.

The cassette 10 is manufactured with a perforated material used for the sidewalls, endwalls, and dividers. The lid and the base may be made out of solid or perforated materials. It is preferable to manufacture the base from a solid material so that bodily fluids or other contaminants on the bands do not pass from the cassette onto a working surface. The perforations are shown as numeral 18. The perforations 18 allow steam to penetrate the cassette 10 if it is used in an autoclave. The perforations also allow for sterilizing liquids to penetrate the cassette 10 to sterilize the small parts, such as the orthodontic bands, placed in the cassette.

The cassette 10 can be manufactured from any material that can be repeatedly sterilized and can withstand the stress of being repeatedly used in an autoclave or repeatedly exposed to sterilizing liquids. An acceptable material would be surgical steel.

The cassette is used by the orthodontist during the process of fitting orthodontic bands. Usually during this process the orthodontist works on locating a properly sized band for a specific tooth by trial and error, selecting a certain sized band and attempting to fit it on the tooth. If the band is appropriately sized it is fitted to the tooth. If the band is the wrong size, the band which was attempted is placed in the appropriately labelled compartment of the appropriately labelled cassette. The cassette indicating the appropriate indicia for the specific tooth being worked on by the orthodontist would be placed in close proximity to the orthodontist. The cassette 10 would be placed on a counter or other flat surface near the orthodontist. The flat base 11

would be placed on the flat surface. In this orientation the lid 14 would be on the top of the cassette. The lid 14 slides open to allow the attempted bands to be placed in the corresponding marked compartment in the cassette. In this way the bands are segregated to allow for ease of sorting after sterilization. It is common after sterilization to return the bands to the original manufacturers containers.

A second embodiment of the invention is shown in Figs. 4 and 5. In this embodiment, the cassette 20 is constructed in a manner similar to the cassette 10, except that this cassette does not have a sealed base member. Rather, this cassette 20 incorporates two slidable lids 24 on opposite side of the cassette 20. In addition to the vertical dividers 25, the cassette 20 also comprises a horizontal divider 21 which separates the cassette into a lower and an upper portion. This provides cassette 20 with twice as many compartments as cassette 10.

The cassette is manufactured in dimensions to allow it to be easily used with commonly available sterilization methods, such as placed in an autoclave, a dental ultrasonic sterilizing unit, or cold sterile containers. The cassette is further sized to allow use in those devices while allowing room for the sterilization of other dental instruments.

The cassette is further manufactured so that multiple cassettes can be placed together in a single case thereby reducing the storage room necessary for the cassettes.

While the invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, those skilled in the art will understand that variations in design, detail, size, shape and choice of materials for manufacture may be made and still fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention, which is intended to be limited only by the claims appended hereto.