Abstract:
A shaft for a cell collection swab has a plurality of anchors protruding from its tip which facilitate attaching swab material to the shaft.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    In order to diagnose certain urinary tract or genital diseases or to perform certain types of DNA testing, it is necessary to collect cell samples from the patient&#39;s urethra. Swabs for doing this are made by wrapping swab material around the tip of a shaft by bringing the swab material into contact with the shaft while it is being rotated. Swabs for this purpose are described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 5,623,942, which is owned by applicant and is incorporated herein by reference. One difficulty with making these cell collection swabs of this type is that the swab material does not always get tightly wrapped around the shaft resulting in a defective swab. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY 
       [0002]    The subject invention relates to a shaft for a cell collection swab having an elongate probe portion which has a plurality of anchors protruding from it which are configured to capture the swab material when it is placed over a rotating shaft. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0003]      FIG. 1  is a swab utilizing the shaft of the subject invention. 
           [0004]      FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view taken on the line  2 - 2  of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0005]      FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view taken on the line  3 - 3  of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0006]      FIG. 4  is a detailed view of a swab shaft showing the anchors which are an element of the invention. 
           [0007]      FIG. 5  is a foreshortened view of the swab shaft showing the anchors. 
           [0008]      FIGS. 6-10  show the method by which swab material is attached to the swab shaft. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0009]    Referring now to  FIG. 1  of the drawings, a swab  10  for collecting cell samples from a male urethra comprise a unitary elongate shaft  12 . The shaft is divided into a handle portion  14  and a probe portion  16 . Swab material  18  is attached to the tip of the probe portion. This basic swab is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,623,942. In the embodiment illustrated the handle portion is polygonal in a cross-section but it could be circular as well. 
         [0010]    Referring now to  FIG. 4 , a plurality of protruding anchors  22  protrude from the shaft tip  20 . In the embodiment illustrated there are two sets of anchors which are oriented approximately 180 degrees from one another. Each set includes two longitudinally aligned anchors. 
         [0011]    In the embodiment illustrated, the anchors have spaced apart planar sides  24  which are separated from one another by a distance A. Distance A is between 0.005 inches and 0.015 inches and preferably is around 0.010 inches. The anchors have rounded ends. The anchors protrude from the tip by an amount such that the distance B between the ends of opposed anchors is approximately equal to the diameter of the handle portion  14 . The anchors  22  have a width C of approximately 0.025 inches. The center line of the first anchor in each set is located approximately 0.010 from the end of the tip and the center line of the second anchor in each set is located approximately 0.020 from the end of the tip. The size, shape and location of the anchors can vary from the embodiment shown in the drawings and described above. 
         [0012]    Referring now to  FIGS. 5-10 , before swab material  18  is attached to the shaft  12 , several spots of liquid adhesive  26  are deposited on the portion of the tip  20  that the swab material will cover,  FIG. 6 . The piece of swab material  18  then is placed on the tip on top of the adhesive spots  26  while the shaft is rotating,  FIG. 7 . While the adhesive will generally cause the swab material to adhere to the tip  20 , rotate with the shaft, and become tightly wrapped around it, the anchors  22  more positively engage the swab material and hold it on the rotating shaft. After the swab material  18  is fully wrapped on to the tip  20  a water, starch mixture is sprayed onto the swab material from a series of nozzles  28  and a die  30  is closed over the swab material to form it to a desired oblong shape,  FIG. 9 . After the water starch mixture has dried the completed swab is removed from the die  30 .