MXPA01004167A - Swab - Google Patents

Swab

Info

Publication number
MXPA01004167A
MXPA01004167A MXPA/A/2001/004167A MXPA01004167A MXPA01004167A MX PA01004167 A MXPA01004167 A MX PA01004167A MX PA01004167 A MXPA01004167 A MX PA01004167A MX PA01004167 A MXPA01004167 A MX PA01004167A
Authority
MX
Mexico
Prior art keywords
foam
handle
cleaning
swab
tapered
Prior art date
Application number
MXPA/A/2001/004167A
Other languages
Spanish (es)
Inventor
J Forrest Edward Jr
Y Webb Kristine
Scott Kammerer K
J Holley James
Original Assignee
Illinois Tool Works Inc
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Illinois Tool Works Inc filed Critical Illinois Tool Works Inc
Publication of MXPA01004167A publication Critical patent/MXPA01004167A/en

Links

Abstract

A swab (10) for cleaning electrical and particularly fiber optic connectors includes an elongated handle (12) defining a longitudinal axis and having a cleaning head end (24) and a grasping end (26). The swab (10) includes a wrapped foam cleaning end (20). The wrapped foam cleaning end is formed from an elongated strip (16) of microporous foam that is helically wound about the cleaning end (24) of the handle (12) and is formed having a substantially flat cleaning end. A method for making the swab (10) is also disclosed.

Description

WET FOAM HISOPE Field of the invention This invention pertains to a swab for cleaning. More particularly, the present invention pertains to a swab having a cleaning portion formed of a wrapped spiral foam and a method for making swabs. Background of the Invention Swabs are used in all manners for cleaning. For example, everyone recognizes common swabs with cotton tips that are used for hygiene and personal care. Due to the compact and effective nature of these swabs, they have been adopted for use in numerous areas of technology and manufacturing. One of these areas is the manufacture of electrical components and more specifically connectors for use in the telecommunications industry. A particular type of connector used in the telecommunications industry is for use in fiber optic cables. By dividing or connecting the sections of the fiber optic cable together, a connector is used. A typical connector includes a male portion and a female portion. During the fabrication of these cable sections, it is not unusual for parts of manufacturing burrs, such as pieces of fiber or fiber coating burrs to be left inside the ends of the connectors. It is also not unusual for light oils, such as fingerprints and other natural skin oils, to be found on the ends of the connectors. As will be recognized by the people skilled in the technology, these burrs and oils can significantly degrade or prevent the transmission of the capabilities of the cables through the connectors. Many types of cleaning implements have been used, with some degrees of success, to clean these particularly susceptible areas. However, it has been observed that cleaning implements formed of non-particulate removal materials can not be accepted for use in these connectors. Specifically, it has been found that these particulates can be deposited in and around the connectors, and thus adversely affecting the quality of the telecommunications signal. Additionally it has been observed that, these connectors may vary between one type and another. For example, the female end connector may be formed by having a flat surface, a concave surface or a convex surface on the inside of the end. At this point, it has been found that despite the type of the cleaning implement used, the burrs settle in and around the corners and the oils that occur in these areas of the connector devices can not be removed properly. Correspondingly, there is a need for a swab-type cleaning device that can be used for cleaning the connectors. Desirably, these devices leave little or no residue of the device inside the connector. More desirably, this cleaning device removes particulate contaminants and light oils (e.g., fingerprint oils) and can be used to clean the corner surfaces within the connector to remove essentially all manufacturing burrs or other burrs. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A swab for use in electrical cleaning connectors and other connectors in particular for fiber optic cables include an elongated handle defining a longitudinal axis and having a cleaning head end and a holding end. A foam cleaning end wrapped in an elongated strip of microporous foam is formed. The foam is entangled in a spiral around the end of the cleaning head of the handle, and forms a substantially flat cleaning end. In a preferred embodiment, the elongate strip of the microporous foam is formed with a tapered end and the tapered end falls adjacent to the end of the handle cleaning head. Preferably, the taper is formed at an angle of about 10 degrees to 15 degrees and more preferably 12 degrees. More preferably, the tapered end terminates in a rounded tip portion that is attached to the end of the cleaning head. In this way, the tapered end defines a tapered edge that is wrapped so as to wrap around the handle at the end of the cleaning head. In the preferred embodiment, a free end of the microporous foam is secured at least in part, itself, away from the end of the cleaning head. At the end of the cleaning head the tip is secured to the handle by heating the handle to soften it and achieve contact of the foam to the handle. The foam is secured to itself at the free end by means of burning it. A method for forming a swab includes the steps for providing an elongated shaft having a longitudinal axis, providing a strip of microporous foam and forming a tapered edge along an elongated dimension of the foam strip. The method further includes securing a foam tip on a tapered edge to one end of the elongated handle, spirally wrapping the foam around the handle to overlap a lower edge of a first wrap with an upper edge of a subsequent wrapper and securing the edge output of the foam itself. The method may also include a rounded tip at one end of the strip at the tapered edge. The step to secure the tip from the foam to the handle may include heating the handle and achieving contact of the foam to the handle. The step to secure the trailing edge of the foam may include scorching of the foam itself. Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, in conjunction with the appended claims. Brief Description of the Figures • Figure 1 is an illustration of the cleaning end of a wrapped foam swab embracing the principles of the present invention: Figure 2 is an illustration of the foam strip which has been configured to be wrapped in a mango-; and Figure 3 is an illustration of the foam strip of Figure 2 further showing a handle placed on the strip for positioning to carry out the method for making the swab. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE FORMS OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Although the present invention is capable of having various embodiments, it is shown in the drawings and a preferred embodiment will be described hereinafter with the understanding that the present disclosure should be considered as an example. implementation of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiment illustrated. With reference to the figures and in particular to Figure 1 there is shown a wrapped foam swab 10 according to the principles of the present invention. The swab includes a handle 12 and a foam cleaning head 14. The foam cleaning head 14 is formed from a foam strip 16 as best seen in Figure 2. The foam strip 16, is wrapped around the handle in a spiral manner, as indicated at 18. The foam strip 16 is wrapped around the handle so that a first wrapper 20 overlaps, in part, by a second wrapper or a subsequent wrapper 22. This is how, The foam strip is automatically secured to the handle once it begins to wrap. In the present embodiment, the handle 12, is formed of a polymeric material, such as polypropylene or the like. the handle 12 is essentially a cylindrical polypropylene stick. In a current embodiment, the handle has a first end and a second end or a cleaning end and a holding end 24, 26, respectively. The cleaning end 24 of the handle 12 is formed by having a flat head 28. That is, the head 28 is formed by cutting transversely through a longitudinal axis A of the handle. The clamping end of the handle 26 does not require having the flat head, however, for ease of fabrication it can be formed so that both ends, i.e. the cleaning end 24 and the clamping end 26 of the handle are substantially identical to each other. In a present embodiment, the handle 12 is a polypropylene stick having a diameter of about 5 millimeters, a length of about 150 millimeters and has a flat severed head at the cleaning end 24. With reference now to the Figure 2, the foam strip 16 has a rounded tip 30 adjoining the tapered head or the wrapped area 32. The area of the tapered head 32 terminates in the main body of the strip 34. The main body 34 has parallel sides 36 which end in securing end 38 of the strip 16. In a present embodiment, the strip 16 has a length Ls from the tip 30 to the end 38 of about 75.7 millimeters and a width of "3 at the securing end 38 about 5.6 millimeters The tapered area 32 extends from the rounded tip 30 to about 22 millimeters along the longitudinal length L3 of the strip 16. At this point, the tapered region is formed in an angle it is about 10 degrees to 15 degrees, and preferably around 12 degrees relative to the longitudinal length L3. In a current embodiment, the foam strip is formed of a microporous foam. Preferably, the foam is a polyurethane material and the strip 16 is cut from a sheet of this material. The microporous polyurethane foam exemplified is commercially available under the tradename Rebycell Sheet Wipers from Toyo Eizai Corporation, of Osaka, Japan under Article No. RC-810. In a current embodiment of the wrapped foam swab 10, the foam sheet has a thickness of the order of 0.8 millimeters. One method of manufacturing the swab includes cutting the foam sheet into strips with a width Ws of the order of 5.6 millimeters and a length Ls of the order of 75.7 millimeters. A rounded tip 30 is then formed, as is in the tapered envelope area 32. The handle 16 is placed on the strip 16 with the longitudinal axis A substantially perpendicular to the edge 40 of the tapered envelope area 32. In a method of preferably, the rounded tip 30 is secured to the flat end portion 28 of the handle 16, so that when the handle 16 is heated up to soften it and then have the smoothed region contact the strip 16. Then, the strip 16, it wraps around the handle 12 starting with a flat roll substantially at the end portion 28, and winding the handle 16 or wrapping the edge of the region of the tapered head 40 perpendicular to the axis of the handle A, as indicated by the arrow at 46 The casing is continued in a spiral manner so that the casing moves down along the length of the handle 16 remote from the cleaning end 25. The coil is achieved by overlapping the lower end 42 of a first casing 20. with the upper end 44 of a subsequent subsequent wrapper 22. The wrapper continues until the end of the strip 38 falls adjacent the handle. Then, strip 16 itself is secured. In a preferred method, the strip is burned, upon heating, to insure itself, as indicated at 48. As will be recognized from the figures and in the foregoing description, the cleaning end 14 of the present swab 10 is configured with a substantially flat head portion. In all those electrical connectors, and in particular, the fiber optic connectors have flat, convex or concave interior surfaces or regions, it has been observed that the present swab 10 functions surprisingly well at the cleaning corners and / or in the convex or concave regions of particulate or solid contaminants. of light oil that may be present in the connectors. Elaborate examples of swabs according to the principles of the present invention were compared with commercially available cloth swabs to determine the amount and size range of the particles released from the swabs, before use, in a simulated environment. No significant difference in particulate levels was found between the wrapped foam swab and the commercially available cloth swab. It was also found that both swabs did not have a detectable level of non-volatile residues. In conducting this comparison, twenty of each of the wrapped foam swabs and cloth were deposited in respective water containers. Then the water was collected and the counting of liquid particles was conducted. From the results of this comparison, it was observed that, statistically, the differences in particles released between the wrapped foam swab and the known cloth swab were insignificant. However, as provided elsewhere herein, the current wrapped foam swab has other characteristics (for example, that it fits within the connectors and the oil removal properties) that were found to be superior to the swabs. of known cloth. From the foregoing, it can be observed that numerous modifications and variations can be made without departing from the real spirit and scope of the novel concepts of the present invention. It should be understood that there is no attempt to place a limitation or interference with respect to the specific embodiments illustrated. The disclosure is intended to cover through the appended claims modifications that fall within the scope of the claims.

Claims (9)

  1. CLAIMS 1. A swab comprising: a handle defined by a longitudinal axis, wherein the handle is elongated and has a cleaning head end and a clamping end; and a wrapped foam cleaning end, where the wrapped foam cleaning end is formed by an elongate strip of microporous foam, where the foam is spirally wrapped around the cleaning end of the handle, and forms a substantially flat cleaning end .
  2. 2. A swab according to Claim 1 wherein the elongate strip of the microporous foam is formed with a tapered end and where the tapered end lies adjacent the end-of the cleaning head.
  3. The swab according to Claim 2 wherein the tapered end terminates in a rounded tip portion and wherein the rounded tip portion is fixed to one end of the cleaning head, and where the tapered end defines a tapered edge, where the tapered edge is positioned to wrap around the handle at the end of the cleaning head.
  4. The swab according to Claim 1 wherein a free end of the microporous foam is secured, at least in part, to itself, away from the end of the clean head.
  5. The swab according to Claim 2 wherein the tapered end is formed at an angle of about 10 degrees to about 15 degrees.
  6. 6. A method for forming a swab comprising the steps of: providing an elongated shaft having a longitudinal axis; provide a microporous foam strip; forming a tapered end along an elongated dimension of the foam strip; securing the foam pad - at the tapered edge at one end of the elongated handle; spirally wrapping the foam around the handle so that it overlaps a lower edge of a first shell with an upper edge of a subsequent shell; and securing the trailing edge of the foam itself.
  7. 7. The method for forming a swab according to Claim 6 includes the step of forming a rounded tip at one end of the strip at the tapered edge. The method for forming a swab according to Claim 6 wherein the step for securing a tip of the foam to the handle includes the steps of heating the handle and contacting the foam to the handle. The method for forming a swab according to Claim 6 wherein the step for securing the trailing edge of the foam includes abrading the foam to itself.
MXPA/A/2001/004167A 2000-04-28 2001-04-26 Swab MXPA01004167A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US09560119 2000-04-28

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
MXPA01004167A true MXPA01004167A (en) 2002-06-05

Family

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