Patent ID: 7833231

Claim:
A device for immobilizing a primary instrument, comprising: a base; attachable to the base, a detachable stabilizer configured to engage the instrument, the stabilizer being configured to rest on the base and defining a variable opening sized and shaped to grip the instrument when in an original shape yet release the instrument when expanded circumferentially away from the instrument in a deformed shape, the variable opening including first and second longitudinal walls facing each other in spaced relation and extending along a longitudinal axis from an open end at a periphery of the stabilizer radially inward towards a closed end such that the variable opening includes a substantially uniform width from the periphery to the closed end when in the original shape, the stabilizer including a pair of spaced apart apertures formed in a top surface thereof such that the longitudinal axis of the variable opening extends through a center of each aperture, the apertures having a width greater than a width of the variable opening and being positioned about the longitudinal axis of the variable opening such that a portion of each aperture forms an arcuate depression in the first longitudinal wall and another portion of each aperture forms an arcuate depression in the second longitudinal wall, wherein one of the apertures forms the closed end of the opening; and selectively attachable to the apertures formed in the opening of the stabilizer, a separate spreader that includes a pair of surfaces angularly spaced from each other by an amount greater than the amount of the opening of the stabilizer when in the original shape, the pair of surfaces each including a projection extending transversely therefrom that is configured to engage a respective aperture of the pair of apertures, the spreader configured to circumferentially expand the opening to the deformed shape.