Collection device and material
Inventors
Young, Terry • TEMPLET, Timothy • Dube, Paul • DIXON, Todd • Lewis, Armand F. • Kim, Yong K.
Assignees
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Publication Number
US-9274029-B2
Publication Date
2016-03-01
Expiration Date
Abstract
Swabs, and materials of the present disclosure, and methods of making same, include randomly arranged sea-island bicomponent fibers.
Core Innovation
The invention relates to a swab constructed to collect and release a biological sample using a flock fiber tipped applicator. The flock fibers are sea-island bicomponent fibers, are structurally stable in water, and have the sea component intact. The bicomponent fibers comprise 10-3000 island parts per fiber.
The sea-island bicomponent fibers are described in terms of polymer selection and structural stability. The sea component is a polymer that is soluble in an aqueous alkali, while the island component is less-soluble, including nylon or polyester. The sea and island components are arranged so that the fibers can be flocked while maintaining sea component integrity as part of the bicomponent flock fibers.
The flocked sea-island fibers are attached to the applicator via adhesives using a flocking process with an electric field to align and transport fibers to adhesive areas. The document describes integration onto a rod or shaft applicator, with adhesives including UV photo-curable adhesive and polyurethane adhesive. It further describes example swab constructions and measured water pick-up, showing that flocked sea-island fibers on the swab tip absorb measurable water compared to bare controls and adhesive-only controls.
Claims Coverage
The independent claim is directed to a biological swab with a flock fiber tipped applicator using sea-island bicomponent flock fibers that remain structurally stable in water, have the sea component intact, and contain 10-3000 island parts per fiber. The claim set contains numerous dependent claims that narrow fiber materials, fiber island-part ranges, and attachment or solubility-related constraints, while additional dependent claims specify adhesive selection.
Sea-island flock fibers with intact sea component and 10-3000 island parts per fiber
A swab constructed to collect and release a biological sample comprising a flock fiber tipped applicator wherein the flock fibers are sea-island bicomponent fibers, the bicomponent fibers being structurally stable in water and the sea component of the bicomponent flock fibers being intact, wherein said bicomponent fibers comprise 10-3000 island parts per fiber.
Overall, the claim coverage centers on a flock fiber tipped biological swab using structurally stable sea-island bicomponent fibers with the sea component intact and 10-3000 island parts per fiber, further narrowed by dependent features specifying particular sea/island polymer identities, island-part sub-ranges, and constraints tied to relative solubility in aqueous alkali for selected polyesters. Additional dependent features specify fiber forming/attachment and limiting adhesive selection to named adhesive classes.
Stated Advantages
Flock fibers based on sea-island bicomponent fibers remain structurally stable in water with the sea component intact.
Flocked sea-island fibers on the swab tip absorb measurable water as shown by water pick-up.
Documented Applications
Biological sample collection using the swab includes oral, nasal, ocular, rectal, urethral, and vaginal specimen collection.
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