BE1017691A3 - DEVICE FOR JOINTLY CONNECTING A WIPER BLADE TO A WIPER ARM. - Google Patents

Abstract

Device for hingedly connecting a wiper blade (12) to a wiper arm (10) having a coupling part (22) attached to the wiper blade (12) with two cheeks side members (24) connected by a bottom piece (26), these cheeks forming a hub (30) for a bearing pin (34, 56, 74) connected at one end to the wiper arm (10). The hub (30) has at its periphery a region facing the wiper blade (12) and having an opening gap (32) whose free width is smaller than the inside diameter of the hub (30) and in the longitudinal direction of the bearing pin (34, 56, 74), at least at the opening gap (32), the minimum thickness of the bearing pin (34, 56, 74) is at most slightly greater than the free width of the opening gap (32).

Description

"Device for hingedly connecting a wiper blade to a wiper arm"

Field of the invention

The present invention relates to a device for hingedly connecting a wiper blade to a wiper arm having a coupling piece attached to the wiper blade with two side cheeks connected by a bottom piece. , these cheeks forming a hub for a bearing pin connected at one end to the wiper arm.

State of the art

According to WO 2004/002792 A1 there is known a wiper blade having a rubber profile and a support member; this wiper blade is hingedly connected to the rod of a wiper arm. The device comprises a coupling element, a metal claw whose longitudinal sides of the bottom comprise claws. These include resilient support members such as band-shaped springs housed in lateral longitudinal grooves of the rubber profile. On the side not turned towards the rubber profile, the sheet metal claw has lateral flanks on its long sides forming a hub receiving a rotating spindle forming a bearing. The bearing pin is itself attached to the rod of the wiper arm. The arm is surrounded by a bearing tube between the cheeks or flanks, this tube connecting the facing receiving ports provided for the bearing pin in the side cheeks.

The coupling element is engaged by the top of a cap clipped on the coupling element. On the side facing the wiper arm, the cap has means for locking the bearing pin axially to the wiper arm relative to the wiper blade. These means are formed on the one hand of a lateral cavity into which the windscreen wiper arm and the parts connected thereto penetrate and, on the other hand, by a fork-shaped end cooperating with a spindle of guiding the cap. The cap further includes on its front side, connecting profiles for a deflector extending in the longitudinal direction of both sides of the cap. The connecting profiles ensure a smooth transition between the baffle and the cap, which results in a continuous deflector overall, the cap being raised in the area between the connecting profiles to the downstream side.

Document FR 2 838 693 B1 describes a device for articulately connecting a wiper blade to a wiper arm. The device has a coupling element attached to the wiper blade and having a U-shaped receiving opening directed transversely of the wiper blade. This opening receives an adapter piece. This piece attaches to the coupling element. The adapter has a U-shaped hub, open upward, receiving a bearing pin attached to the wiper arm. The bearing pin is locked axially in the hub by two flanges which are applied on their inner side against the outer surface of the adapter. To lock the friction, the outer sides of the adapter have longitudinal struts.

The opening of the U-shaped section hub is narrowed in the central area by retaining tabs; the distance between the retaining tabs corresponds to the minimum thickness of the bearing pin in this area defined therein by two parallel flat areas. In the mounting position, when the wiper blade is directed substantially transversely to the arm, the bearing pin can be placed with its flattened portions between the retaining tabs to engage the hub. Then, the blade is tilted into its operating position so that the bearing pin is locked in the hub by the retaining tabs. The hub and the bearing pin are covered by a cap which is slid in the longitudinal direction of the wiper blade, by a longitudinal slide over a guide of the coupling element and is hooked in position end of stroke therewith by snap elements.

DESCRIPTION AND ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a wiper blade of the type defined above, characterized in that the hub comprises at its periphery a zone facing the wiper blade and having an interval the free width of which is less than the inside diameter of the hub, and in the longitudinal direction of the bearing pin, at least at the opening gap, the minimum thickness of the bearing pin is at most slightly greater than the free width of the opening interval.

According to the invention, the hub formed by the lateral cheeks of the coupling element has in its periphery, an opening interval in the area not facing the wiper blade and whose free width is less than inner diameter of the hub. The minimum thickness of the bearing pin in its longitudinal direction is at most slightly greater than the free width of the opening gap at this interval. If the cylindrical bearing pin and its diameter are slightly greater than the free width of the opening gap, the bearing pin can be clipped by pushing it into the hub by a slight elastic opening of the bearing gap. opening. The bearing pin may have at its periphery one or more flats which define its minimum thickness which allows to introduce the bearing pin following its minimum thickness through the opening gap and then to lock it by turning. The minimum thickness of the bearing pin may be slightly greater or less than the free width of the opening gap. In this first variant, the bearing pin is held in the hub both by clipping and locking while in the second variant the holding is only by locking.

In the axial direction, the bearing pin is advantageously fixed by at least one flange which bears against the coupling element or a part connected thereto. The flange may be the end flange or head which is supported from the outside against the side cheek of the coupling element, in the axial direction, so that the wiper blade is guided between the end flange and the wiper arm to which the bearing pin is fixed at its other end. But the flange may also be an intermediate flange installed between the side cheeks on the bearing pin and which bears against the cap clipped on the coupling element. The intermediate flange advantageously penetrates into a slot of the cap. The means according to the invention thus form a simple device, easy to assemble, and which is manufactured economically.

To improve the installation of the bearing pin on the coupling element it is advantageous that between the lateral cheeks, the bearing pin is surrounded by a split bearing sleeve, the width of the gap corresponding to the width free of the opening interval of the hub being aligned as this interval. The bearing sleeve can be connected to the lateral cheeks of the connecting element and connected to a cap made of plastic material, the bearing sleeve being injected with the cap.

In principle, the cap is open upwards. For reasons of aeraulic and appearance, it is advantageous that the opening of the upper side of the cap is closed by a cover. This reduces the risk that in its upward movement during the wiping of the wiper blade, because of a return too powerful, the water returns to the downstream side. The cover may be a separate piece that snaps into the opening of the cap or may be connected to the cap by a hinge. The cover can be connected to the longitudinal side of the cap, facing the wiper arm via a film hinge. Another possibility is to connect the lid along the same long side to the cap by a hinge. The joint is advantageously formed by a flattened bearing axis and an open hub which penetrate into one another. When the cover is closed, the bearing shaft and the open hub are locked automatically by the relative rotational movement.

On the opposite side to the film-shaped hinge or the hinge, the cover is advantageously hooked to the coupling element, for example by an engagement claw provided on the cover and cooperating with a clipping axis provided on the hood or vice versa. The claw claw has a clipping orifice whose periphery is open by an interval in the direction of the clipping axis. To close more easily, the gap opens in the direction of the clipping axis. It is further advantageous to facilitate the opening that at least the ridge adjacent the ratching orifice is rounded, or angled or flattened.

To avoid external cuts or projecting parts or other accessories that might be necessary to place tools and open the lid, according to a development of the invention, the intermediate flange of the bearing claw comprises a cam which, in a position of operation of the wiper blade, enters a slot of the cap and which rotates, in a mounting position of the wiper blade, raises, the cover and opens it by freeing the hooking between the cover and Hood. For this, it is advantageous that the intermediate flange with the cam is close to the attachment devices.

drawings

The present invention will be described hereinafter in more detail with the aid of embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings in which: - Figure 1 is a perspective view from above of a wiper blade, - FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a coupling element; FIG. 3 shows a variant of FIG. 2; FIGS. 4 to 6 are perspective views of a coupling element according to FIG. showing the wiper arm in different mounting positions, - Figure 7 shows a bearing pin for the wiper arm of Figure 4, - Figure 8 is a sectional view along the line VIII- FIG. 9 is a variant of FIG. 7, FIG. 10 is a view in the direction of arrow X of FIG. 9, FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a cap having FIG. of a lid, - Figure 12 is a variant of Figure 11, - Figure 13 shows a pin of pali Figure 14 is a perspective view from below of a cover adapted to a cap according to Figure 12, - Figure 15 is a view of the cover in the direction of the arrow 15 of FIG. 14 in the rotated position, FIG. 16 shows detail XVI of FIG. 15 on an enlarged scale, and FIG. 17 is a section along line XVII-XVII of FIG. 12 showing the bearing pin according to FIG. Figure 13.

Description of Embodiments of the Invention

A wiper blade 12 is hingedly connected to a wiper arm 10. The wiper comprises a wiper blade 14 provided with a wiper lip 16 which, during the wiping motion, is driven by the wiper arm on a vehicle window not shown. Each of the long sides of the wiper blade 14 comprises elastic rails 18 housed in longitudinal grooves and serving as support elements; these rails are pre-bent so that the application force of the windscreen wiper arm 10 is distributed in the form of a predefined application pressure along the length of the wiping lip 16.

A coupling member 22 provided with claws 28 is attached to the elastic rails 18. This element has a bottom piece 26 on which are formed the claws 28 and a side cheek 24 on each of the long sides. The lateral cheeks 24 form a hub 30 pivotally receiving a bearing pin 34. This pin is fixed to the wiper arm 10 by a rivet body 36.

In an area of its periphery not facing the wiper blade 14, the hub 30 is opened by an opening gap 32. This gap is dimensioned so that its free width is less than the inner diameter of the hub 30 and at most slightly less than the minimum thickness of the bearing pin 34 in this area. This makes it possible to place the bearing spindle 34 with its minimum thickness through the opening gap 32, if necessary by yielding the opening gap 32 slightly elastically. To facilitate the assembly of the bearing spindle 34 it is advantageous to round or give an oblique shape to the edges of the opening interval 32.

If the free width of the opening gap 32 is slightly less than the diameter of the bearing pin 34 adapted to the inside diameter of the hub 30, the bearing pin 34 can be clipped by exerting a slight push to pass the gap. opening 32 and arrive in the hub 30. If the diameter of the bearing pin 34 is much larger than the free width of the opening gap 32, there is provided at least one flat 44 on the bearing pin 34 at the opening interval 32 which defines the minimum thickness of the bearing pin 34. When mounting the bearing pin 34, the flat portion 44 is aligned with respect to the opening gap 32 in order to introduce the bearing pin 34 in the hub 30 through the opening gap 32. Then the bearing pin 34 is rotated with respect to this mounting position, which locks it in the hub 30.

A flange or head 38 provided at the end of the bearing pin 34 axially locks the bearing pin 34 in the hub 30 because this flange 34 bears against the outer side of the associated lateral cheek 24 of the coupling element 22; thus the coupling element 22 is guided between the flange 38 and the wiper arm 10.

In the embodiment of FIG. 3, the bearing pin 34 is surrounded by a bearing sleeve 40 provided with a longitudinal slot 42. This latter is dimensioned and aligned according to the opening interval 32 so that the pin The bearing bushing 40 may be connected in the same manner to the bearing bushing 40. The bearing bushing 40 may be connected to the lateral cheeks 24 of the connecting element 22 or may be attached to the cap 46 which covers the top of the bushing. The cap 46 is advantageously made of plastic so that the bearing bushing 40 is injected during the same manufacturing operation.

Figures 4 to 6 show a variant comprising a bearing pin 56 which instead of the end flange of the head 38 has an intermediate flange 60 between the hubs 30. The intermediate flange 60 can bear against the side cheek 24 adjacent to the wiper arm 10 so that the wiper blade 12 is axially locked between the intermediate flange 60 and the wiper arm 10. Another possibility is to make the intermediate flange 60 penetrate into the wiper arm 10. a slot 64 of the cap 46 (FIG. 11) and thus to bear axially via the cap 46 against the coupling element 22.

Figure 4 shows the mounting position in which the flats 58 of the bearing pin 56 have been aligned with the opening gap 32 to allow the bearing pin 56 to slide into the position of Figure 5. Figure 6 shows the operating position; in this position, the wiper blade 12 is substantially parallel to the wiper arm 10 and the bearing pin 56 is locked in the hub 30 (see also FIG. 1). The bearing pin 56 has a flattened rivet body 62 which continues with a cylindrical segment in the direction of the intermediate flange 60. Due to the different shaping of the two ends of the bearing pin 56, installation errors are avoided. .

The wiper blade 12 may comprise a deflector 20 on both sides of the coupling element 22. In this case the cap 46, the connecting profiles 50 and the ramps 52 allow a harmonious junction between the deflector 20 and the hood 46.

In addition, the cap 46 has the downstream side, a rib 54 connecting the connecting sections 50 and protruding from the cap 46 of the downstream side. This improves the flow conditions at the cap 46 and prevents water from being thrown backwards when the windscreen wiper descends. For the same reason and also for optical reasons, it is advantageous that the opening of the cap 46 can be closed by a cover 48, 84. The cover 48 is connected by a film-shaped hinge 66 to the opposite side of the cap 46 at the wiper arm 10 and on its opposite side it has a rib 68 which clings to the cap 46. The cover 84 (Figure 14) has on its side not facing the wiper arm 10, a open hub 82 whose opening slides over a flat bearing axis 80 of the cover cap 46; the bearing pin 80 and the open hub 82 lock each other in the closing movement. On the opposite side wall 86, the cover 84 has a clawing claw 88 provided with a clipping orifice 96 continuing outwardly through a slot 92, which is directed towards the clipping axis 90 cap 46 which clings into the clipping hole 96 when closing the lid 84. To facilitate the clipping, the interval 92 opens towards the clipping axis. In addition, the opening is facilitated by rounding or giving an inclined shape to the ridges 94 delimiting the clipping orifice 96. The side of the cap 46 facing the wiper arm 10 comprises a hub opening 70 for the bearing pin 34, 56, 74. In addition, at the side walls, there are slots 72 through which the hub 30 of the coupling element 22 passes.

To automatically open the cover 48, 84, the embodiment of FIG. 13 comprises a bearing pin 74 with an intermediate flange 76 whose periphery has a cam 78. In the operating position, when the wiper arm 10 is substantially parallel to the wiper blade 12, the cam 78 comes into the slot 64 of the cap 46 (Figure 11) and the cover 48, 84 is closed. When turning the wiper blade 12 into the mounting position (see FIG. 4 and FIG. 5), the cam 78 raises the cover and releases the snap-in device 68, 88, 90. When the cover is closed cleared one can easily finish opening by hand.

NOMENCLATURE

10 Wiper Arm 12 Wiper Blade 14 Wiper Blade 16 Wiper Lip 18 Elastic Rail 20 Deflector 22 Coupling Element 24 Side Plate 26 Bottom Component 28 Clamp 30 Hub 32 Spacer Interval opening 34 bearing pin 36 rivet body 38 end flange / head 40 bearing sleeve 42 slot 44 flat 46 cap 48 cover 50 connecting profile 52 boom 54 rib 56 bearing pin 58 flat 60 intermediate flange 62 rivet 64 slot 66 film-shaped hinge 68 rib 70 hub opening 72 slot 74 bearing spindle 76 intermediate flange 78 cam 80 bearing spindle 82 hub 84 cover 86 side wall 88 claw claw 90 snap-in shaft 92 slot 94 edge 96 hole clipping

Claims (5)

1 °) Device for hingedly connecting a wiper blade (12) to a wiper arm (10) having a coupling piece (22) attached to the wiper blade (12). ) with two lateral cheeks (24) connected by a bottom piece (26), these cheeks forming a hub (30) for a bearing pin (34, 56, 74) connected at one end to the windscreen wiper arm ( 10), characterized in that the hub (30) has at its periphery a zone facing the wiper blade (12) and having an opening gap (32) whose free width is smaller than the inside diameter of the wiper blade (12). hub (30), and in the longitudinal direction of the bearing pin (34, 56, 74), at least at the opening gap (32), the minimum thickness of the bearing pin (34, 56, 74) is at most slightly greater than the free width of the opening gap (32). 2) Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the minimum thickness of the bearing pin (34, 56, 74) at the opening gap (32) is formed by at least one flats (44). , 58) directed transversely to the opening gap (32) when the wiper arm (10) is in the operating position. 3) Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the bearing pin (34, 56, 74) is fixed in the axial direction by at least one flange (38, 60, 76) bearing against the element d coupling (22) or a part (46) connected thereto. 4 °) Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the coupling element (22) is covered on the opposite side to that of the wiper blade (14) by a cap (46) clipped on the coupling element (22). 5 °) Device according to claim 3, characterized in that the flange (38) is an end flange which bears from the outside axially against a side cheek (24) of the coupling element (22), 6e) Device according to claim 3, characterized in that the flange (60, 76) is an intermediate flange installed between the side flanges (24) and bearing axially against the cap (46). 7 °) Device according to claim 6, characterized in that the intermediate flange (60, 76) enters a slot (64) of the cap (46). 8 °) Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the bearing pin (34, 56, 74) is surrounded by a bearing bushing (40) slotted, between the side flanges (24), the width of the slot ( 42) corresponding to the free width of the opening gap (32) being aligned like this. 9 °) Device according to claim 8, characterized in that the bearing sleeve (40) is connected to the side flanges (24) of the coupling piece (22). 10 °) Device according to claim 8, characterized in that the bearing sleeve (40) is connected to the cap (46). 11 °) Device according to claim 4, characterized in that the cap (46) has on its upper side an opening closed by a cover (48, 84). 12 °) Device according to claim 11, characterized in that the cover (48) is connected at a large side of the cap (46), opposite that of the wiper arm (10) by a film-shaped hinge (66) connected to the cap (46). Device according to claim 11, characterized in that on the long side of the cap (46), opposite the wiper arm (10), the cover (84) is connected to the cap ( 46) by a hinge (80, 82). 14 °) Device according to claim 13, characterized in that the articulation (80, 82) is formed by a flattened bearing axis (80) and an open hub (82), the bearing axis (80) and the open hub (82) latching relative to each other by relative movement when closing the lid (48). 15 °) Device according to claim 11, characterized in that the cover (84) comprises near its side wall (86) close to the film-shaped hinge (66) or facing the hinge (80, 82 ), a clipping device (88) cooperating with a corresponding clipping device (90) of the cover cap (46). 16 °) Device according to claim 15, characterized in that the clipping device of the cover (84) is a snap claw (88) or a clipping pin (90) and correspondingly the clipping device the cap (46) is a clipping axis (90) or clawing claw (88). 17 °) Device according to claim 16, characterized in that the claw claw (88) has an opening hole (96) open by a slot (92) facing the clipping axis (90) and s widening towards the clipping axis (90). 18 °) Device according to claim 17, characterized in that at least one edge (94) adjacent the clipping orifice (96) is rounded or flattened. 19 °) Device according to claim 13, characterized in that the articulation (80, 82) and the clipping device (88, 92) are offset in the longitudinal direction of the wiper blade (12). 20 °) Device according to claim 10, characterized in that the intermediate flange (76) has a cam (78) on the bearing pin (74) which in the operating position of the wiper blade (12) enters into a slot (64) of the cap (46) and which opens the lid (84) when the wiper blade (12) is rotated to the mounting position. 21 °) Wiper blade (12) comprising a coupling element (22) equipped with a device according to one of claims 1 to 20. 22 °) Wiper blade (10) comprising a bearing pin (34, 56, 74) usable in a device according to one of claims 1 to 20. 23 °) Cap (46) applied to a device according to one of claims 4, 6, 7, 10 to 13 , 15, 16 or 20.