IES970944A2 - Vehicle windscreen wiper blade cleaning strip - Google Patents

Abstract

A vehicle windscreen wiper blade cleaning strip comprising a plastics sheet, one side of which is an exposed roughened surface and the other side of which is an adhesive surface. In use the cleaning strip is affixed to a windscreen of a vehicle at a position immediately above the non-operative position of the windscreen wipers, so that in use, the to and fro movement of the windscreen wipers passes the wiper blades over the exposed roughened surface of the cleaning strip to clean the wiper blades. <Fig. 4>

Description

This invention relates to a vehicle windscreen wiper blade cleaning strip and in particular to such a cleaning strip, which is easily affixed to and detached from the vehicle windscreen.

The invention provides a cleaning strip which comprises a sheet member one side of which is an exposed roughened or tufted surface and the other side of which is an adhesive surface which before operative use is protected by a removable backing sheet.

Preferably the sheet member is a plastics sheet with an exposed roughened surface such that in use of the cleaning strip on the windscreen of a vehicle each of the vehicle wiper blades in use passes to and fro over the cleaning strip to effectively clean the wiper blade of dirt and so allow the wiper blade to function properly without causing undue smearing of the windscreen with dirt.

The invention will be understood from the following description of an embodiment thereof given by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which :Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the cleaning strip to an enlarged scale for the sake of clarity; Fig. 2 is an end view of the cleaning strip of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the cleaning strip of Fig. 1 with the backing sheet partially removed; NSPHCTfON '*7 '3HULE 23 β «X w«C Τ’* \**i λ ‘ I pi28704.spc 5970944 Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a vehicle windscreen with the cleaning strip in position on the windscreen; and Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a vehicle windscreen with two spaced apart aligned cleaning strips in position on the windscreen and with the windscreen wipers in operation.

Referring to Fig. 1-3 of the accompanying drawings, the cleaning strip for affixing to the windscreen of a vehicle windscreen comprises a plastics sheet member 10 having a roughened exposed surface 11 the roughened exposed surface 11 being similar to the exposed surface of a VELCRO (Trade Mark) strip or similar to a fabric or moulded plastics tufted surface. The sheet member 10 has an adhesive surface 12 which, prior to use of the cleaning strip, is protected by a conventional removable paper backing sheet 13.

In use, the removable backing sheet 13 is removed and the cleaning strip adhesively affixed to the windscreen 14 of a vehicle 15 - as shown in Fig. 4 - with the cleaning sheet just above the position of the windscreen wipers 16 in a non-operative mode.

In Fig. 5 the windscreen is provided with two spaced apart aligned cleaning strips. The two cleaning strips function in substantially the same manner as a single cleaning strip but in operation the provision of the space 19 between the two cleaning strips facilitates the run off of water from the windscreen particularly in heavy rain conditions. pi28704.ape In a situation where the weather is particularly inclement and road conditions are both wet and muddy, the windscreen of a vehicle can readily become very dirty in a very short period of time. Referring to Fig. 5 of the accompanying drawings, the windscreen wiper blades 16 are shown in an operative mode. The to and fro movement of the wiper blades 16, indicated by the arrows, allows the wiper blades 16 to pass over on each movement the exposed roughened surface 11 of the cleaning strips, the surfaces 11 acting to remove dirt from the wiper blades 16 and prevent any significant smearing of dirt across the windscreen 14 and ensure adequate and safe visibility for the driver. In Fig. 5, the windscreen portion 17 indicates dirt areas not cleaned by the windscreen wiper blades and the windscreen portion 18 is a reasonable clean area kept clean by the windscreen wiper blades 16 which are in turn, kept relatively dirt free by the cleaning strip.

It will be readily appreciated that after some use, it is necessary to replace the cleaning strip.

The cleaning strip is then simply peeled off the windscreen and discarded. The windscreen is cleaned and a new cleaning strip adhesively secured to the vehicle windscreen.

The invention can be readily produced in scrip - form and marketed in fixed length strips or in roll form. The invention has particular application in pI28704.spc S9 70 9 4 4 rally driving where the road conditions encountered are generally poor and in wet conditions, particularly hazardous and dirty.

The invention is not limited to the embodiment 5 described above which may be modified and/or varied without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims (5)

1. A vehicle windscreen wiper blade cleaning strip comprising a sheet member, one side of which is an exposed roughened and/or tufted surface and the other side of which is an adhesive surface which, before operative use, is protected by a removable backing sheet.

2. . A vehicle windscreen wiper blade cleaning strip as claimed in Claim 1 in which the sheet member is a plastics sheet.

3. A vehicle windscreen wiper blade cleaning strip as claimed in Claim 1 or 2, in which the removable backing sheet is a paper backing sheet.

4. A vehicle windscreen wiper blade cleaning strip as claimed in Claim 1 or 2 in which, in use, the cleaning strip is adhesively secured as a single strip or as a plurality of spaced apart substantially aligned strips to the windscreen in a position immediately above the non-operative position of the windscreen wiper.

5. A vehicle windscreen wiper blade cleaning strip substantially as herein described with reference to Figs. 1-3 of the accompanying drawings.