JP2022091387A - Wiper arm - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a wiper arm capable of suppressing a coil spring's coming off of a guide pin even when the guide pin is rotated excessively via a retainer.SOLUTION: A wiper arm 11 includes: a retainer 12 capable of fitting a wiper blade on an end side; an arm head 14 rotatably supporting a base end side of the retainer 12; a coil spring 27 capable of energizing the retainer 12 in the rotatable direction; and a guide pin 22 whose base end side is rotatably supported by the arm head 14 in the state that it is inserted in the coil spring 27, and whose end side is supported by the retainer 12 and is rotated as the retainer 12 rotates. The guide pin 22 is provided with: a body part 25 inserted in the coil spring 27; and a protrusion part 26 which protrudes from the body part 25 in the direction crossing the direction in which the body part 25 extends, and limits a rotation range of the guide pin 22 by contacting the arm head 14. The protrusion part 26 is lower in rigidity than the body part 25.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

The present invention relates to a wiper arm provided in a wiper device such as a vehicle.

Generally, this type of wiper arm is between a retainer to which a wiper blade in contact with a wiping surface such as the windshield of a vehicle is connected, an arm head to which the retainer is rotatably connected, and between the retainer and the arm head. It is provided with a coil spring to be interposed and a guide pin rotatably connected to the arm head while being inserted into the coil spring.

Such a wiper arm is usually used in such a manner that the retainer and the arm head are substantially linear. Then, the wiper arm is put into a so-called lockback state in which the retainer is rotated with respect to the arm head so that the wiper blade separates from the wiper surface and the retainer stands, for example, when cleaning the wiper surface described above. There are times.

In this case, the retainer touches the arm head at the position where the wiper arm is in the lockback state so that the rotation angle of the retainer with respect to the arm head in the lockback state is kept constant, and the retainer is further in contact with the arm head. It is necessary to provide a regulation part that regulates the rotation of the. However, if the retainer is provided with a regulating portion, there is a problem that the processability of the retainer deteriorates and the retainer becomes large.

Therefore, conventionally, in order to solve such a problem, for example, a wiper arm as shown in Patent Document 1 has been proposed. In the wiper arm of Patent Document 1, the guide pin that rotates together with the retainer comes into contact with the arm head at the position where the wiper arm is in the lockback state, so that the retainer rotates further with respect to the arm head via the guide pin. The arm head is provided with a raised portion (regulating portion) that regulates.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2008-80862

By the way, in the wiper arm of Patent Document 1, the guide pin is in contact with the raised portion of the arm head in the locked back state. Therefore, when an excessive force is applied to the retainer in the direction of rotation beyond the lockback state, the force also acts on the guide pin via the retainer. Therefore, the force may deform the entire guide pin and cause the coil spring to come off from the guide pin.

Hereinafter, means for solving the above problems and their actions and effects will be described.
The wiper arm that solves the above problems includes a retainer to which a wiper blade can be attached to the tip side, an arm head that rotatably supports the base end side of the retainer, and a coil spring that can urge the retainer in the rotational direction. A guide pin whose base end side is rotatably supported by the arm head and whose tip end side is rotatably supported by the retainer while being inserted through the coil spring, and which is rotated with the rotation of the retainer. The guide pin projects in a direction intersecting the main body portion inserted into the coil spring and the extending direction of the main body portion from the main body portion, and comes into contact with the arm head to rotate the guide pin. The gist is that the projecting portion includes a projecting portion that limits the range, and the projecting portion has a lower rigidity than the main body portion.

According to this configuration, when the retainer is rotated with respect to the arm head in order to put the wiper arm in the lockback state, the retainer is restricted from rotating by the contact of the protrusion of the guide pin with the arm head. Rotation with respect to the arm head is restricted. Therefore, the retainer is held in a standing state (a state in which the wiper arm is locked back). If the retainer is excessively rotated from this state against the restriction of rotation of the retainer with respect to the arm head by the guide pin, the protruding portion of the guide pin is pressed against the arm head and deformed. However, since the main body of the guide pin has higher rigidity than the protruding portion, the protruding portion is deformed and hardly deformed. Therefore, even when the guide pin is excessively rotated via the retainer, it is possible to suppress the deformation of the main body of the guide pin, so that the coil spring can be prevented from coming off from the guide pin.

In the wiper arm, it is preferable that the guide pin is formed of a plate material and the protrusion is formed by bending a part of the plate material.
According to this configuration, a guide pin can be manufactured only by cutting a plate material into a predetermined shape and then bending a part of the plate material to form a protruding portion. Therefore, the guide pin can be easily manufactured.

In the wiper arm, it is preferable that the protruding portion protrudes in the thickness direction of the main body portion.
According to this configuration, since the protruding portion and the main body portion form a right angle, the protruding portion can be easily brought into surface contact with the arm head.

According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the coil spring from coming off from the guide pin even when the guide pin is excessively rotated via the retainer.

A side view of the wiper arm of one embodiment. Sectional drawing which shows the main part of the wiper arm in a normal state. The perspective view which shows the main part of the wiper arm in a normal state. The perspective view which shows the positional relationship between an arm head and a guide pin in a normal state. Perspective view of the guide pin. Sectional drawing which shows the main part of the wiper arm in the lockback state. The perspective view which shows the main part of the wiper arm in the lockback state. The perspective view which shows the positional relationship between an arm head and a guide pin in a lockback state. The perspective view which shows the state when a guide pin is rotated excessively with respect to an arm head.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the wiper arm will be described with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1, the wiper arm 11 is made of metal and is provided in the wiper device of the vehicle. The wiper arm 11 includes a retainer 12 extending substantially linearly, and an arm head 14 that rotatably supports the base end side of the retainer 12 via the first shaft 13. The base end side of the retainer 12 is connected to the tip end side of the arm head 14, and the base end side is connected to a pivot shaft (not shown) provided on the vehicle side. A wiper blade 15 for wiping the wiping surface F such as the windshield of the vehicle can be attached to the tip end side of the retainer 12.

The state of the wiper arm 11 when the wiper blade 15 is in contact with the wiper surface F and the wiper surface F is wiped is in a normal state. In the normal state of the wiper arm 11 in the present embodiment, as an example, the angle of the retainer 12 with respect to the arm head 14 is about 180 °. That is, the state in which the retainer 12 is in the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 1 is the normal state of the wiper arm 11.

On the other hand, the state of the wiper arm 11 when the retainer 12 is rotated with respect to the arm head 14 so that the wiper blade 15 is separated from the wiping surface F and the retainer 12 stands is a lockback state. In the locked back state of the wiper arm 11 in the present embodiment, as an example, the angle of the retainer 12 with respect to the arm head 14 is about 135 °. That is, the state in which the retainer 12 is in the position indicated by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 1 is the locked back state of the wiper arm 11.

In the following description, the upper side of the wiper arm 11 in the normal state in FIG. 1 is the front side, the lower side of the wiper arm 11 in the normal state in FIG. 1 is the back side, and the longitudinal direction of the wiper arm 11 in the normal state in FIG. 1 is the X direction. The width direction of the wiper arm 11 orthogonal to the paper surface in FIG. 1 is the Y direction, and the vertical direction in FIG. 1 is the Z direction. The X, Y, and Z directions are orthogonal to each other.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the retainer 12 includes a pair of side plates 16 that face each other in the Y direction and form a band, and a band-shaped bottom plate 17 that connects the long sides of the front sides of the pair of side plates 16. ing. That is, the retainer 12 has a substantially U-shape in cross section with the back side and both sides in the X direction open. A first shaft hole 18 through which an intermediate portion of the first shaft 13 is rotatably inserted is formed in the tip end portion of the arm head 14 so as to penetrate in the Y direction.

The tip of the arm head 14 is sandwiched by the base ends of the pair of side plates 16 of the retainer 12 so that the first shaft hole 18 is covered. An intermediate portion of the first shaft 13 is rotatably inserted into the first shaft hole 18, and both ends thereof are fixed to the base ends of a pair of side plates 16 of the retainer 12. Therefore, the retainer 12 is rotatably supported by the arm head 14 via the first shaft 13.

As shown in FIG. 4, a slit 19 extending in the Z direction is formed on the tip side of the tip portion of the arm head 14 in the X direction with respect to the first shaft hole 18. The slit 19 is located at the center of the tip of the arm head 14 in the Y direction, and extends from the front side to the back side of the arm head 14. Therefore, the tip surface of the arm head 14 is divided by the slit 19 at the central portion in the Y direction.

A block-shaped extension extending slightly toward the back side (lower side in FIG. 4) of the slit 19 on the front end surface of the arm head 14 toward the front side (upper side in FIG. 4) and half of the slit 19 on both sides in the Y direction. A unit 20 is provided. The extending portion 20 is slightly inclined to the back side with respect to the X direction and extends. Between the first shaft hole 18 at the tip of the arm head 14 and the extending portion 20, a second shaft hole 21 that communicates the inside of the slit 19 and both side surfaces of the arm head 14 in the Y direction extends in the Y direction. It is provided as such.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a base end portion of a guide pin 22 formed of a metal plate and extending in the X direction is inserted in the slit 19. The guide pin 22 is arranged so that the thickness direction coincides with the Y direction. An insertion hole 23 that penetrates the base end portion of the guide pin 22 in the Y direction is formed at the base end portion. The central portion of the second shaft 24 extending in the Y direction is rotatably inserted into the insertion hole 23. Both ends of the second shaft 24 are non-rotatably inserted into the two second shaft holes 21 of the arm head 14. Therefore, the guide pin 22 is rotatably supported by the arm head 14 on the proximal end side via the second shaft 24.

The guide pin 22 includes a main body portion 25 extending in the X direction and a protruding portion 26 protruding in the Y direction, which is a direction intersecting (orthogonal) with the X direction from the base end portion of the main body portion 25. The protruding portion 26 has a rectangular shape, and by bending a part of the base end portion of the main body portion 25 made of a metal plate material at a right angle, the thickness direction of the main body portion 25 from the base end portion is Y. It is formed so as to protrude in the direction. In this case, the width B of the protruding portion 26 is set to be narrower than the width A of the main body portion 25. That is, the protruding portion 26 has a lower rigidity than the main body portion 25. That is, when the guide pin 22 receives an external force, the protruding portion 26 is more easily deformed than the main body portion 25.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the main body 25 of the guide pin 22 is supported by a support 28 formed inside the retainer 12 with its tip end side inserted through the coil spring 27. The support portion 28 includes a support plate 29 and a round bar-shaped support pin 30 erected between the pair of side plates 16. A part of the support plate 29 on the bottom plate 17 side is bent at a right angle and connected to the inner surface of the bottom plate 17, and both ends in the Y direction are in contact with the inner surface of the pair of side plates 16.

A notch recess 31 extending in the Z direction is formed in the central portion of the support plate 29 in the Y direction. The tip of the main body 25 of the guide pin 22 is inserted into the notch recess 31 so as to penetrate in the X direction. The tip of the main body 25 of the guide pin 22 becomes narrower toward the tip. The coil spring 27 is arranged in a compressed state between the step portion 32 formed at the base end portion of the main body portion 25 of the guide pin 22 and the support plate 29.

The portion of the tip of the main body 25 of the guide pin 22 that penetrates the notch recess 31 of the support plate 29 is engaged with the support pin 30 from the front side. Therefore, the tip of the main body 25 of the guide pin 22 is restricted from moving in the Y direction by both sides of the notch recess 31, and the movement in the Z direction is restricted by the bottom of the notch recess 31 and the support pin 30. .. In the normal state of the wiper arm 11, the guide pin 22 and the coil spring 27 are completely housed inside the retainer 12.

The guide pin 22 is rotated around the second shaft 24 as the rotation center of the first shaft 13 of the retainer 12 is rotated. That is, the guide pin 22 is rotated in conjunction with the rotation of the retainer 12. In this case, when rotating the retainer 12, the coil spring 27 urges the retainer 12 in the direction of rotation.

That is, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, in the coil spring 27, when the angle of the retainer 12 with respect to the arm head 14 is equal to or larger than a predetermined angle, the wiper blade 15 in the rotation direction of the retainer 12 becomes a wiping surface F. It is urged in the approaching direction (the direction in which the wiper arm 11 is in the normal state). On the other hand, in the coil spring 27, when the angle of the retainer 12 with respect to the arm head 14 is less than a predetermined angle, the wiper blade 15 in the rotation direction of the retainer 12 is separated from the wiping surface F (the wiper arm 11 is in the lockback state). To be urged).

The limit position in the direction in which the rotatable wiper blade 15 of the retainer 12 is away from the wiping surface F is a position where the wiper arm 11 is in a lockback state. At the position where the wiper arm 11 is in the lockback state, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the protruding portion 26 of the guide pin 22 faces the tip surface 20a of the extending portion 20 of the arm head 14 due to the urging force of the coil spring 27. Maintained in contact.

The protruding portion 26 of the guide pin 22 comes into surface contact with the tip surface 20a of the extending portion 20 of the arm head 14, thereby limiting the rotation range of the guide pin 22, and by extension, via the main body portion 25 of the guide pin 22. The rotation range of the wiper blade 15 in the rotation direction of the retainer 12 in the direction away from the wiping surface F is limited. When the wiper arm 11 is in the normal state, the wiper blade 15 is always pressed against the wiping surface F via the retainer 12 by the urging force of the coil spring 27.

Next, the operation when the wiper arm 11 is changed from the normal state to the lockback state will be described.
As shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, when the retainer 12 is rotated with respect to the arm head 14 in order to change the wiper arm 11 from the normal state to the lockback state, the guide pin 22 is rotated together with the retainer 12. Then, the protruding portion 26 of the guide pin 22 comes into surface contact with the tip surface 20a of the extending portion 20 of the arm head 14, and further rotation of the guide pin 22 is restricted. Then, further rotation of the retainer 12 with respect to the arm head 14 is restricted by the guide pin 22 in a state where the rotation is restricted.

At this time, the protruding portion 26 of the guide pin 22 is maintained in a state of surface contact with the tip surface 20a of the extending portion 20 of the arm head 14 due to the urging force of the coil spring 27. Therefore, the retainer 12 is held in a standing state (a state in which the wiper arm 11 is locked back). From this state, when the retainer 12 is excessively rotated by the user, for example, against the restriction on the rotation of the retainer 12 with respect to the arm head 14 by the guide pin 22, the protruding portion 26 of the guide pin 22 becomes the arm head 14. It is pressed against the tip surface 20a of the extending portion 20.

Then, according to the principle of leverage, the contact portion of the guide pin 22 with the support pin 30 is the point of effort, the second shaft 24 is the fulcrum, and the protrusion 26 of the guide pin 22 is the point of action. Therefore, the load is excessively applied. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 9, the protruding portion 26 is deformed so that the angle formed by the protruding portion 26 and the main body portion 25 becomes large.

However, since the main body 25 of the guide pin 22 has higher rigidity than the protruding portion 26, the protruding portion 26 is deformed and hardly deformed. Therefore, even when the guide pin 22 is excessively rotated via the retainer 12, the main body 25 of the guide pin 22 is suppressed from being deformed, so that the coil spring 27 is suppressed from coming off from the guide pin 22. To.

According to the embodiment described in detail above, the following effects are exhibited.
(1) The wiper arm 11 can urge the retainer 12 to which the wiper blade 15 can be attached to the tip side, the arm head 14 that rotatably supports the base end side of the retainer 12, and the retainer 12 in the rotation direction. The coil spring 27 and the base end side are rotatably supported by the arm head 14 while being inserted through the coil spring 27, and the tip end side is supported by the retainer 12 and rotated with the rotation of the retainer 12. Equipped with a guide pin. The guide pin 22 projects in a direction intersecting the main body portion 25 inserted through the coil spring 27 and the extending direction of the main body portion 25 from the main body portion 25, and comes into contact with the arm head 14 to increase the rotation range of the guide pin 22. It is provided with a projecting portion 26 for limiting. The protrusion 26 has a lower rigidity than the main body 25.

According to this configuration, when the retainer 12 is rotated with respect to the arm head 14 in order to put the wiper arm 11 in the lockback state, the rotation is restricted by the contact of the protrusion 26 of the guide pin 22 with the arm head 14. The guide pin 22 of the retainer 12 regulates the rotation of the retainer 12 with respect to the arm head 14. Therefore, the retainer 12 is held in a standing state (a state in which the wiper arm 11 is locked back). When the retainer 12 is excessively rotated against the restriction of rotation of the retainer 12 with respect to the arm head 14 by the guide pin 22 from this state, the protruding portion 26 of the guide pin 22 is pressed against the arm head 14 and deformed. .. However, since the main body 25 of the guide pin 22 has higher rigidity than the protruding portion 26, the protruding portion 26 is deformed and hardly deformed. Therefore, even when the guide pin 22 is excessively rotated via the retainer 12, it is possible to prevent the main body 25 of the guide pin 22 from being deformed, so that the coil spring 27 can be prevented from coming off from the guide pin 22.

(2) In the wiper arm 11, the guide pin 22 is formed of a plate material, and the protruding portion 26 is formed by bending a part of the plate material.
According to this configuration, the guide pin 22 can be manufactured only by cutting the plate material into a predetermined shape and then bending a part of the plate material to form the protruding portion 26. Therefore, the guide pin 22 can be easily manufactured.

(3) In the wiper arm 11, the protruding portion 26 protrudes in the thickness direction of the main body portion 25.
According to this configuration, since the protruding portion 26 and the main body portion 25 form a right angle, the protruding portion 26 can be easily brought into surface contact with the arm head 14.

(Change example)
The above embodiment can be modified and implemented as follows. Further, the above-described embodiment and the following modified examples can be implemented in combination with each other within a technically consistent range.

In the guide pin 22, the protruding portion 26 does not necessarily have to protrude in the Y direction, which is the thickness direction of the main body portion 25.
The guide pin 22 does not necessarily have to be formed of a plate material.

The protrusion 26 does not necessarily have to be formed by bending a part of the plate material forming the guide pin 22.
The main body portion 25 and the protruding portion 26 constituting the guide pin 22 may be separate bodies.

The guide pin 22 may be configured so that the rigidity of the protrusion 26 is lower than the rigidity of the main body 25 by making the thickness of the protrusion 26 thinner than the thickness of the main body 25.
The protrusion 26 may be configured to be made of a material having a lower rigidity than the main body 25 so that the rigidity of the protrusion 26 is lower than the rigidity of the main body 25. By doing so, it is not always necessary to set the width B of the protruding portion 26 to be narrower than the width A of the main body portion 25. That is, the width B of the protruding portion 26 may be the same as the width A of the main body portion 25, or the width B of the protruding portion 26 may be set to be wider than the width A of the main body portion 25.

A plurality of protrusions 26 may be provided on the guide pin 22.

11 ... Wiper arm 12 ... Retainer 13 ... 1st axis 14 ... Arm head 15 ... Wiper blade 16 ... Side plate 17 ... Bottom plate 18 ... 1st shaft hole 19 ... Slit 20 ... Extension 20a ... Tip surface 21 ... 2nd shaft hole 22 ... Guide pin 23 ... Insertion hole 24 ... Second axis 25 ... Main body 26 ... Protruding part 27 ... Coil spring 28 ... Support part 29 ... Support plate 30 ... Support pin 31 ... Notch recess 32 ... Stepped part A, B ... Width F … Wipe surface

Claims (3)

A retainer that can attach a wiper blade to the tip side,
An arm head that rotatably supports the base end side of the retainer,
A coil spring capable of urging the retainer in the rotational direction,
A guide pin whose base end side is rotatably supported by the arm head and whose tip end side is rotatably supported by the retainer while being inserted through the coil spring, and which is rotated with the rotation of the retainer.
Equipped with
The guide pin is
The main body inserted through the coil spring and
A protrusion that projects from the main body in a direction intersecting the extending direction of the main body and limits the rotation range of the guide pin by coming into contact with the arm head.
Equipped with
The protruding portion is a wiper arm characterized in that the rigidity is lower than that of the main body portion. The guide pin is formed of a plate material and is formed of a plate material.
The wiper arm according to claim 1, wherein the protruding portion is formed by bending a part of the plate material. The wiper arm according to claim 2, wherein the protruding portion protrudes in the thickness direction of the main body portion.

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