Culture collecting and transporting unit
First Claim
1. A culture collecting and transporting unit comprising a tube made of self-sustaining but flexible material, said tube having an open outer end and a closed inner end, a transport media located within said tube, a cap telescoped removably with the open end portion of said tube and adapted to close said tube, and a culture collecting device located within said tube, said unit being characterized in that said culture collecting device comprises an elongated flexible wire, a swabbing tip on the inner end portion of said wire and located adjacent said transport media, and a sleeve telescoped slidably over the outer end portion of said wire and telescoped slidably into said cap, said sleeve being of such length that the inner end portion of said sleeve projects inwardly from the inner end of said cap and into the outer end portion of said tube when said cap is telescoped to a fully closed position on said tube.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A culture collecting swabbing tip is carried on one end portion of a small diameter flexible wire which enables the tip to reach into a curved and narrow body passage. A sleeve-type handle is telescoped slidably onto the other end portion of the wire and enables the effective length of the wire to be adjusted so that the wire can fit into an outer transport tube but can be effectively lengthened to reach into a long body passage. The transport tube contains a glass ampoule which may be broken to moisten the swabbing tip with a culture-sustaining transport media after a culture has been collected on the tip.
66 Citations
5 Claims
- 1. A culture collecting and transporting unit comprising a tube made of self-sustaining but flexible material, said tube having an open outer end and a closed inner end, a transport media located within said tube, a cap telescoped removably with the open end portion of said tube and adapted to close said tube, and a culture collecting device located within said tube, said unit being characterized in that said culture collecting device comprises an elongated flexible wire, a swabbing tip on the inner end portion of said wire and located adjacent said transport media, and a sleeve telescoped slidably over the outer end portion of said wire and telescoped slidably into said cap, said sleeve being of such length that the inner end portion of said sleeve projects inwardly from the inner end of said cap and into the outer end portion of said tube when said cap is telescoped to a fully closed position on said tube.
Specification