Expanding swab applicator

A swab applicator for use as a vaginal cleansing instrument or the like and including:

• (a) a compressed swab body of soft, porous and absorbent material which is highly expandable when wetted, and
• (b) an applicator holder for said swab body including a cage providing retaining means for said swab body, said cage having a plurality of generally equally spaced elongated ribs providing in slots therebetween aperture means through which fluids may pass and through which the swab body can expand when said swab body is wetted.

A swab applicator for use as a vaginal cleansing instrument or the like, and including:

• (a) an elongated generally hollow tubular nozzle having an entering and distal end including means on said elongated nozzle and opposite the entering end for attaching the nozzle so as to be in fluid communication with an appropriate liquid dispenser;
• (b) a swab body of absorbent, expandable material disposed generally at the distal end of said nozzle and in fluid communication therewith, and
• (c) a cage integrally molded to and with said nozzle, said cage providing the distal end of the applicator and with said cage having a plurality of generally equally spaced elongated ribs which extend generally in the longitudinal direction of the nozzle and with said ribs defining a plurality of slots therebetween and through which said swab body can expand when wetted, said ribs being sufficiently resilient to permit bending thereof, along with said swab body, and with the ends of the ribs brought into a smooth rounded end portion at the distal entering end, this rounded end and resilient ribs adapted to prevent injury to the vaginal cavity or the like.