JP2006347221A - Wiper arm - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve an appearance by hiding a boundary between an arm head and a retainer, and reduce wind noise generated from a wiper arm. <P>SOLUTION: A rear end 22A of a retainer 22 covers a retainer supporting part of an arm head fixed to a pivot shaft of a vehicle body, so that there is no boundary between an arm head 18 and the retainer 22 (the boundary is not seen) and the appearance of an wiper arm 10 is good. Also, there is no boundary between the arm head 18 and the retainer 22, so that wind noise of the wiper arm 10 are rarely generated, and quietness in an compartment is improved. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a wiper arm used in a vehicle wiper device for wiping a windshield glass or the like of an automobile.

As a conventional wiper arm, an arm head and a retainer are rotatably coupled by a hinge, and an arm piece is attached to the retainer (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2003-335223 A

  However, as in the conventional example described above, a conventional general wiper arm is composed of an arm head, a retainer, and an arm piece (some of which integrate the retainer and the arm piece), and the wiper blade along the curved glass. In order to press a certain force, the wiper arm can be rotated around the hinge, and the boundary between the arm head and the retainer is exposed. Since there is usually a step or a gap at the boundary, there is a problem that the appearance is not good particularly in a vehicle in which the wiper arm is always exposed. Moreover, the level | step difference and clearance gap in this boundary part have become one of the causes of a wind noise.

  In view of the above-described facts, an object of the present invention is to improve the appearance by making the boundary between the arm head and the retainer invisible and reduce wind noise generated from the wiper arm.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an arm head having a retainer support portion which is fixed to a pivot shaft provided on a vehicle body and is provided upright at a position away from the pivot shaft; A retainer that is pivotally supported so as to be rotatable toward and away from the retainer, and is attached so that a rear end portion covers the retainer support portion in a normal use state, and a base end portion side is integrated with the retainer. The arm piece holding the wiper blade on the distal end side, and one end locked to the base end side of the arm piece and the other end locked to the retainer support side, And a spring biased toward the wiping surface.

  In the wiper arm according to claim 1, since the rear end portion of the retainer is attached to the arm head so as to cover the retainer support portion of the arm head, there is no boundary between the arm head and the retainer ( The boundary is not visible) and the wiper arm looks good.

  Further, since there is no boundary between the arm head and the retainer, wind noise due to the wiper arm is hardly generated, and the quietness in the vehicle interior is improved.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the wiper arm according to the first aspect, the arm head is fixed to the pivot shaft on a lower side of a hood, and the retainer is disposed at the position where the hood does not cover the arm head. It is characterized by being pivotally supported by the retainer support.

  In the wiper arm according to claim 2, the arm head is fixed to the pivot shaft below the hood, and the retainer is pivotally supported by the retainer support portion of the arm head at a position where the hood does not cover. In addition, it is possible to further improve the appearance of the wiper arm while ensuring sufficient.

  As described above, the wiper arm according to the first aspect of the present invention has the excellent effect of improving the appearance of the wiper arm and reducing wind noise generated from the wiper arm.

  According to the wiper arm of the second aspect, it is possible to further improve the appearance of the wiper arm while ensuring sufficient workability.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[First Embodiment]
1 and 2, a wiper arm 10 according to the present embodiment is used in a wiper device for wiping a windshield glass (wiping surface 14) on the front side of a vehicle 12, for example. As shown, the arm head 18, the retainer 22, the arm piece 24, and the spring 26 are provided.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the arm head 18 is fastened and fixed to a pivot shaft (not shown) using a nut 28 below the hood 30 in the vehicle body. A retainer support portion 18A is provided integrally at a position not covered with 30 (FIGS. 3 and 4). A first through hole 18B for passing the first pin 32 that rotatably supports the retainer 22 and a second pin 38 that rotatably supports the mounting shaft 36 of the spring 26 are passed through the retainer support portion 18A. For this purpose, a second through hole 18C is formed.

  The shape of the arm head 18 is not necessarily limited to that shown in the figure, but is a part that reciprocally swings within a certain angular range by the operation of the wiper device. It is necessary not to interfere with other parts such as 16 (FIG. 2). Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, the arm head 18 in the present embodiment is exposed from the hood 30, for example, from the position of the pivot shaft toward the wiping surface 14 and obliquely with respect to the vehicle longitudinal direction. It extends substantially parallel to the cowl louver 16 and substantially straight, and is bent (for example, shaped like a dogleg) or curved in a direction approaching a straight line (not shown) in the vehicle front-rear direction passing through the pivot shaft. A retainer support portion 18A is erected at the end thereof.

  The retainer 22 is pivotally supported by the retainer support portion 18A so as to be rotatable toward and away from the wiping surface 14, and is attached so that the rear end portion 22A covers the retainer support portion 18A in a normal use state. Yes. The retainer 22 is normally used because both side surfaces 22B, the rear end surface 22D, and the upper surface 22E are formed in a wall shape, and the wiping surface 14 side (arm head 18 side) is open. The retainer support 18A can be covered. Note that both the side surfaces 22B, the rear end surface 22D, and the upper surface 22E are all formed in a smooth wall shape without gaps or steps.

  At opposite positions of both side surfaces 22B in the rear end portion 22A of the retainer 22, through holes 22C formed to be approximately the same as or slightly larger than the first through holes 18B of the retainer support portion 18A, respectively. The retainer 22 is formed so that the retainer 22 is put on the retainer support portion 18A of the arm head 18 so that the through hole 22C and the first through hole 18B are aligned on the same line, and the first pin 32 is fitted therein. Thus, the retainer support 18A is rotatably supported. The first pin 32 serves as a rotation center of the retainer 22 when the part from the retainer 22 to the wiper blade 34 in the wiper arm 10 is raised or tilted when the vehicle 12 is cleaned. In order to improve the appearance and reduce the wind noise, the first pin 32 is preferably flush with the both side surfaces 22B of the rear end portion 22A of the retainer 22 and is not visible at all. It is desirable to be in an unexposed state.

  In FIG. 2, the arm piece 24 has a base end 24A side integrated with the retainer 22 and a wiper blade 34 held on the tip end side. 3 and 4, the base end portion 24A of the arm piece 24 is formed with a bent portion 24B which is bent toward the wiping surface 14 side, and the bent portion 24B has one end 36A of the mounting shaft 36. A through hole 24 </ b> C for inserting and supporting is formed. The arm piece 24 and the retainer 22 may be integrated by caulking, bonding, or the like of the retainer 22, or may be an integrally formed product without being limited to an assembled product.

  3 and 4, the spring 26 is, for example, a compression coil spring, and one end 26 </ b> A is locked to the bent portion 24 </ b> B (base end portion 24 </ b> A side) of the arm piece 24 by using the mounting shaft 36 and the washer 42. At the same time, the other end 26 </ b> B is engaged with the retainer support portion 18 </ b> A, and the arm piece 24 is urged toward the wiping surface 14.

  One end 36A of the attachment shaft 36 is rotatably attached to the second through hole 18C of the retainer support portion 18A by a second pin 38, and has a flange portion 36C on the one end 36A side. The other end 36B of the mounting shaft 36 is inserted into the through hole 24C of the bent portion 24B of the arm piece 24, and is prevented from coming out of the through hole 24C by caulking the other end 36B or an E ring (not shown). (In the example shown in the figure, the removal is prevented by caulking). The spring 26 is attached between the flange portion 36C of the attachment shaft 36 and the bent portion 24B of the arm piece 24. For example, a washer 42 is disposed between the one end 26A of the spring 26 and the bent portion 24B. It is.

The portion from the retainer 22 to the wiper blade 34 in the wiper arm 10 is in a collapsed state during normal use, that is, the wiper blade 34 is urged toward and in contact with the wiping surface 14. However, the bias of the spring 26 in the direction of tilting is continued up to a certain angle, but at a certain angle (the center of the first pin 32, the center of the second pin 38, and the mounting shaft 36). If it occurs until it exceeds the angle at which the other end 36B is aligned with the other end 36B, the spring 26 is generally in a self-supporting state. The positional relationship between the first pin 32, the second pin 38, and the through hole 24C, and the specifications of the spring 26 are determined in consideration of the function of the wiper arm 10, and are not limited to those illustrated.
(Function)
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in the wiper arm 10 according to the present embodiment, the rear end portion 22 </ b> A of the retainer 22 is attached to the arm head 18 so as to cover the retainer support portion 18 </ b> A of the arm head 18. Therefore, there is no boundary between the arm head 18 and the retainer 22 (the boundary cannot be seen), and the wiper arm 10 looks good. Since the arm head 18 is fixed to the pivot shaft below the hood 30, the portion of the pivot shaft is hidden behind the hood 30 so that the appearance of the wiper arm 10 is further improved. Further, since there is no boundary between the arm head 18 and the retainer 22, wind noise due to the wiper arm 10 is hardly generated, and the quietness in the vehicle interior is improved.

  Since the retainer 22 is pivotally supported by the retainer support portion 18A of the arm head 18 at a position where the hood 30 is not covered, sufficient workability is ensured when the wiper blade 34 is replaced or when the wiping surface 14 is cleaned. ing. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, when it is necessary to stand the wiper arm 10 from the retainer 22, if the retainer 22, the arm piece 24 or the wiper blade 34 is gripped and stood to a certain angle, the spring 26 The portion beyond the retainer 22 is self-supporting due to the urging force. As a result, the wiping surface 14 hidden under the wiper blade 34 appears, so that the wiping surface 14 can be easily cleaned and the wiper blade 34 can be easily replaced or inspected. If the retainer 22 is tilted toward the wiping surface 14, the wiper blade 34 is again urged by the spring 26 and pressed against the wiping surface 14.

In FIG. 6, when the wiper arm 10 is operated in rainy weather or the like, the wiper arm 10 reciprocally swings in the arrow A direction and the arrow B direction within a certain range around the pivot shaft, and is wiped by the wiper blade 34. Moisture and dirt on the wiping surface 14 are wiped off. Since there is no boundary at the rear end 22A of the retainer 22 and it is difficult for wind noise to occur, there is no periodic wind noise fluctuation, and the quietness in the passenger compartment is high even when the wiper arm 10 reciprocates.
[Second Embodiment]
7 and 8, the wiper arm 20 according to the present embodiment has a spring 26 as a tension coil spring. The structure of the retainer 22 and the state of attachment of the retainer 22 to the arm head 18 are the same as those of the first embodiment. It is the same. One end 26A of the spring 26 is locked to a locking portion 44B positioned at the base end portion 44A of the arm piece 44, and the other end 26B is hooked on a locking pin 40 provided on the retainer support portion 18A, for example. The arm piece 44 is locked via the member 46 and biases the arm piece 44 toward the wiping surface 14.

  In addition, although the latching state of the spring 26 is not limited to the illustrated one, the wiper blade 34 is urged toward the wiping surface 14 and is in contact with the wiping surface 14 during normal use, as in the first embodiment. When trying to raise the tip of the retainer 22, the bias of the spring 26 in the direction of tilting is maintained until a certain angle, and a certain angle (the center of the first pin 32 and the center of the locking pin 40 is maintained). And the center of the locking portion 44B is desirably aligned so as to be self-supported by the urging force of the spring 26.

  The wiper arm 20 according to the present embodiment does not require the mounting shaft 36 (FIG. 3) used in the wiper arm 10 according to the first embodiment, and can be manufactured to be lighter and less expensive than the first embodiment. Is possible.

  Since other parts and operations are the same as those in the first embodiment, the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted.

1 to 6 relate to a first embodiment, and FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a vehicle to which a wiper arm is attached. It is a perspective view which expands and shows the wiper arm in vehicles. It is a fragmentary sectional view which shows the attachment state of the spring in a retainer. It is a disassembled perspective view of a wiper arm. It is a perspective view which shows the state which stood the front part from the retainer of the wiper arm. It is a perspective view which shows the state which the wiper arm act | operates and the wiping surface is wiped off. 7 and 8 relate to the second embodiment, and FIG. 7 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a mounting state of the spring in the retainer. It is a disassembled perspective view of a wiper arm.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Wiper arm 14 Wiping surface 18 Arm head 18A Retainer support part 20 Wiper arm 22 Retainer 22A Rear end part 24 Arm piece 24A Base end part 26 Spring 26A One end 26B Other end 30 Hood 34 Wiper blade 44 Arm piece

Claims (2)

An arm head fixed to a pivot shaft provided on the vehicle body and having a retainer support portion erected upward at a position away from the pivot shaft;
A retainer that is pivotally supported by the retainer support portion so as to be rotatable toward and away from the wiping surface, and is attached so that a rear end portion covers the retainer support portion in a normal use state;
An arm piece having a base end side integrated with the retainer and holding a wiper blade on the tip end side;
One end is locked to the base end side of the arm piece, the other end is locked to the retainer support portion side, and a spring that biases the arm piece toward the wiping surface;
A wiper arm characterized by comprising: The arm head is fixed to the pivot shaft below the hood,
The wiper arm according to claim 1, wherein the retainer is pivotally supported by the retainer support portion of the arm head at a position where the hood does not cover.

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