FR2786449A1 - Connector, for windscreen wiper arm to wiper blade carrier, has side panels with shaped inner face to mate with different sized wiper arm end hooks. - Google Patents

Abstract

The connector (10) fits on to the hooked end (28) of the windscreen wiper arm (30). The connector is formed from two parallel vertical side pieces (12) which have inner faces (16) shaped to cooperate with the parallel side edges of the hooked end. A support body (26) fits between the two side plates and carries the location housings (64,72) for the horizontal axis pin (62). The side plates carry sections of increased thickness (50, 56) to allow for the use of various sizes of wiper arm.

Description

 The present invention relates to a connecting piece, also called a connector, used to connect the end of a wiper arm to an element of a support structure of the wiper blade of the wiper blade.

 The invention relates more particularly to a connector for connecting the U-shaped hook end of the wiper arm to a hinge pin which extends for example transversely between two parallel lateral wings of the support element of the wiping blade, the latter being for example produced in the form of a main articulation stirrup.

 There is known a design of such a connector of the type comprising two parallel vertical lateral cheeks whose internal faces facing each other are provided to cooperate with the parallel lateral edges of the end hook of the wiper arm, of the type in which the two parallel cheeks are connected transversely to each other by a bearing body delimiting a bearing housing in which the articulation axis can be introduced radially and of which a portion of convex external cylindrical surface oriented towards the front of the connector can be received in the concave bottom of the U-shaped hook at the end of a first wiper arm, and of the type comprising a second portion of convex cylindrical surface which is capable of being received in the concave bottom of the hook U-shaped end of a second wiper arm and which is formed on a cross section which extends at least partially between the internal faces of the parallel cheeks s and which is offset longitudinally relative to the central bearing body so as to allow the mounting of at least a second wiper arm of dimensions different from that of the first arm.

 This type of connector part is satisfactory and it makes it possible in particular to very simply mount a wiper blade on the end of the wiper arm.

 The main part of the body of the wiper arm and its hook-shaped end portion are produced in the form of a folded bar of rectangular section, of constant thickness and the width of which corresponds substantially to the distance separating the internal faces of the parallel cheeks.

 Such a design of a connector also makes it possible to mount, using the same connector, a wiper blade on wiper arms of different dimensions and in particular when the thickness of the arm varies from one arm to arm, this variation in thickness resulting in a modification of the radius of curvature of the U-shaped hook.

 This design therefore makes it possible to have a connection connector adapted to the dimensions of the end of the wiper arm, this solution avoiding an increase in the number of references in stock at the wiper manufacturers and possible errors during assembly operations.

 The present invention aims to provide a connector which allows the mounting of a wiper blade on at least two wiper arms of different widths.

 To this end, the invention provides a connector of the type mentioned above, characterized in that the internal face of at least one lateral cheek comprises, at least in the zone located longitudinally between the bearing body and the cross section, a extra thickness so as to allow the mounting of a second wiper arm whose transverse width is greater than that of the first wiper arm.

According to other characteristics of the invention:
the central bearing body is delimited by a flat horizontal upper face capable of cooperating with a portion facing the lower face of the body of the first wiper arm;
the extra thickness extends along the upper face to cooperate with the parallel lateral edges of the hook end body of the first wiper arm;
the extra thickness is delimited vertically upwards by a horizontal upper face to cooperate with a portion facing the lower face of the body of the second wiper arm;
the cross section is offset longitudinally towards the front of the connector with respect to the central bearing body;
the radius of curvature of the two cylindrical surfaces are identical for mounting a first and a second wiper arm of the same thickness;
the radius of curvature of the two cylindrical surfaces are different for mounting a second wiper arm whose thickness is greater than that of the first wiper arm;
the central bearing body comprises another (third) portion of convex external cylindrical surface oriented towards the rear of the connector and which can be received in the concave bottom of the U-shaped hook of the end of a third wiper arm -windows of dimensions different from those of the first and second wiper arms;
the central bearing body comprises, near its cylindrical end, a bearing housing which can receive a hinge pin of the first or second wiper arm and, near its rear cylindrical end, another bearing housing which can receive a hinge pin of the third wiper arm;
the bearing housing is open vertically downward to allow the radial introduction of a hinge pin into the housing;
the longitudinal end of the connector comprises a stop which extends transversely at least partially between the parallel cheeks (12) and opposite the convex external surface of the hook-shaped end of a wiper arm ;
the connector has a design symmetry with respect to a vertical and longitudinal median plane;
the connector is produced by molding in material;
the two parallel cheeks each have a slot opening on the one hand into a lower longitudinal edge of the cheek and, on the other hand, into the bearing housing;
Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear on reading the detailed description which follows for the understanding of which reference will be made to the appended drawing in which
FIG. 1 is a half-view in perspective on a large scale and in longitudinal section along line 1-1 of FIG. 2 of a connector produced in accordance with the teachings of the invention and which is illustrated in association with an arm d 'wiper and a hinge pin;
FIG. 2 is a top view on a large scale of the connector shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a view in longitudinal section along line 11 of FIG. 2;
FIGS. 4 and 5,6 and 7 as well as FIGS. 8 and 9 are views similar to those of FIGS. 2 and 3 which illustrate the possibilities of mounting three wiper arms of different dimensions using the connector according to the invention shown in Figures 1 to 3; and
FIG. 10 is a view similar to that of FIG. 3 which illustrates an alternative embodiment of a connector produced in accordance with the teachings of the invention.

 The connector 10 illustrated in the figures has a general symmetry of design with respect to a median longitudinal vertical plane when considering Figures 1 and 3, the trace of which is represented by line 1-1 of Figure 2.

 In the following description, in order to facilitate understanding of the description and the claims, the terms "vertical", "horizontal", "upper", "lower", etc. will be used. without limitation and in particular with reference to the figures.

 Identical, similar or analogous components will be designated by the same reference numerals.

 The connector 10 is a plastic molded part which is essentially constituted by two parallel lateral cheeks 12 in the form of a vertical plate of longitudinal orientation each of which has an external face 14, an internal face 16, an upper longitudinal edge 18 , a horizontal and parallel lower longitudinal edge 20, a convex circular front edge 22 and a convex rear circular edge 24.

 The two lateral cheeks 12 are connected together by a bearing body 26 produced integrally by molding with the cheeks 12, which extends transversely between the internal faces 16 of the cheeks 12.

 According to a known design, the bearing body 26 is designed to be received inside the front end 28 in the form of a U-shaped hook of a wiper arm 30.

The body 32 of the wiper arm 30, as well as its front end portion 28 in the form of a U-shaped hook, are produced in a single piece in the form of a bar of rectangular section folded in
U. The bar is in particular a folded metal bar and the hook 28 comprises a curved concave semi-cylindrical bottom 34 which, when placed on the connector 10, cooperates with a portion of convex cylindrical surface complementary to the latter.

 The main functional dimensions of the arm 30 are its transverse width L and the thickness E of the bar in which it is made, the thickness E determining, after folding, the radius of curvature of the U-shaped hook 28, that is to say in particular, say the radius of curvature of its semi-cylindrical concave surface 34.

 In the mounted position, and in order to avoid displacements in the transverse direction of the wiper arm 30 relative to the connector 10, the parallel and opposite lateral edges, of vertical and longitudinal orientation, 36 of the folded bar must be received between portions of internal surfaces facing the cheeks 12 of the connector 10.

 In accordance with the teachings of the invention, the purpose of the connector 10 is to allow the mounting, using the same connector 10, of wiper arms of different dimensions and more particularly of different widths L.

 In the exemplary embodiments illustrated in the figures, the connector 10 allows mounting to the three wiper arms of different dimensions and in particular of wiper arms having two different widths L or two different thicknesses E.

 These three arms will be designated by the same reference numbers as those used previously, increased by 100,200 and 300 respectively.

 For the mounting of a first wiper arm 130 of small width and thickness, for example for which L = 8 mm and E = 3 mm, the bearing body 26 is delimited longitudinally towards the front by a first convex cylindrical surface 138 oriented longitudinally forward and whose radius of curvature corresponds to that of the concave internal cylindrical surface 134 of the wiper arm 130.

 The first convex cylindrical surface 138 is extended by an upper horizontal face 40 of the bearing body 26 and by a horizontal lower face stepped at three levels 242, 142 and 342.

 The vertical distance separating the faces 40 and 142 is substantially equal to the vertical distance separating the lower face 144 of the body 132 of the upper face 146 of the horizontal lower branch 148 of the U-shaped hook end 128 of the arm of wiper.

 In order to retain longitudinally, from back to front, the wiper arm 130 in the position mounted on the connector 10, each of the side cheeks 12 has a cross-section portion 50 which extends transversely inward, which in cross section, is generally in the form of a lunula and which is delimited longitudinally towards the rear by a concave cylindrical surface oriented towards the rear 152 which extends opposite the first cylindrical surface 138 and is coaxial with the latter so to cooperate with the portion facing the external convex surface 154 of the U-shaped hook end portion 128 of the wiper arm 130.

 The fact that the cross-member sections 50 are carried by the side cheeks 12 and offset longitudinally forward with respect to the bearing body 26 allows the mounting of the wiper arm by elastically deforming the cheeks 12 by spreading them transversely towards the outside in relation to each other.

 In accordance with the teachings of the invention, and in order to ensure the lateral retention of the first wiper arm 130 of reduced width relative to the connector 10, each of the lateral cheeks 12 has on its internal face 16, an additional thickness 56 of shape substantially homologous with that of the cheeks 12 and of the central bearing body 56 which extends transversely inwards over a small thickness and which extends on the one hand longitudinally between the parallel cylindrical surfaces and facing each other 138 and 152 and above the upper face 40 towards the rear.

 Thus, each additional thickness 56 delimits an internal face 58 parallel to the internal face 16 and a longitudinal upper face or edge of horizontal orientation 60 parallel to the upper face 40 of the central bearing body 26.

 Thus, as can be seen in particular in FIG. 4, in the mounted position of the first wiper arm 130, its parallel lateral edges 136 are guided transversely between the internal faces opposite 58 of the two extra thicknesses 56.

 In line with the intermediate portion 142 of the stepped underside of the bearing body 26, there is also provided an extra thickness 56, 58 so as to laterally hold the lower branch 148 of the hook-shaped end 128 of the first arm. wiper 130 as shown in Figure 5.

 According to a general known design for a connector of this type, in order to allow mounting in a radial direction of the connector 10 on a rod-shaped axis 62 of articulation of the wiper arm 130 on a wiper blade. glass (not shown) which carries the rod 62 of transverse geometric axis A, the bearing body 26 comprises a first bearing housing 64 which opens vertically downwards into the lower face 242, the rod-shaped axis 62 being able to be introduced radially, that is to say here vertically from bottom to top in the housing 64, by virtue of V-shaped slots 66 and 68 formed respectively in the cheeks 12 and the bearing body 26.

The second wiper arm 230 illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7, the same connector 10 of which allows mounting, is an arm with the same thickness E = 3 mm as that of the first arm 130, but the width of which
L is greater and is here for example equal to 9 mm.

 For mounting the second arm 230, the connector 10 comprises a second convex cylindrical surface, oriented longitudinally towards the front, which is here constituted by two surface portions 238, formed on the cross-section sections 50, which are received at the inside the concave cylindrical surface 234 of the U-shaped front end 228 of the wiper arm 230.

 The wiper arm 230 is retained longitudinally in the mounted position relative to the connector 10 by virtue of two cross sections 70 which extend transversely inwards from the internal faces 16 of the cheeks 12 and which delimit a cylindrical surface concave internal abutment 252 which extends opposite the convex cylindrical surface 254 of the wiper arm 230.

 So that the second wiper arm 230 is held laterally inside the connector 10, its parallel lateral edges 236 are received transversely between the portions facing the internal faces 16 of the lateral cheeks 12 which are spaced by a distance substantially equal to the large width of the second wiper arm 230.

 The connector 10 and the second wiper arm 230 use here the same bearing housing 64 as for mounting the first wiper arm 130.

 The connector 10 is held vertically inside the U-shaped hook end 228 of the wiper arm 230 by the horizontal and parallel upper faces 60 of the extra thicknesses 56 and by the lower face portion 242 of the body. level 26.

 The third wiper arm 330, the mounting of which is permitted by means of the connector 10, is a wiper arm of large width L, that is to say for example equal to 4 mm, like the second arm of large width 230, and whose thickness E is greater than that of the first and second wiper arms 130 and 230, that is to say that it is for example equal to 4 mm.

 Due to the upper thickness of the third arm 330, the radius of curvature of its U-shaped hook end 328 is greater.

 It is therefore necessary to provide on the connector 10 a third convex cylindrical surface 338 intended to be received in a complementary manner in the internal concave cylindrical surface 334 of the third wiper arm 330.

 The third cylindrical surface 338 is here formed directly on the bearing body 26 and is oriented longitudinally towards the rear, that is to say that it is formed opposite the first convex cylindrical surface 138.

 The dimensions of the bearing body 26 are such that the convex cylindrical surface 338 is extended by the lower face part 342 and by the horizontal upper faces 60 of the extra thicknesses 58 so that, after turning the connector 10 around 180 around the vertical direction , the bearing body 26 is received longitudinally inside the U-shaped hook of the third wiper arm 330.

 To allow the mounting of an articulation rod, the bearing body 26 comprises, in the vicinity of its rear longitudinal end, another bearing housing 72 in which an axis rod can be inserted radially by means of slots 74 and 76 formed respectively in the side cheeks 12 and in the bearing body 26.

 In order to retain the connector 10 longitudinally relative to the third wiper arm 330, the internal faces 16 of the cheeks 12 each comprise a section of abutment cross member 80 each of which delimits an internal concave cylindrical surface of abutment 352 which cooperates with the external convex cylindrical surface 354 of the U-shaped hook end 328 of the third wiper arm 330.

 The connector 10 is held vertically relative to the wiper arm 330 because the upper edges 60 of the extra thicknesses 56 and the portion 342 of the lower face of the bearing body 26 are received respectively between the opposite faces 344 and 346 of the end 328 in the form of a U-shaped hook of the third wiper arm 330.

 In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 9, the geometric axis B of the bearing housing 72 is offset vertically downward relative to the axis A of the front bearing housing 64.

 As can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 3, the stop cross-member sections 80 have an upper notch 82 to further improve the vertical support of the lower face 144 of the body 132 of the first wiper arm 130 as can be see it in figure 5.

 The upper edge 84 of the stop sections 80 acts as a vertical support for the portion opposite the lower face 244 of the second wiper arm 230 as can be seen in FIG. 7.

 In the alternative embodiment illustrated in FIG. 10, the axes A and B of the front 64 and rear 72 bearing housings are aligned vertically so that, in the mounted position of the third wiper arm, the curved lower branch of the hook U-shaped does not vertically protrude from the lower longitudinal edges 20 of the cheeks 12.

 Without departing from the scope of the invention, it is also possible to provide a third intermediate bearing housing between the front and rear housings in order to allow other combinations of mounting three wiper arms of different dimensions by means of '' a single connector.

Claims (14)

 1. Connector for connecting the U-shaped hook end (128,228,328) of a wiper arm (130,230,330) to a horizontal hinge pin (62), in particular belonging to a support structure element the wiper blade of a wiper blade, of the type comprising two parallel vertical lateral cheeks (12) whose internal faces (16) facing each other are provided to cooperate with the parallel lateral edges (136,236,336 ) of the end hook of the wiper arm, of the type in which the two parallel cheeks are connected transversely to each other by a bearing body (26) delimiting a bearing housing (64,72) in which the axis articulation (62) can be introduced radially and a portion of which is a convex external cylindrical surface (138) oriented towards the front of the connector can be received in the concave bottom (134) of the U-shaped hook (128) of the end a first wiper arm (130), and of the type comprising a second portion of convex cylindrical surface (238) which can be received in the concave bottom (234) of the U-hook (228) of the end of a second wiper arm (230) and which is formed on a cross section (50) which extends at least partially between the internal faces (16) of the parallel cheeks (12) and which is offset longitudinally relative to the central bearing body (26) so as to allow the mounting of '' at least one second wiper arm (230) of dimensions (E, L) different from that of the first arm (130), characterized in that the internal face (16) of at least one lateral cheek (12 ) comprises, at least in the zone situated longitudinally between the bearing body (26) and the cross section (50), an extra thickness (56) so as to allow the mounting of a second wiper arm (230 ) whose transverse width (L) is greater than that of the first wiper arm (130).  2. Connector according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the central bearing body (26) is delimited by a horizontal planar upper face (40) capable of cooperating with a portion opposite the lower face (144) of the body (132) of the first wiper arm (130).  3. Connector according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the additional thickness (56) extends along the upper face (40) to cooperate with the parallel lateral edges (136) of the end hook body (128) of the first wiper arm (130).  4. Connector according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the additional thickness (56) is delimited vertically upwards by a horizontal upper face (60) to cooperate with a portion opposite the lower face (244) of the body (232) of the second wiper arm (230).  5. Connector according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the cross section (50) is offset longitudinally towards the front of the connector relative to the central bearing body (26).  6. Connector according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the radius of curvature of the two cylindrical surfaces (138,238) are identical for the mounting of a first (130) and a second (230) arm of wiper of the same thickness (E).  7. A connector according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the radius of curvature of the two cylindrical surfaces are different for mounting a second wiper arm whose thickness is greater than that of first wiper arm.  8. Connector according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the central bearing body (26) comprises another portion of convex external cylindrical surface (338) oriented towards the rear of the connector (10) and which can be received in the concave bottom (334) of the U-shaped hook of the end of a third wiper arm (330) of dimensions (L, E) different from those of the first (130) and second (230) arms wiper.  9. Connector according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the central bearing body (26) comprises, in the vicinity of its cylindrical end (138), a bearing housing (64) which can receive a hinge pin of the first or of the second wiper arm (130, 230) and, in the vicinity of its cylindrical rear end (338), another bearing housing (72) which can receive a hinge pin of the third wiper arm (330).  10. Connector according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the bearing housing (64,72) is open vertically downward to allow the radial introduction of a hinge pin into the housing.  11. Connector according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the longitudinal end (22,24) of the connector (10) comprises a stop (50,70,80) which extends transversely at least partially between the parallel cheeks (12) and facing the convex external surface (154,254,354) of the hook-shaped end (128,228,328) of a wiper arm.  12. Connector according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it has a symmetry of design with respect to a vertical and longitudinal median plane.  13. Connector according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is produced by plastic molding.  14. Connector according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the two parallel cheeks (12) each have a slot (66,74) opening on the one hand into a lower longitudinal edge (20) of the cheek (12 ) and, on the other hand, in the bearing housing (64,72).