ES2353766T3 - WINDSHIELD CLEANING BEARING. - Google Patents

Abstract

Windshield wiper bearing for a windshield wiper system, which has a bearing housing (12) with an external tube that forms the bearing housing (12), an internal tube (24) arranged concentrically with respect to it and an articulated pin ( 30) disposed in a support area (14) in the bearing housing (12) for housing a tubular plate (40), where outside the articulated pin (30), in the area of its front side (36 ), an annular element is provided which is coaxially arranged with respect to the articulated pin (30) and which does not have any connection with the bearing housing (12), characterized in that the annular element (16) is arranged axially in front of the articulated pin (30) and is secured to the bearing housing (12) by joining reinforcements (18, 20), through which the articulated pin (30) can be accessed from outside in at least one area of union (32).

Description

State of the art

The present invention refers to a windshield wiper bearing according to the preamble of claim 1.

A windshield wiper bearing housing is used for the support of a windshield wiper shaft, for the positioning of a windshield wiper shaft, as well as for the mounting housings for mounting on a vehicle. Particularly in case of snow load or in cases of blockage, high forces and moments occur, especially in the cross area between the windshield bearing housing and the tubular plate.

A windshield wiper system is known from DE 199 25 292 A1 where the tubular plate, in the crossing area, has an enlarged cross section, which reduces the specific load in the critical crossing area and increases the torsional resistance and bending

Application US 6,196,754 B1 refers to a drive device for a windshield wiper system for windows in vehicles, with a fixedly arranged retaining element, which has, at least on one of its sides, a housing bearing of a windshield wiper shaft, where the bearing is designed as a plastic part and has a continuous connection and a non-positive connection with the retaining element through a partial plastic deformation. Thus, the bearing must have a splice tube that is surrounded by a sleeve, where the retaining element is engaged in an annular space formed between the splice tube and the sleeve, the retaining element can be plastically deformed. partially within the annular space, there is a continuous connection between the retention element and the splice tube, as well as between the retention element and the sleeve, and where the retention element and the sleeve are formed of a piece with 25 other bearing areas.

Advantages of the invention

In the windshield wiper bearing according to the invention it is suggested that an annular element coaxially arranged with respect to the articulated pin be provided, outside of an articulated pin provided for housing a tubular plate. The articulated pin 30 is fixedly connected to a bearing housing that forms an internal tube of the windshield wiper bearing or an internal tube arranged thereto concentrically. Through continuous connection of the tubular plate with the articulated pin forces are transmitted from the bearing housing to the articulated pin, such as torsional forces. The articulated pin receives from that moment, mainly, tensile forces, compression forces and torsional forces. The annular element and its joining reinforcements receive bending moments and bending forces. The articulated spike is loaded less mechanically and, in total, more evenly. The annular element can essentially receive bending forces that act in a plane that is formed by a bearing shaft and by the articulated pin. The tubular plate is supported by the annular element, thereby lightening the load of the articulated spike correspondingly. In the articulated spike itself, only reduced bending efforts are presented. It is also possible to provide two annular elements arranged coaxially. In this case, the external annular element has a lot of stability and facilitates the union of the tubular plate with the articulated spike. In the case of a joint of the articulated spike in the inner tube, the construction form is particularly compact. The introduction of forces thus takes place both on the inner tube and on the outer tube. Four. Five

Due to the reduced load, a crossover geometry between the articulated pin and its bearing point in the bearing housing can be performed in a simple way in case of a reduced distance between a joint area, located between the articulated pin and the plate tubular, and the support area of the articulated pin of the articulated pin in the inner tube or in the outer tube of the bearing housing. The windshield wiper bearing, in particular a plastic windshield wiper bearing, 50 can be made shorter and more compactly than the previous plastic windshield wiper bearings for which a large and harmonic crossing area should be considered, to decrease in said place the pressure peaks present there. Through the compact construction of the windshield wiper bearing, the tubular plate can be approximated to a greater extent to the bearing area of the windshield wiper bearing, which results in a more rigid system as a whole. Through the uniform mechanical load of the bearing housing, it can be designed with

a thin wall, which is particularly advantageous for an embodiment of the plastic windshield wiper bearing, to avoid contractions in the plastic during its manufacture. Also, shorter working and cooling times are possible in this way. In relation to the reduced own weight, the wiper bearing with annular element can be manufactured and mounted in a cost-effective manner. The tubular plate can be made with a small cross-section 5, which results in a decrease in weight and a smaller requirement in terms of construction space. Windshield wiper bearings with a smaller cross-section of the tubular plate, for example in the event of a blockage, relieve all components of the windshield wiper system - also the windshield wiper lever - so that other savings are possible in terms of expenses, since these components can be made more easily.

When the windshield wiper system is operated, through the arrangement of the annular element and the improved support of the tubular plate in the support area, fewer movements occur, and even in case of high loads, the point of attachment is not impaired . The alignment of the windshield wiper shaft remains virtually unchanged, so that the angle of placement of the windshield wiper blade, determined after sizing, is maintained with respect to the windshield and, thus, a good quality of cleaning is guaranteed.

Although the use of non-reinforced plastics is preferred for the windshield wiper bearing, thanks to the special geometry, high rigidity of the components is achieved, as well as an improvement in the rigidity of the system as a whole. In this way, the field of application of windshield wiper drives with plastic windshield wiper bearings can be expanded.

The bearing housing is rigid to bending and, however, can be made of non-reinforced materials, favorable in terms of costs. During manufacturing you can work with simple sliding guides. Due to the construction of the windshield wiper bearing and the design of the resulting tool there, they are also suitable as a material, together with reinforced plastics, mainly materials that cannot be demolished as simply as, for example, reinforced plastics or molded metal materials under pressure, in particular Zn, Mg, Al.

The annular element is disposed in the bearing housing without any connection with respect to the articulated pin and, therefore, can, in large part, keep the flexing force away from the articulated pin. In turn, the annular element is fixed to the bearing housing by means of reinforcements, through which the articulated pin can be accessed from outside at least in a joint area, when the tubular plate is connected to the articulated pin. First, the preferential fixation with upper and lower reinforcements allows a high rigidity of the arrangement of the reinforcements and the annular element; secondly, both the manufacture of the windshield wiper bearing and the connection of the tubular plate to the articulated pin are simplified, since the articulated pin is easily accessible from the outside for a suitable tool, for example, for a crimping tool.

If the annular element is arranged axially in front of the articulated pin, in particular without an overlap with the articulated pin on its front side, the windshield wiper bearing can be manufactured with a convenient tool without an annular center and with a simple sturdy slide of the tool. This also enables better cooling of the tool and the center during a preferred process of pressure molding or injection molding. In an alternative conformation, if the articulated pin protrudes with a front side in the annular element, a demolition of the centers of the hollow profile and the annular center in the same direction can take place, for which only a single slide of the tool.

If the articulated shank is arranged approximately centered with respect to an axial extension of the bearing housing, the annular element is widely supported on the bearing housing and only slight stretching of the components occurs during cooling 50 after manufacturing, which implies a high quality of geometry and a good process capacity. Alternatively, the articulated shank may be disposed off-center with respect to an axial extension of the bearing housing, for example at a lower end of the bearing housing. Because of this, wide support is possible in the bearing housing.

The windshield wiper bearing can be made particularly rigid, when the articulated pin has a cross section shaped as a hollow profile. This design is particularly rigid. The tool centers required for these hollow profiles can be aligned so that they can extend in the direction of the articulated spike, that is, simultaneously with an annular tool center for the creation of the annular element. Fit

alternatively, the articulated spindle has a transverse area made as a T or double T support. A joint geometry can be produced, as well as unmold in two halves of the tool. The construction of the tool is particularly simple.

It is advantageous that a geometry of the components can be demoulded laterally between the annular element and the support point during its manufacture. This makes it possible, together with the 5 simplifications mentioned in the tool, that after assembly by displacement of the tubular plate, it can be surrounded to join the tubular plate to the articulated spike by means of a so-called crimp. This guarantees a good continuous connection and a high quality of the connection, in terms of qualitative aspect, between the tubular plate and the articulated pin. In this way, the tubular plate is plastically deformed and displaced in recesses of the bearing housing, as well as of the articulated pin, provided for it. Conventional tools can be used for crimping.

Drawings

In the following, the present invention is explained in more detail in an exemplary embodiment by the corresponding drawings. The drawings show: 15

Figure 1: a windshield wiper bearing with a short annular element with an asymmetric joint through support profiles;

Figure 2: a windshield wiper bearing with a short annular element, presenting a symmetrical joint with the cross section of the hollow profile;

Figures 3 a, b: a representation of planes sectioned in the longitudinal direction (a) and in perpendicular form with respect to a bisector of the articulated spike (b);

Figures 4 a, b: a construction of the tool and the separation of halves of the tool in the case of a cross section with hollow profile (a) and a cross section with T-support profile (b);

Figures 5 a, b: a construction of the tool (a) and a center of the tool with annular center (b);

Figure 6: a cross section through a windshield wiper bearing with superposition of the articulated pin and the annular element;

Figures 7 a, b: a construction of the tool (a) and a center of the tool without an annular center (b); 30

Figure 8: a cross section through a windshield wiper bearing without overlapping the articulated pin and the annular element;

Figures 9 a - f: through a cross-section through the articulated spike, a process development of a crimping process before (a) and after the fitting of a tubular plate (b), approximation of the tool (c) , fencing of the tubular plate with the tool (d), rolling of the die in the area of connection between the tubular plate and the articulated pin (e) and the finished joint (f);

Figures 10 a, b: a comparison between sizes of a preferred windshield wiper bearing (a) with a known windshield wiper bearing (b);

Figure 11: A cut through a windshield wiper bearing with an annular element 40 made as a double ring;

Figure 12: a representation of a windshield wiper bearing assembly and tubular plate; Y

Figure 13: A comparison of the stiffness of the components of a preferred windshield wiper bearing, according to the invention, with a second known windshield wiper bearing with a hollow profile articulated spike and a T-shaped articulated spike.

Description of the execution examples

The present invention is especially suitable for plastic windshield wiper bearings. The same reference signs for the same parts are generally used in the figures.

Figure 1 shows a windshield wiper bearing 10 for a windshield cleaning system with a bearing housing 12 and an articulated pin 30 arranged in a bearing area 14 5 in the bearing housing 12 and a short annular element 16. The housing of the bearing 12, formed by an outer tube, concentrically surrounds an inner tube 24. The short annular element 16 is coaxially arranged outside the articulated pin 30 within the area of its front surface 36. The articulated pin 30 and the element annular 16 are arranged offset with respect to an axial extension of the bearing housing 12. 10

The annular element 16 is fixed to the bearing housing 12 by upper reinforcements 18 and lower reinforcements 20, through which the articulated pin 30 can be accessed from outside at least in a joint area 32. In this joint area 32 is subsequently connected to a tubular plate - which is not represented - with the articulated spike 30. The reinforcements 18, 20 are formed here as T-supports. The annular element 16 no 15 has a direct connection with the spigot. articulated 30, so that the tubular plate - which is not shown - can fit into a reduced clearance between the articulated pin 30 and an internal circumference of the annular element 16 on the articulated pin 30. The free space is sized so such that the tubular plate can have contact with both the articulated pin 30 and the internal circumference of the annular element 16. 20

Figure 2 shows a windshield wiper bearing 10 with a short annular element 16, presenting an asymmetric joint of the articulated pin 30 and the annular element 16 in the bearing housing 12. The lower and upper reinforcements 18, 20; which engage the annular element 16, have a hollow profile cross section. The articulated pin 30 and the annular element 16 are arranged approximately centered with respect to an axial extension of the housing of the bearing 12.

A representation of planes sectioned through the wiper bearing 10 is shown in Figures 3 a, b. Figure 3 a shows a cut in the longitudinal direction of the articulated pin 30. It can be seen that the articulated pin 30 has no joint with the annular element 16. Figure 3 b shows a perpendicular section with respect to a bisector of the articulated spike. The articulated pin 30 has a hollow profile that has a reinforcing element arranged approximately centered; the lower and upper reinforcements 18, 20 that support the annular element 16 are also shaped as hollow profiles.

Figures 4 a, b show a cross section of a preferred tool for the manufacture of the reinforcements 18, 20 and the articulated spike 30, as well as the separation of the halves 35 of the tool 50, 52. The arrangement of the reinforcements 18, 20 and of the articulated pin 30, according to the invention, advantageously allows the use of a tool that can be divided, in the middle, into two halves of the tool 50, 52. Figure 4 shows the tool with an articulated spike 30 shaped as a hollow profile. Figure 4b shows, as a variant, the tool for reinforcements 18, 20 designed as a T-support profile and for the articulated spike 40 30.

Figures 5 a, b show a longitudinal section through a preferred construction of the tool 60 (figure 5 a) and a corresponding slide of the tool 62 (figure 5 b) for a design of the articulated spike 30 and the reinforcements 18, 20 with hollow profiles. For the demoulding of the four centers of the profiles, as shown in Figure 4 a, advantageously, only a single corresponding slide of the tool 62 is required, so that the annular center 64 and the centers of the hollow profile They can be demoulded in the same direction. The annular center 64 is necessary when the articulated pin 30 and the annular element 16 overlap, that is, when the front side 36 of the articulated pin 30 protrudes into the annular element 16. Figure 6 shows a section through a Similar wiper bearing 10 with 50 superposition of articulated pin 30 and ring member 16, with tubular plate 40 mounted by sliding. In the crossing area, the tubular plate 40 is stably immobilized between the annular element 16 and the articulated pin 30.

In figures 7 a, b a construction of the tool without annular center is shown. The construction of the tool 70 shows a mold for an articulated spike 30 shorter than in Figure 5 a (Figure 7 a) and a tool center without an annular center (Figure 7 b). Due to this, a sturdy construction of the tool slide is possible and, in addition, the tool and the center of the tool can be cooled in an improved manner. A variant of a similar wiper bearing 10 is shown in Figure 8. A tubular plate 40 is mounted

by sliding on an articulated pin 30 and, at the same time, it is surrounded by an annular element 16. The articulated pin 30 is shorter than in the exemplary embodiment corresponding to Figure 6 and does not protrude within the annular element 30, which It is fixed axially in front of the articulated pin 30.

Figure 9 a, by cross sections through the articulated spike 30 and the 5 reinforcements 18, 20; illustrates a development of the process corresponding to a joining process performed as a crimping process between the articulated spike 30 and the tubular plate 40. The articulated spike 30 and the reinforcements 18, 20; at the beginning of the joining process, they are shown in figure 9 a. In Fig. 9b, the tubular plate 40 slidably mounted on the articulated pin 30 is shown further. Next, on both sides of the articulated pin 30, respectively, a tool part 70, 72 with a pair of dies 74, 76 in the articulated pin 30 (figure 9 c), until the articulated pin 30 is surrounded, surrounded by the tool parts 70, 72 (figure 9 d). This is possible through the special geometry of the windshield wiper bearing and is very advantageous in terms of the quality of the joint between the articulated pin 30 and the tubular plate 40. Next, the pairs of dies 74, 76 are pressed inwards in the tubular plate 40 to 15 achieve a continuous connection between the windshield wiper bearing, as well as between the articulated pin 30 and the tubular plate 40. The pairs of dies 74, 76 move the pipe material in recesses provided therefor in the articulated pin 30 (figure 9 e). Figure 9 f shows the final arrangement after the completion of the joining process. The tubular plate 40, in the joint area (corresponding to the joint area 32 in Figure 1 and Figure 2), is attached in a continuous joint 20 to the articulated pin 30.

Figures 10 a, b show a comparison between sizes of a preferred wiper bearing 10 (figure 10 a) and of a known windshield wiper bearing 80 (figure 10 b). The preferred wiper bearing 10 has an articulated pin 30 which is connected to an inner tube 24 of the windshield wiper bearing 10, so that an introduction of force takes place both on the inner tube 24 and on the shaped bearing housing 12 Like an outer tube The support area 16 of the articulated pin 30 and the support area 28 of the annular element 16, as well as of the element that holds the annular element 16 on the inner tube 24, is preferably concentrically designed to ensure good roundness of both support areas 26, 28. On the contrary, the known wiper bearing 80 30 shows an articulated pin 82 which must be considerably more extensive than in the arrangement according to the invention, correspondingly with a more rigid rigidity. reduced and with increases in tension during charging.

Figure 11 shows a section through a windshield wiper bearing 10, where the annular element is designed as a double ring. The double ring increases the stability 35 of the annular element 16. Also, due to this, a larger clearance is created between the articulated spike 30 and the reinforcements 18, 20; so that when the tubular plate 40 is attached to the articulated pin 30, more space is available for a tool, especially for a crimping tool.

Figure 12 shows a representation of a windshield wiper bearing assembly 10 and 40 of the tubular plate 40. The tubular plate 40 is continuously attached to the articulated pin 30 in the joint area 32. The reinforcements 18, 20 support an annular element 16 surrounding the tubular plate 40. The reinforcements 18, 20 are designed as hollow profiles.

The design of a windshield wiper bearing 10 according to the invention provides a considerable improvement in the rigidity of the components. Figure 13 shows a comparison between the stiffness of the components of a preferred windshield wiper bearing 10 and a second known windshield wiper bearing, with an articulated spindle with a hollow profile and an articulated T-shaped spindle, similar to the embodiment in Figure 10 b .

The known windshield wiper bearing, with articulated T-shaped spindle, has the lowest stiffness of the components, which can be clearly seen in curve C. A known 50 windshield wiper bearing with an articulated spindle with hollow profile shows, namely, an improvement in the stiffness of the components (curve B); The windshield wiper bearing 10 according to the invention is improved by more than one factor in terms of the rigidity of its components. This is due, among other things, to the fact that the distribution of the elastic tension is very uniform here in the articulated pin, while in the case of known windshield wiper bearings 55 local tension elevations take place, as is the result of analyzes carried out carried out using the finite element method (FEM).

Reference List

10 Wiper Bearing

12 Bearing housing

14 Support Area

16 Ring Element

18 Reinforcement 5

20 Reinforcement

24 inner ring

26 Support Area

28 Support Area

30 Articulated spike 10

32 Junction Area

34 Reinforcement

36 Front side

40 Tubular Plate

50 Tool part 15

52 Tool part

54 Tool part

56 Tool part

60 Tool

62 Tool center 20

64 Tool

66 Tool center

70 Tool part

72 Tool part

74 Pair of dies 25

76 Pair of dies

30

Claims (8)

1. Windshield wiper bearing for a windshield wiper system, which has a bearing housing (12) with an external tube that forms the bearing housing (12), an internal tube (24) arranged concentrically with respect to the latter and a pin articulated (30) arranged in a support area (14) in the bearing housing (12) for housing a tubular plate (40), where outside 5 of the articulated pin (30), in the area of its side front (36), an annular element is provided which is arranged coaxially with respect to the articulated pin (30) and which does not have any connection with the bearing housing (12), characterized in that the annular element (16) is arranged axially in front of the articulated pin (30) and is secured to the bearing housing (12) by joining reinforcements (18, 20), through which the articulated pin (30) can be accessed from outside less in a joint area (32). 2. Windshield wiper bearing according to claim 1, characterized in that the articulated pin (30), with the front side (36), protrudes into the annular element (16). 3. Windshield wiper bearing according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the articulated pin (30) is arranged approximately centered 15 with respect to an axial extension of the bearing housing (12). 4. Windshield wiper bearing according to one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the articulated pin (30) is arranged in an offset manner with respect to an axial extension of the bearing housing (12). 5. Windshield wiper bearing according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the articulated pin (30) is attached to the inner tube (24). 6. Windshield wiper bearing according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the articulated pin (30) has a cross section made as a hollow profile. 7. Windshield wiper bearing according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the articulated pin (30) has a cross section made as a double T support. Windshield wiper bearing according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a geometry of the component, between the annular element (16) and the support area (14), can be laterally demoulded during its manufacture. 30 “7 pages of drawings follow”  35  40