AU2008100641A4

AU2008100641A4 - Windshield wiper assembly

Info

Publication number: AU2008100641A4
Application number: AU2008100641A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Hsueh-Chih Liao
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2008-07-11
Filing date: 2008-07-11
Publication date: 2008-08-14
Anticipated expiration: 2016-07-11

Description

11/07 2008 FRI 16:09 FAX ±64 4 472 3358 ll0/2 0004/025 1followed by page Ia

AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT, 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR AN INNOVATION PATENT ORI GINAL Regulafion 3.2 Natnc of Applicant: HSUEH-CHIH LIAO Actual Inventor: lHsuch-Chih Liao Address for service in Australia: A J PARK, Level 11, 60 Marcus Clarke Street, Canberta ACT 2601, Australia Invention Title: WINDSHIELD WIPER ASSEMBLY TIhe following statement is a full description of this invention, including she best method of perfoinming it known to us.

1549360-1 COMS ID No: ARCS-197965 Received by P1 Australia: Time 14:09 Date 2008-07-11 11/07 2008 FRI 16:09 FAX +64 4 472 3358 005/o25 00 O WINDSHIELD WIPER ASSEMBLY The present innovation relates to a windshield wiper assembly, and more particularly to a windshield wiper assembly to wipe a windshield of a car.

A conventional windshield wiper assembly in accordance with the prior art shown in Figs. 6 and 7 comprises a wiper 70 having two sides each provided with a groove 701 and a mediate portion provided with an opening 00 702, two steel plates 71 each inserted into the respective groove 701 of the wiper 70 and each having two ends each provided with a hook 711, two side covers 74 mounted on two ends of the wiper 70 and engaged with the hooks 711 of the two steel plates 71, a connecting seat 72 snapped into the opening 702 of the wiper 70 and having a clamping portion 721 clamped on the two steel plates 71 and two side walls each provided with a locking groove 722, and an outer cover 73 mounted on the connecting seat 72 and locked by the locking grooves 722 of the connecting seat 72. However, the wiper 70 is supported by the two steel plates 71 which are separated from each other to decrease the strength of the two steel plates 71 so that the windshield wiper assembly has a weaker strength. In addition, the two steel plates 71 are not positioned closely, so that the two steel plates 71 are easily detached from the wiper 70. Further, the two steel plates 71 are directly exposed outward, so that the two steel plates 71 are easily worn out due to dust or rust, thereby decreasing the lifetime of the two steel plates 71.

la COMS ID No: ARCS-197965 Received by IP Australia: Time 14:09 Date 2008-07-11 11/07 2008 FRI 16:09 FAX +64 4 472 3358 0006/025 00 0 In accordance with the present innovation, there is provided a windshield wiper assembly, comprising a mounting plate having an inside provided with an elongate slideway, an elongate steel bar slidably inserted into the slideway of the mounting plate, a wiper detachably mounted on the O 5 mounting plate and slidably inserted into the slideway of the mounting plate, 0two spaced protective hoods mounted on two opposite ends of the mounting 00 0plate, a connecting seat mounted on the mounting plate and located between the two protective hoods, and two end caps each mounted on the respective protective hood and each abutting the wiper to prevent the wiper from being detached from the mounting plate.

The primary objective*of the present innovation is to provide a windshield wiper assembly having a greater strength.

Another objective of the present innovation is to provide a windshield wiper assembly, wherein the steel bar has a cross-sectional profile and a width corresponding to that of the slideway of the mounting plate so that the steel bar is secured in the slideway of the mounting plate closely and tightly to prevent the steel bar from being detached from the slideway of the mounting plate during assembly, thereby facilitating assembly of the windshield wiper assembly.

A further objective of the present innovation is to provide a windshield wiper assembly, wherein the steel bar is secured in the slideway of the mounting plate and stopped by the two end caps to prevent the steel bar 2 This objective and the following objectives are those of at least preferred embodiments of the present innovation. It is not necessary for every embodiment to satisfy all stated objectives.

COMS ID No: ARCS-197965 Received by IP Australia: Time 14:09 Date 2008-07-11 11/07 2008 FRI 16:09 FAX +64 4 472 3358 0007/025 00 B from being detached from the slideway of the mounting plate and to enhance the whole strength of the windshield wiper assembly.

A further objective of the present innovation is to provide a windshield wiper assembly, wherein the steel bar is hidden in and s 5 encompassed by the slideway of the mounting plate completely to prevent the Ssteel bar from being exposed to the ambient environment, thereby enhancing 00 Sthe lifetime of the steel bar.

A further objective of the present innovation is to provide a windshield wiper assembly, wherein the steel bar and the slideway of the mounting plate are made easily and quickly, thereby decreasing the costs of fabrication.

Further benefits and advantages of the present innovation will become apparent after a careful reading of the detailed description with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a windshield wiper assembly in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present innovation.

Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the windshield wiper assembly as shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a side cross-sectional view of the windshield wiper assembly as shown in Fig. 1.

3 COMS ID No: ARCS-197965 Received by IP Australia: Time 14:09 Date 2008-07-11 11/07 2008 FRI 16:09 FAX +64 4 472 3358 0008/025 00 O Fig. 4 is a locally enlarged perspective view of the windshield wiper assembly as shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a schematic front plan operational view of the windshield wiper assembly as shown in Fig. 1.

5 Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a conventional windshield wiper Sassembly in accordance with the prior art.

00 SFig. 7 is an exploded perspective view of the conventional windshield wiper assembly as shown in Fig. 6.

Referring to the drawings and initially to Figs. 1-4, a windshield wiper assembly in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present innovation comprises a mounting plate 10 having an inside provided with an elongate slideway 12, an elongate steel bar 20 slidably inserted into the slideway 12 of the mounting plate 10, a wiper 60 detachably mounted on the mounting plate 10 and slidably inserted into the slideway 12 of the mounting plate 10, two spaced protective hoods 40 mounted on two opposite ends of the mounting plate 10, a connecting seat 30 mounted on the mounting plate 10 and located between the two protective hoods 40, and two end caps 50 each mounted on the respective protective hood 40 and each abutting the wiper 60 to prevent the wiper 60 from being detached from the mounting plate The steel bar 20 is bent and has an elastic and flexible feature. The steel bar 20 has a substantially arc-shaped profile. The steel bar 20 has a width equal to that of the slideway 12 of the mounting plate 10 so that the steel bar 4 COMS ID No: ARCS-197965 Received by IP Australia: Time 14:09 Date 2008-07-11 11/07 2008 FRI 16:09 FAX +64 4 472 3358 0009/025 00 O cannot be rotated in the slideway 12 of the mounting plate 10. The steel bar has a cross-sectional profile corresponding to that of the slideway 12 of the mounting plate 10 so that the steel bar 20 is secured in the slideway 12 of the mounting plate 10 closely and tightly. The steel bar 20 is hidden in and encompassed by the slideway 12 of the mounting plate 10 completely and is located between a peripheral wall of the slideway 12 of the mounting plate 00 Sand the wiper The mounting plate 10 is made of a flexible or plastic material, such as PC resin material so that when the steel bar 20 is inserted into the slideway 12 of the mounting plate 10, the mounting plate 10 has a shape corresponding to that of the steel bar 20. The slideway 12 of the mounting plate 10 has an open bottom provided with two opposite inwardly extending guide rails 11 to support the steel bar 20. The mounting plate 10 has a flat top provided with two opposite outwardly extending retaining flanges 14.

The connecting seat 30 has a hollow upper portion provided with a pivot shaft 31 and a lower portion provided with two opposite downward extending snapping plates 34 snapped onto the two retaining flanges 14 of the mounting plate 10 to secure the connecting seat 30 to the mounting plate The upper portion of the connecting seat 30 has a side provided with a removable lid 32 spaced from the pivot shaft 31. Each of the snapping plates 34 of the connecting seat 30 has a mediate portion provided with an opening 33 abutting the mounting plate COMS ID No: ARCS-197965 Received by IP Australia: Time 14:09 Date 2008-07-11 11/07 2008 FRI 16:10 FAX +64 4 472 3358 0010/025 00 O Each of the two protective hoods 40 is made of rubber and has an inside provided with an opening 42 slidably mounted onto the mounting plate The opening 42 of each of the two protective hoods 40 has a bottom provided with two opposite inwardly extending resting edges 43 each abutting 5 the mounting plate 10 and each retained by the respective retaining flange 14 of the mounting plate 10 as shown in Fig. 3. Each of the two protective hoods 00 has an upper portion having two opposite oblique sides each provided with a substantially arc-shaped wind pressure face 41.

Each of the end caps 50 has a cross-sectional profile corresponding to that of each of the two protective hoods 40 and has a size greater than that of each of the two protective hoods 40. Each of the two end caps 50 is enclosed around a distal end of the respective protective hood 40 and has an inside provided with a mounting recess 51 slidably mounted onto the respective protective hood 40. The mounting recess 51 of each of the two end caps 50 has a bottom provided with two inwardly extending opposite limit edges 52 each abutting the mounting plate 10 and each retained by the respective resting edge 43 of the respective protective hood 40 as shown in Fig. 3. Each of the two end caps 50 abuts a distal end of the wiper 60 to prevent the wiper 60 from being detached from the mounting plate 10. In addition, each of the two end caps abuts a distal end of the steel bar 20 to prevent each the steel bar 20 from being detached from the mounting plate 6 COMS ID No: ARCS-197965 Received by IP Australia: Time 14:09 Date 2008-07-11 11/07 2008 FRI 16:10 FAX +64 4 472 3358 011/025 00 O The wiper 60 is limited in the slideway 12 of the mounting plate by the two end caps 50. The wiper 60 has an upper portion provided with a protruding slide 63 slidably inserted into the slideway 12 of the mounting plate and a lower portion provided with a wiping strip 62. The slide 63 of the wiper 60 is located above and supported by the two guide rails 11 of the mounting plate 10. The slide 63 of the wiper 60 has a width equal to that of the 00 slideway 12 of the mounting plate 10. The slide 63 of the wiper 60 has two opposite sides each provided with a guide slot 61 slidable on the respective guide rail 11 of the mounting plate 10 to guide movement of the wiper relative to the mounting plate When in use, referring to Figs. 1-5, the connecting seat 30 is mounted on a windshield of a car by the pivot shaft 31 to attach the windshield wiper assembly onto the windshield of the car. At this time, the steel bar 20 is substantially arc-shaped and has an elastic feature, so that when the steel bar is inserted into the mounting plate 10, the mounting plate 10 is bent to have a substantially arc-shaped configuration.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 5, the mounting plate 10 has a resilient feature by provision of the steel bar 20, so that the windshield wiper assembly has an automatically restoring function. Thus, the windshield wiper assembly abuts the windshield of the car closely and tightly by its automatically restoring function, thereby enhancing the wiping effect of the windshield wiper assembly.

7 COMS ID No: ARCS-197965 Received by IP Australia: Time 14:09 Date 2008-07-11 11/07 2008 FRI 16:10 FAX +64 4 472 3358 0012/025 00 Accordingly, the steel bar 20 has a cross-sectional profile and a width corresponding to that of the slideway 12 of the mounting plate 10 so that the Ssteel bar 20 is secured in the slideway 12 of the mounting plate 10 closely and tightly to prevent the steel bar 20 from being detached from the slideway 12 of the mounting plate 10 during assembly, thereby facilitating assembly of the Swindshield wiper assembly. In addition, the steel bar 20 is secured in the 00 Sslideway 12 of the mounting plate 10 and stopped by the two end caps 50 to prevent the steel bar 20 from being detached from the slideway 12 of the mounting plate 10 and to enhance the whole strength of the windshield wiper assembly. Further, the steel bar 20 is hidden in and encompassed by the slideway 12 of the mounting plate 10 completely to prevent the steel bar from being exposed to the ambient environment, thereby enhancing the lifetime of the steel bar 20. Further, the steel bar 20 and the slideway 12 of the mounting plate 10 are made easily and quickly, thereby decreasing the costs of fabrication.

The terms "comprise(s)" and "comprising" as used in the specification and claims mean "consisting at least in part of", that is to say when interpreting statements in the specification and claims which include any of those terms, the features, prefaced by any of those terms in each statement, all need to be present but other features can also be present.

Throughout the specification, unless the context requires otherwise, the word "comprise" or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", will 8 COMS ID No: ARCS-197965 Received by IP Australia: Time 14:09 Date 2008-07-11 11/07 2008 FRI 16:10 FAX +64 4 472 3358 0013/025 00 Sbe understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or group of integers but not the exclusion of any other integer or group of integers.

Although the innovation has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment(s) as mentioned above, it is to be understood that many O 5 other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing Sfrom the scope of the present innovation. It is, therefore, contemplated that the 00 appended claim or claims will cover such modifications and variations that fall within the true scope of the innovation.

9 COMS ID No: ARCS-197965 Received by IP Australia: Time 14:09 Date 2008-07-11

Claims

1. A windshield wiper assembly, comprising: a mounting plate having an inside provided with an elongate slideway; an elongate steel bar slidably inserted into the slideway of the O mounting plate; 00 Sa wiper detachably mounted on the mounting plate and slidably inserted into the slideway of the mounting plate; two spaced protective hoods mounted on two opposite ends of the mounting plate; a connecting seat mounted on the mounting plate and located between the two protective hoods; two end caps each mounted on the respective protective hood and each abutting the wiper to prevent the wiper from being detached from the mounting plate.

2. The windshield wiper assembly in accordance with claim 1, wherein the slideway of the mounting plate has an open bottom provided with two opposite inwardly extending guide rails to support the steel bar; the wiper has an upper portion provided with a protruding slide slidably inserted into the slideway of the mounting plate and a lower portion provided with a wiping strip; COMS ID No: ARCS-197965 Received by IP Australia: Time 14:09 Date 2008-07-11 11/07 2008 FRI 16!:10 FAX +64 4 472 3358 1015/025 00 the slide of the wiper is located above and supported by the two guide rails of the mounting plate; the slide of the wiper has two opposite sides each provided with a guide slot slidable on the respective guide rail of the mounting plate to guide 5 movement of the wiper relative to the mounting plate. S3. The windshield wiper assembly in accordance with claim 1, 00 Swherein the mounting plate has a flat top provided with two opposite outwardly extending retaining flanges; each of the two protective hoods has an inside provided with an opening slidably mounted onto the mounting plate; the opening of each of the two protective hoods has a bottom provided with two opposite inwardly extending resting edges each abutting the mounting plate and each retained by the respective retaining flange of the mounting plate; each of the two end caps is enclosed around a distal end of the respective protective hood and has an inside provided with a mounting recess slidably mounted onto the respective protective hood; the mounting recess of each of the two end caps has a bottom provided with two inwardly extending opposite limit edges each abutting the mounting plate and each retained by the respective resting edge of the respective protective hood. 11 COMS ID No: ARCS-197965 Received by IP Australia: Time 14:09 Date 2008-07-11 11/07 2008 FRI 16:11 FAX +64 4 472 3358 0016/025 00 S4. The windshield wiper assembly in accordance with claim 1, wherein the steel bar is hidden in and encompassed by the slideway of the mounting plate completely and is located between a peripheral wall of the slideway of the mounting plate and the wiper; O Sthe steel bar has a width equal to that of the slideway of the mounting 00 Splate so that the steel bar cannot be rotated in the slideway of the mounting plate; the slide of the wiper has a width equal to that of the slideway of the mounting plate. The windshield wiper assembly in accordance with claim 1, wherein the steel bar is bent and has an elastic and flexible feature; the steel bar has a substantially arc-shaped profile; the steel bar has a cross-sectional profile corresponding to that of the slideway of the mounting plate so that the steel bar is secured in the slideway of the mounting plate; each of the two protective hoods has an upper portion having two opposite oblique sides each provided with a substantially arc-shaped wind pressure face; 12 COMS ID No: ARCS-197965 Received by IP Australia: Time 14:09 Date 2008-07-11 11/07 2008 FRI 16:11 FAX +64 4 472 3358 E017/025 00 each of the end caps has a cross-sectional profile corresponding to that of each of the two protective hoods and has a size greater than that of each of the two protective hoods; each of the two end caps abuts a distal end of the wiper to prevent the 5 wiper from being detached from the mounting plate; Seach of the two end caps abuts a distal end of the steel bar to prevent 00 Seach the steel bar from being detached from the mounting plate; the wiper is limited in the slideway of the mounting plate by the two end caps; the connecting seat has a hollow upper portion provided with a pivot shaft and a lower portion provided with two opposite downward extending snapping plates snapped onto the two retaining flanges of the mounting plate to secure the connecting seat to the mounting plate; the upper portion of the connecting seat has a side provided with a removable lid spaced from the pivot shaft; each of the snapping plates of the connecting seat has a mediate portion provided with an opening abutting the mounting plate. 13 COMS ID No: ARCS-197965 Received by IP Australia: Time 14:09 Date 2008-07-11