AU666768B2

AU666768B2 - Improved wiper

Info

Publication number: AU666768B2
Application number: AU47574/93A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Wen Cayan Lai
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1993-09-23
Filing date: 1993-09-23
Publication date: 1996-02-22
Anticipated expiration: 2013-09-23
Also published as: AU4757493A

Description

"11 .1- IMPROVED WIPER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an improvement of the structure of windshield wipers, and more particularly to a wiper arm link which slants automatically while the wiper is swinging. The present invention protects the windshield and extends the life of the wiper blade.

The prior art wiper comprises one arm, two links, two blade holders and a blade. Said links are connected to the front end and rear end of the arm, and blade holders are connected to said links by inserting projections on said links into the holes on said blade holders. Blades are installed in the blade holders so as to form a complete wiper. However, such joint structure allows the prior art wiper to move only up-and-down (it cannot swing right-and-left or stretch back and forth) at the connecting points between the wiper link and the blade holder. Said structure has the following drawbacks: 1. The wiper cannot slant appropriately.

2. The rubber wiper blade, which bears most of the applied force, can be i damaged easily.

3. 'The interaction between the wiper and dust can scratch the windshield.

4. The wiper cannot be adjusted appropriately to different windshields.

5. While the wiper is swinging, the fixed fulcrums cannot be adjusted automatically and appropriately.

gt i OBJECT OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to overcome or substantially ameliorate the above disadvantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION There is disclosed herein a windshield wiper assembly comprising: I an elongated arm having two opposite ends, two elongated links, two elongated blade holders, and an elongated blade; said arm having an adjusting hole at each end, said arm having a pair of axially aligned projections extending therefrom into each hole bore and said arm having a downward facing round connecting opening; each said link comprising a mortise at a first end receiving one of the blade holders therein, a clamping coupling at a second end for holding said blade, and a cylinder intermediate said ends, said cylinder having an elongated trapezoidal depression therein, a portion of said cylinder being rotatably received in said downward facing round connecting opening to thereby enable relative rotation about a longitudinal axis of the link between the link and the arm; wherein L [NA~ I:\ibtt)00791 :BFD -2a positioning device is provided at each end of said arm to control the rotational movement of each respective said link, each said positioning device including a case having a plurality of pairs of elongated channels therein, a round connecting slot and a projecting tab extending from said case into said round connecting slot, said case being received in said adjusting hole with one of said pairs of channels receiving the respective projections, said projecting tab being received in said trapezoidal depression and said cylinder being received into the connecting slot, wherein the relative rotation between the links and the arm can be adjusted by choosing a different pair of channels to receive said projections, thus changing the longitudinal position of said projecting tab within said trapezoidal depression.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the external features of a windshield wiper 15 assembly; Fig. 2 is an exploded view of a windshield wiper assembly; Fig. 3 is a detail view of a positioning device, adjusting hole and the trapezoid indentatiori of a windshield wiper assembly; Fig. 4 is a schematic drawing of the adjustment of swing of a windshield wiper assembly; Fig. 5 is a sectional view of a windshield wiper assembly; Fig. 6 is an illustration of a windshield wiper assembly in rotary angle No. 1; Fig. 7 is an illustration of a windshield wiper assembly in rotary angle No. 2; Fig. 8 is an illustration of a windshield wiper assembly in rotary angle No. 3; Fig. 9 is a perspective of a windshield wiper assembly showing direction of motion; and S- Fig. 10 is a sectional view illustration of a connection between arms and links.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to Figures 1 through 3 therein illustrated is an improved wiper. The front end arm 1 connects to the rear end of w per link 2. The front end of wiper link connects to the rear end of blade holder 3. A wiper blade 4 is fixed by the bottom clamping part of the link 2 and blade holder 3.

Said arm 1 has adjusting holes 13 installed in the front and rear ends wherein symmetrical projections 131 are mounted inside the hole and a downward connecting hole 12 installed in the connecting end 11 which connects with the link 2.

A mortise 21, which connects to the blade holder 3, is in the front end of the link 2, to whose rear end is attached by the clamp coup ing 22 of blade 4. The middle part of said link is the cylinder 23 which connects to arm 1. There are concave r., rNT 0N NT 0 [1C:\Iibt00791:BF i4 -3trapezoid depressions 24 on the surface of the rear section of cylinder 23. The depression 24 corresponds to projecting tab 262 of the positioning device 26.

The positioning device 26, a rectangular case whose width fits the inner Sdiameter of the arm 1, has pairs of symmetrical channels 263, and includes a downward facing round connecting opening 261. The projecting tab 262, which is in the center of the top of the connecting open 261, fits into the trapezoid depression 24 of the link 2.

Referring to Figures 3, 4 and 5, therein illustrated is the assembly process of the parts. Firstly, place the positioning device 26 on to the cylinder 23 of the link 2 so as to insert said projecting tab 262 into said trapezoidal depression 24. Mortise said link 2 to arm 1 via the round connecting opening 12. Then select a pair of channels i 263 of positioning device 26 to connect to arm 1. When the arm 1 is lowered onto the positioning device 26, the projections 131 in the adjusting hole 13 will slide into the selected pair of channels 263. Finally, assemble said blade holder 3 and said blade 4 in order.

S- 15 Choosing different pairs of channels 263 to fit onto the projections 131 inside S'"the adjusting hole 13 allows the projecting tab 262 to move between the thin part and the wide part of said trapezoid depression 24 for slanting said arm 1. The adjustment can be performed by raising the front end of said link 2 and moving the positioning device 26 inside the adjusting hole 13 by finger or a screwdriver.

Referring to Figures 6, 7 and 8. When the complete wiper moves, the mortise S: of said link 2 and said arm 1, and the rectangular case of said positioning device 26 -allows said link to be parallel to said arm 1, to slant to a certain angle, or to swing up and down freely.

Referring to Fig. 9, therein illustrated is the connecting relation between said arm 1, said link 2 and said blade holder 3 as shown in Figures 1, 3 and 10. The middle part of the blade holder 2 is a connecting element 33, whose rear is connected to a rectangular case. The width of said connecting element should fit the bottom of said link 2 so as to help the blade holder 3 remain parallel to the link 2 and move up and down when the wiper is swinging. The connecting point of the link 2 within the positioning device 26 may be changed by sliding the cylinder 23 within the connecting hole 12. Likewise, the connecting element 33 may be moved within the mortise 21.

This allows the effective length of the assembly to be extended, thus diverting the applied force to different fulcrums.

According to the preceding description, we can see the following advantages of the present invention; 1. When the wiper is swinging, said link 2 and said blade 4 will slant to an angle so as to release some resistance and decrease the abrasion on the blade.

jN:\IibttOO791:BFD 2. The life of the rubber blade can be extended by adjusting the rotary angle of the wiper.

3. The change of said projecting tab's position in said trapezoidal depression 24 would reduce the swing when the wiper stretches out but restore the swing when the wiper stretches back automatically. The force said wiper bears would be evenly distributed.

4. The slanting angle of the wiper is controllable so as to adapt to the changing weather.

The present invention relates to a functi-nal, practical and improved wiper which is easy to assemble and manufacture. The structure of the wiper is very simple and the manufacturing cost will not be increased. While only a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be seen that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

rc- 14 I III ilr:I;' [N:\libttlO0791:BFD

Claims

1. A windshield wiper assembly comprising: an elongated arm having two opposite ends, two elongated links, two elongated blade holders, and an elongated blade; said arm having an adjusting hole at each end, said arm having a pair of axially aligned projections extending therefrom into each hole bore and said arm having a downward facing round connecting opening; each said link comprising a mortise at a first end receiving one of the blade holders therein, a clamping coupling at a second end for holding said blade, and a cylinder intermediate saJ,1 ends, said cylinder having an elongated trapezoidal depression therein, a portion of said cylinder being rotatably received in said downward facing round connecting opening to thereby enable relative rotation about a longitudinal axis of the link between the link and the arm; wherein a positioning device is provided at each end of said arm to control the rotational movement of each respective said link, each said positioning device including S"a case having a plurality of pairs of elongated channels therein, a round connecting slot i and a projecting tab extending from said case into said round connecting slot, said case being received in said adjusting hole with one of said pairs of channels receiving the o '°respective projections, said projecting tab being received in said trapezoidal depression and said cylinder being received into the connecting slot, wherein the relative rotation between the links and the arm can be adjusted by choosing a different pair of channels to receive said projections, thus changing the longitudinal position of said projecting tab within said trapezoidal depression.

2. A windshield wiper assembly according to claim 1, wherein each said link slidably receives a said blade holder therein.

3. A windshield wiper assembly substantially as hereinbefore described *with reference to the accompanying drawings. DATED this Eleventh Day of December 1995 1 Wen Cayan Lai Patent Attorneys for the Applicant SPRUSON FERGUSON [N:\Iibtt0079l :EFD SI IMPROVED WIPER Abstract of the Disclosure An improved windshield wiper assembly comprises a trapezoidal depression (24) in the link for matching a positioning device and adjusting holes (13) in the arm and blade holder When the wiper swings, its contact angle with the windshield and the arc of motion change to protect the windshield of a car and extend he life of the wiper blades. *000 a A /4?