GB2594068A

GB2594068A - Moldable swab for collecting biological specimens

Info

Publication number: GB2594068A
Application number: GB2005471.4A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Su Lin Goh Carol; Hock Cheok Kai; Lai Ching Ho Helen
Original assignee: Meiban International Pte Ltd
Current assignee: Meiban International Pte Ltd
Priority date: 2020-04-15
Filing date: 2020-04-15
Publication date: 2021-10-20
Also published as: GB202005471D0; SG10202003489XA

Abstract

The swab comprises a cylindrical shaped rod and a cylindrical tip. The swab is moulded in a single or two stage injection moulding machine process. The mould may have laser texturing which imparts the swab with good hydrophilic properties and produce a smooth tip design with micro texture. The swab is made of either medical grade polymeric material or an elastomeric material such as silicone rubber.

Description

MOLDABLE SWAB

FOR COLLECTING BIOLOGICAL SPECIMENS

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to an injection molded swab for collecting biological specimens for analysis.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A swab is a common form of tool to be used in collecting biological specimens to be sent for clinical and diagnostic analyses. Swab consists essentially of a cylindrical (or any other shape) rod with one end of the tip being wrapped with another material or fibre such as nylon or natural fibre such as cotton, whereby this material or fibre would need to have hydrophilic properties in order to allow rapid absorption of the specimen to be collected and tested. Having good hydrophilic properties at the tip would retain increased amounts of mucus and body fluids.

Currently in the market, the material or fibre that adheres to the cylindrical rod of the swab tip has to be done by another secondary process such as gluing. Such fibres would also need to be properly selected and trimmed to the required size before gluing. Hence the current process in the prior art has more steps as compared to the present invention.

The present invention disclosed an injection molded swab that solves the current issues that are present in swab manufacturing for the market. The proposed swab still has the cylindrical (or any other shape) rod and tip end. Essentially the present invention disclosed a molding process that can mold out the swab all in one molding machine process and with precise shape and dimension consistently, thus speeding up the manufacturing time in making the swab, increasing the product output within a certain time, as well as increasing the overall productivity. The injection molded swab will also exhibit good hydrophilic properties that can be achieved through the laser texturing on the mold, with the appropriate texture depth. The hydrophilic texture also creates capillary action on the elastomer or polymeric material directly so as to facilitate the retention of the liquid specimen or biological sample. The swab with the appropriate hardness at the tip can be injection molded with either the following material options as highlighted below: 1 Material Option 1 For the rod, it is proposed to use a higher shore hardness medical grade polymeric material overmold with a softer shore hardness medical grade elastomeric material for the swab tip, or 2. Material Option 2 For the rod, it is proposed to use a higher shore hardness medical grade elastomeric material overmold with a softer shore hardness medical grade elastomeric material for the swab tip.

Option 1 and 2 would involve using the following injection molding process which is: 1 Conventional overmolding process -This would involve first molding out the rod portion of the swab, eject out the molded rod and transferring the rod into another mold, followed by overmolding another material to form the tip end of the swab. By varying the properties of the material mentioned in Option 1 or 2 as well as the molding parameters, the swab can have different shore hardness for the rod and tip end.

OR

2. Two (2) stage molding / double shot molding process -Depending on the design of the mold, this would involve molding two (2) different materials in one single molding machine process. The mold has a cavity for the tip. The cavity is then filled with the hydrophilic texture surface. The surface area of the mold portion for the whole cavity is laser textured such that the tip is provided with a micro texture.

This means that the swab can be produced using just one single molding machine process, hence eliminating the need for secondary processes that are found in the prior art.

The tip end of the swab can have dual designs, meaning other than the usual overmolded smooth design, another design would involve having the tip end being formed with different nanostructures shape like feelers. This would aid in trapping the biological specimen collected.

For Material Option 1 and 2 mentioned previously, the polymeric or elastomeric material being chosen has to be medical grade, low-cost and is flexible enough for the rod portion and soft enough at the tip end. For Material Option 2, the cylindrical (or any other shape) tip end of the swab is made of medical grade elastomeric material such as liquid silicone rubber (LSR), TPE (Thermoplastic Elastomers), TPU (Thermoplastic Polyurethane) to replace the fibre-like material that is currently available in the market. The mold is laser textured to have the hydrophilic properties. This property is important especially at the swab tip in order to have rapid absorption and to retain increased amounts of mucus and body fluids before sending it for analysis.

Therefore, the present invention disclosed has the following advantages over the current prior art: 1. Simple all-in-one molding process.

2. Swab and rod are molded out all via one molding machine.

3. Lower cost of manufacturing due to increase output and economies of scale.

4. More precision in getting the swab to be produced with consistent shape and dimension as compared to those in the prior art.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings attached here are to aid comprehension of the description of the invention here. The drawings are not to scale and they are to be used for merely illustrating the principles and concepts of the invention only.

To aid in comprehension of the invention, the drawings are separated into the various Figures as described below: Figure 1 illustrates an overall perspective view of the various key components and functions for the embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 illustrates another overall perspective view of the present invention.

Reference numbers 1 Swab 2 Cylindrical/any shape Rod 3 Tip End (Figure 1) 4 Tip End (Figure 2)

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE PRESENT

INVENTION

In the following description, details are provided to describe the embodiment of the present invention.

The present invention here relates to the field of producing swab for collecting biological specimen for clinical and diagnostic analyses.

Figure 1 illustrates an overall perspective view of the various key components and functions for the embodiment of the present invention. It illustrates the swab 1 which consists of cylindrical/any shape rod 2 and tip end 3. The swab 1 can be molded out in via one molding machine, with the following material options which has to be medical-arade: (a) Material Option 1-using one polymeric or elastomeric material by itself with different hardness index for the cylindrical/any shape rod 2 and tip end 3 of swab 1, or (b) Material Option 2 -using one elastomeric material (on the rod 2 portion) overmolded over the elastomeric material (on the tip end 3 portion), with the elastomeric material being softer at the tip in hardness so as to make it comfortable for the user.

Examples of such polymeric material would include PC (Polycarbonate), PP (Polypropylene), Nylon, etc. For elastomeric material an example would be Liquid Silicone Rubber (LSR), TPE (Thermoplastic Elastomers), TPU (Thermoplastic Polyurethane).

Figure 2 illustrates another overall perspective view of the present invention. It illustrates the swab 1 which consists of cylindrical/any shape rod 2 and tip end 4.

The tip end 4 here as illustrated in Figure 2 comes with different nanostructures shape like feelers to help in better trapping the biological specimens collected.

While what has been described hereinabove is the preferred embodiment of the invention, those skilled in the art will understand that numerous modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The embodiments described herein are meant to be illustrative only and should not be taken as limiting the invention, which can be expressly set forth in the following claims.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is: 1 A swab for collecting biological specimen, whereby the swab consists of: a Cylindrical/any shape rod portion; and b Tip at the cylindrical/any shape end of the swab, whereby said cylindrical/any shape rod or tip end can be conventional overmolded out using either one medical grade polymeric or elastomeric material by itself with different shore hardness; or said cylindrical/any shape rod using one medical grade polymeric/elastomeric material produced in one single molding machine process, by two stage injection molding with two different materials. In the first step, a conventional plastic material is used to form the rod. In the second step process, the mold has a cavity for the tip. The cavity is then filled with the hydrophilic texture surface. The surface area of the mold portion for the whole cavity is laser textured such that the tip is provided with a micro texture.and whereby c. the swab has good hydrophilic properties that is created via laser texturing on the mold itself.
2 The swab according to Claim 1 wherein a the hydrophilic properties can be achieved through the laser texturing on the mold, with the appropriate texture depth.