Sterilization tray fastener and related methods

Inventors

Rao, Sejal • Fernandez, Jose • Jones, Drew • Sullivan, Tom

Assignees

Aspen Surgical Products Inc

Abstract

Sterilization tray fasteners are disclosed herein. The disclosed sterilization tray fasteners may be formed to join sterilization tray bases stacked directly on top of one another together. In some embodiments, sterilization tray bases may be formed to have slots or apertures to accommodate features of the disclosed fasteners. For example, in some embodiments, the disclosed sterilization tray fasteners include an elongate body and two curved arms that can extend into apertures of the sterilization tray bases. In many embodiments, the disclosed fasteners can be attached to and detached from sterilization tray bases without tools.

Core Innovation

The invention relates to a sterilization tray fastener for joining multiple sterilization tray bases that are stacked directly on top of one another. Tray bases include aligned slots and apertures that receive two curved arms of an elongate fastener, with the first arm extending from a lower end and curving back toward the elongate body such that a surface of the first arm is parallel to the elongate body. The second arm extends from an upper end on the first side of the elongate body, and the second arm has a proximal portion and a distal portion with the proximal portion curving to provide a surface perpendicular to the elongate body and the distal portion curving away from the first arm.

The sterilization tray fastener has a length extending between the first arm and the second arm, and a width such that the fastener is planar across its width along the entire length of the fastener. The elongate body has a width that is less than a width of the first arm and the second arm, and the elongate body is bow-shaped with an outer surface that curves away from the first arm and the second arm. In one described form, the fastener is monolithic or unitary and is made of stainless steel or polymers.

The fastener provides tool-less attachment and removal through snap-in attachment, including inserting one arm into a first opening and snapping the other arm into a second opening. Stacking multiple tray bases directly on top of one another can eliminate a lid between tray bases to reduce overall weight and size and improve compatibility with sterilization weight limits, with the lid described as optionally used for an uppermost tray base.

Claims Coverage

The document includes one independent claim. The claim covers a sterilization tray fastener with an elongate, bow-shaped body and two curved arms arranged with specific parallel and perpendicular surface relationships, where the fastener is planar across its width along its entire length and the body width is less than the arms’ width.

Overall, the independent claim requires an elongate, bow-shaped sterilization tray fastener with a planar across-width geometry, where a first arm provides a surface parallel to the elongate body and a second arm provides a proximal surface perpendicular to the elongate body, with the body being narrower than the arms.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications