Surgical instrument stand

Claim 1

A stand for use in supporting a plurality of ring-handled surgical instruments in an ordered series with each instrument held upright and on edge in generally parallel relationship with the other instruments in the series, said stand comprising: an elongated, one-piece, unitary body having a longitudinally extending base and a plurality of upstanding transverse partitions integral with and projecting upwardly from said base, said partitions being arranged in an aligned row extending longitudinally from one end to the other end of the base and in longitudinally spaced relations to one another to present a longitudinally extending series of transverse, open-top, instrument-receiving compartments immediately above and long the length of the base, said base having a top wall spanning the distance between front and rear sides of the body whereby to define a solid floor for each of said compartments respectively, and each of said partitions having oppositely facing planar surfaces rising from said floor and spanning the distance between the front and rear sides of the body whereby to define a pair of solid and planar sidewalls for each of said compartments respectively, said base having a width which is substantially less than the length of the instruments to be supported by the stand whereby when the stand is placed on a supporting surface with the base resting on the surface and the compartments facing upwardly, instruments inserted into the compartments project outwardly in opposite directions beyond the front and rear sides of the body and into superimposed relationship with the supporting surface.