JP7495905B2 - Wiper blade and method of assembling same - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a wiper blade and an assembly method thereof.

A wiper device is installed on a vehicle such as an automobile. The wiper device is equipped with a wiper motor as a drive source, a wiper arm that is oscillated by the drive of the wiper motor, and a wiper blade that is attached to the tip of the wiper arm. For example, Patent Document 1 describes a wiper blade that has an arm connecting member that is rotatably connected to the tip of the wiper arm, a vertebra (leaf spring) fixed to the arm connecting member, a holder member that holds the vertebra, and a blade rubber held by the holder member.

JP 2020-179756 A

In the wiper blade described in Patent Document 1, when attaching the end cap to the vertebra, the vertebra is inserted from the end opening of the end cap, and the hole of the vertebra is engaged with the protrusion of the end cap. In other words, the vertebra is inserted from the side of the protrusion of the end cap, and the hole of the vertebra is engaged with the protrusion of the end cap.

When attaching such end caps, if there is not a sufficient difference between the size of the hole in the insertion direction of the vertebra and the size of the protrusion on the end cap, it will be difficult for the protrusion on the end cap to engage with the hole on the vertebra.

On the other hand, if the hole of the vertebra is enlarged to an extent that the protrusion of the end cap can be easily placed in the hole of the vertebra, the rattle between the hole of the vertebra and the protrusion of the end cap will become large after the end cap is attached. In this case, since the vertebra is made of metal and the end cap is made of resin, if there is a large rattle between the hole of the vertebra and the protrusion of the end cap, the protrusion of the end cap will be worn down by the vibration when the wiper blade slides, and the rattle between the hole of the vertebra and the protrusion of the end cap will become even larger, which may reduce the wiping performance of the wiper blade.

The object of the present invention is to provide a wiper blade and an assembly method thereof that improves assembly ease while suppressing deterioration of wiping performance.

One aspect of the present invention is a wiper blade that is attached to a wiper arm that is freely pivoted and performs a reciprocating wipe operation on a windshield, the wiper blade comprising: a blade rubber having a lip portion that contacts the windshield and a main body portion that is formed integrally with the lip portion; a pair of vertebrae that hold the main body portion and elastically deform the blade rubber to match the curvature of the windshield; a holder member that holds the pair of vertebrae; and an end cap that is attached to the longitudinal end of the holder member, each of the pair of vertebrae having a through hole, the end cap having a cap main body portion that houses the holder member and a pair of fin portions that are provided on the cap main body portion and can be opened and closed, the cap main body portion having a first claw portion that protrudes along the opening and closing direction of the pair of fin portions, each of the pair of fin portions having a second claw portion that can be engaged with the first claw portion, and when the pair of fin portions are closed, the first claw portion and the second claw portion are engaged within the through hole.

Another aspect of the present invention is a method for assembling a wiper blade that is attached to a wiper arm that is provided so as to be able to swing and that performs a reciprocating wiper operation on a windshield, the wiper blade being composed of a blade rubber that contacts the windshield, a pair of vertebrae that elastically deform the blade rubber to match the curvature of the windshield and each of which has a through hole, a holder member that holds the pair of vertebrae, a cap body portion that can accommodate the holder member and has a first claw portion, and an end cap that is provided on the cap body portion and has a pair of fin portions that can be opened and closed, each of which has a second claw portion that can engage with the first claw portion, (a) With the pair of fins open, the method includes the steps of: (b) positioning a portion of the pair of vertebras to which the holder member is attached above the first claw portion; (b) after step (a), lowering the pair of vertebras toward the cap body portion and placing the pair of vertebras on the cap body portion so that the first claw portion is positioned in the through hole; (c) after step (b), closing the pair of fins and engaging the first claw portion with the second claw portion in the through hole to attach the end cap to the longitudinal end of the holder member; and (d) after step (c), attaching the blade rubber to the pair of vertebras.

The present invention makes it possible to improve the assembly ease of the wiper blade while suppressing a decrease in the wiping performance of the wiper blade.

1 is an external view showing a structure of a wiper blade according to the present invention; 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a structure cut along line AA shown in FIG. 1; 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a structure cut along line BB shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a structure of an end cap attached to the wiper blade shown in FIG. 1 . 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure cut along line CC shown in FIG. 4. 2 is a partial perspective view showing a method of assembling an end cap and a vertebra in the wiper blade shown in FIG. 1 . 2 is a partial perspective view showing a method of assembling an end cap and a vertebra in the wiper blade shown in FIG. 1 . 2 is a partial perspective view showing a method of assembling an end cap and a vertebra in the wiper blade shown in FIG. 1 . 2 is a partial perspective view showing a method of assembling an end cap and a vertebra in the wiper blade shown in FIG. 1 . 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a method of assembling an end cap and a vertebra in the wiper blade shown in FIG. 1 .

The following describes in detail the embodiments of the present invention with reference to the drawings.

The wiper blade 12 shown in FIG. 1 is attached to a wiper device (not shown) that wipes the glass (windshield, see FIG. 2) 11 of a vehicle such as an automobile. Specifically, it is a long and thin structure that is attached to a wiper arm 10 that is pivotally mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile and performs a reciprocating wiper operation on the glass 11 of the vehicle, and is equipped with a rubber member that wipes the glass 11. A connecting portion 13 is attached to the wiper blade 12, and this connecting portion 13 engages with a hook portion 10a provided on the wiper arm 10. In other words, the wiper blade 12 is connected to the hook portion 10a on the tip side of the wiper arm 10 at the connecting portion 13 attached to the wiper blade 12 so that it can rotate freely. The connecting portion 13 is covered by a cover 15. On the other hand, an output shaft (not shown) of a wiper motor that forms the above-mentioned wiper device is fixed to the base end side of the wiper arm 10.

The wiper blade 12 is provided with a blade rubber 14 as the rubber member, and this blade rubber 14 is held by a pair of vertebrae 16 shown in FIG. 2, which have the function of a leaf spring. The pair of vertebrae 16 are covered by the holder member 17 shown in FIG. 1, and are attached to the holder member 17 so that they are not visible from the surface. Each of the pair of vertebrae 16 is held by the holder member 17. End caps 18 are attached to both ends of the holder member 17 in the longitudinal direction L.

With the above configuration, by turning on the wiper switch installed inside the vehicle cabin, the output shaft of the wiper motor rotates in the forward and reverse directions, causing the wiper arm 10 to swing. This causes the blade rubber 14 of the wiper blade 12 to perform a reciprocating wipe over a predetermined area on the glass 11 shown in FIG. 2, thereby wiping away rainwater and other debris adhering to the wiping surface of the glass 11.

As shown in FIG. 2, the blade rubber 14 has a lip portion 14b that contacts the glass 11, and a body portion 14a that is formed integrally with the lip portion 14b. Each of the pair of vertebrae 16a, 16b is a long, thin plate-like member, and holds the body portion 14a of the blade rubber 14 in the groove portion 14c. Each of the pair of vertebrae 16a, 16b also has the function of a leaf spring so that the blade rubber 14 elastically deforms in accordance with the curvature of the glass 11. Therefore, it is preferable that the vertebrae 16 is made of metal.

The vertebrae 16a and 16b also have through holes 16c and 16d near both ends. Specifically, the vertebrae 16a has a long through hole 16c near both ends, while the vertebrae 16b has a long through hole 16d near both ends.

As shown in Fig. 3, the holder member 17 that holds each of the pair of vertebrae 16a, 16b is composed of a holder main body 17a and a holding portion 17b that is joined to the holder main body 17a and holds the pair of vertebrae 16a, 16b. The holding portion 17b has U-shaped grooves 17c that are arranged opposite each other, and the vertebrae 16a is placed and held in one groove 17c, and the vertebrae 16b is placed and held in the other groove 17c.

Next, we will explain the detailed structure of the end cap 18 that is attached to the wiper blade 12 in this embodiment.

As shown in Figures 4 and 5, the end cap 18 includes a cap body 18a capable of housing the holder member 17 shown in Figure 3, and a pair of fins 18b, 18c provided on the cap body 18a that can be opened and closed. That is, the end cap 18 includes the cap body 18a that covers the holder member 17 and has a portion capable of housing an end of the holder member 17, and a pair of fins 18b, 18c provided on the cap body 18a that can be opened and closed.

As shown in FIG. 5, the cap body 18a has a first claw 18d that protrudes along the opening/closing direction Z of the pair of fins 18b, 18c. On the other hand, each of the pair of fins 18b, 18c has a second claw 18e that can engage with the first claw 18d.

As shown in FIG. 2, when the pair of fins 18b, 18c are closed, the first claw 18d and the second claw 18e are engaged in the through holes 16c, 16d of the pair of vertebrae 16a, 16b, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 5, when the pair of fins 18b, 18c are open, each of the pair of fins 18b, 18c protrudes from both ends 18f in the width direction X perpendicular to the extension direction Y (see FIG. 4) of the cap body 18a toward the inside of the cap body 18a. In other words, when the pair of fins 18b, 18c are open, each of the pair of fins 18b, 18c is positioned inside both ends 18f of the cap body 18a. In other words, the pair of openable and closable fins 18b, 18c can be contained within the size of the width direction X of the cap body 18a.

Therefore, when the end cap 18 is resin-molded using a molding die, even when the pair of fins 18b, 18c of the end cap 18 are open, the pair of fins 18b, 18c are within the range of the size in the width direction X of the cap body 18a, so the size of the molding die can be kept slightly larger than the size in the width direction X of the cap body 18a. As a result, the molding die can be made smaller.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 2, the pair of fins 18b, 18c in the end cap 18 cover at least a part of the through holes 16c, 16d of the pair of vertebrae 16a, 16b when the pair of fins 18b, 18c are closed. Specifically, when the pair of fins 18b, 18c are closed (the first claw 18d and the second claw 18e are engaged), the first claw 18d and the second claw 18e are arranged in the through hole 16c of the vertebrae 16a, and the through hole 16c of the vertebrae 16a is covered by the fin 18b. On the other hand, the first claw 18d and the second claw 18e are also arranged in the through hole 16d of the vertebrae 16b, and the through hole 16d of the vertebrae 16b is covered by the fin 18c.

In more detail, each of the pair of fins 18b, 18c in the end cap 18 includes a fin body 18i, 18j provided on the cap body 18a, and protruding portions 18g, 18h that protrude further from the fin body 18i, 18j toward the inside of the cap body 18a. When the pair of fins 18b, 18c are closed, the protruding portions 18g, 18h cover at least a portion of the through holes 16c, 16d of the pair of vertebrae 16a, 16b, respectively.

Specifically, the fin portion 18b includes a fin portion main body 18i provided on the cap main body 18a, and a protruding portion 18g that protrudes further from the fin portion main body 18i toward the inside of the cap main body 18a. On the other hand, the fin portion 18c includes a fin portion main body 18j provided on the cap main body 18a, and a protruding portion 18h that protrudes further from the fin portion main body 18j toward the inside of the cap main body 18a. When the pair of fin portions 18b, 18c are closed, the protruding portion 18g of the fin portion 18b covers at least a portion of the through hole 16c of the vertebra 16a, and the protruding portion 18h of the fin portion 18c covers at least a portion of the through hole 16d of the vertebra 16b.

As a result, the through holes 16c, 16d of the vertebrae 16a, 16b are covered to some extent by the fin portions 18b, 18c of the end cap 18, so that dirt such as rust that occurs in the through holes 16c, 16d can be hidden, and the appearance of the wiper blade 12 is prevented from being impaired.

When the pair of fins 18b, 18c are closed, a portion of each of the protruding portion 18g of the fin 18b and the protruding portion 18h of the fin 18c is positioned in the groove portion 14d of the blade rubber 14.

Next, the assembly procedure for the wiper blade 12 of this embodiment will be described.

First, as shown in FIG. 3, a pair of vertebrae 16a, 16b are attached to the U-shaped groove 17c of the holding portion 17b of the holder member 17. After attaching the vertebrae 16a, 16b, as shown in FIG. 6, with the pair of fins 18b, 18c open, the pair of vertebrae 16a, 16b (see FIG. 7) to which the holder member 17 is attached is placed above the first claw portion 18d of the cap body portion 18a. At that time, the through holes 16c, 16d of the pair of vertebrae 16a, 16b are each placed above the first claw portion 18d as shown in FIG. 7. At this time, since the pair of fins 18b, 18c are open and there is sufficient space above the first claw portion 18d, it is possible to place the tips of the pair of vertebrae 16a, 16b above the first claw portion 18d.

After arranging the pair of vertebrae 16a, 16b above the first claw portion 18d of the cap body portion 18a, the pair of vertebrae 16a, 16b is lowered toward the cap body portion 18a, and the vertebrae 16a, 16b is placed on the cap body portion 18a so that the first claw portion 18d is placed in each of the through holes 16c, 16d. In other words, with the through holes 16c, 16d positioned directly above the first claw portion 18d, the pair of vertebrae 16a, 16b is lowered from above the first claw portion 18d along the descending direction Q, and the pair of vertebrae 16a, 16b is placed on the cap body portion 18a so that the first claw portion 18d is placed in each of the through holes 16c, 16d, as shown in Figures 8 and 10.

After placing the pair of vertebrae 16a, 16b on the cap body 18a, the pair of fins 18b, 18c are closed in the closing direction R as shown in FIG. 9. This causes the first claw 18d and the second claw 18e to engage with each other in the through holes 16c, 16d as shown in FIG. 2. The engagement between the first claw 18d and the second claw 18e is performed in the engagement direction S shown in FIG. 10, which is a direction along the opening/closing direction Z (see FIG. 5) of the pair of fins 18b, 18c. Here, the engagement direction S between the first claw 18d and the second claw 18e is a direction perpendicular to the extension direction P of the vertebrae 16 shown in FIG. 9.

By engaging the first claw portion 18d and the second claw portion 18e, the holder member 17 is accommodated in the cap body portion 18a and the end cap 18 is attached to the end portion of the holder member 17 in the longitudinal direction L.

Then, after attaching end caps 18 to both ends of the holder member 17, the blade rubber 14 is attached to the pair of vertebrae 16a, 16b. Here, the main body 14a of the blade rubber 14 is inserted from the gap D between the vertebrae 16a and vertebrae 16b in one end cap 18, and the blade rubber 14 is slid and pushed to the position of the other end cap 18. Then, the end of the blade rubber 14 is pulled back to the position of one end cap 18, completing the attachment of the blade rubber 14 to the vertebrae 16a, 16b. As a result, the main body 14a of the blade rubber 14 is held by the pair of vertebrae 16a, 16b, as shown in FIG. 3.

This completes the assembly of the wiper blade 12.

In assembling the wiper blade 12 of this embodiment, when the end cap 18 is attached to the vertebrae 16a, 16b, the pair of fins 18b, 18c are opened, and the vicinity of the tip of the pair of vertebrae 16a, 16b is placed above the first claw portion 18d with sufficient space secured above the first claw portion 18d. Then, after placing the vertebrae 16a, 16b, the vertebrae 16a, 16b are lowered from above the first claw portion 18d toward the cap main body portion 18a, so that the vertebrae 16a, 16b can be placed on the cap main body portion 18a so that the first claw portion 18d is placed in each of the through holes 16c, 16d.

Therefore, the first claw portion 18d can be positioned in each of the through holes 16c, 16d by lowering the through holes 16c, 16d from above relative to the first claw portion 18d. This makes it possible to keep the size of the first claw portion 18d relative to the through holes 16c, 16d in the extension direction P of the vertebrae 16a, 16b to a level slightly smaller than the through holes 16c, 16d. In other words, the rattling of the first claw portion 18d relative to the through holes 16c, 16d can be kept to a minimum.

In addition, since the vertebrae 16a, 16b are made of a metal material and the end cap 18 is made of a resin-based material, if there is a large rattle between the first claw portion 18d and the through holes 16c, 16d, the first claw portion 18d of the end cap 18 will be worn down by the vibration during sliding of the wiper blade 12, and the rattle between the through holes 16c, 16d of the vertebrae 16a, 16b and the first claw portion 18d of the end cap 18 will become even larger. As a result, there was a risk that the wiping performance of the wiper blade 12 would deteriorate, but according to the assembly of the wiper blade 12 of this embodiment, the rattle of the first claw portion 18d against the through holes 16c, 16d can be kept to a minimum, so that the assembly of the wiper blade 12 can be improved while suppressing the deterioration of the wiping performance of the wiper blade 12.

The engagement direction S between the first claw portion 18d and the second claw portion 18e is perpendicular to the extension direction P of the vertebrae 16a, 16b. In other words, the engagement form between the first claw portion 18d and the second claw portion 18e is a form of a beam supported from both the top and bottom in the same direction as the opening and closing direction Z (see FIG. 5) of the fin portions 18b, 18c, so that the engagement between the first claw portion 18d and the second claw portion 18e can increase the strength of the end cap 18 against the force of it coming off the vertebrae 16. In other words, it is possible to make it difficult for the end cap 18 to come off.

In addition, in assembling the wiper blade 12 in this embodiment, the end cap 18 is attached by engaging the first claw portion 18d with the second claw portion 18e, which makes it possible to make the end cap 18 removable. And because the end cap 18 can be easily attached and removed, it is also easy to replace the blade rubber 14, which is a consumable item.

In addition, in the structure of the end cap 18 of this embodiment, the pair of fins 18b, 18c can be opened and closed, so the pair of fins 18b, 18c can be opened, and in that case, as shown in FIG. 5, sufficient space can be secured above the cap body 18a of the end cap 18. Specifically, a space of height H1 or height H2 can be secured between the fins 18b, 18c above the cap body 18a of the end cap 18.

This makes it possible to increase the thickness of the slide portion of the molding die used to resin mold the end cap 18, reducing the frequency of maintenance required for the molding die.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it goes without saying that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the wiper blade 12 is applied to a wiper device that wipes the glass of a vehicle such as an automobile, but the present invention is not limited to vehicles such as automobiles, and can also be applied to wiper devices installed on ships, aircraft, railway vehicles, etc.

10: Wiper arm, 10a: Hook part, 11: Glass (windshield), 12: Wiper blade, 13: Connection part, 14: Blade rubber, 14a: Main body part, 14b: Lip part, 14c, 14d: Groove part, 15: Cover, 16, 16a, 16b: Vertebra, 16c, 16d: Through hole, 17: Holder member, 17a: Holder main body part, 17b: Holding part, 17c: Groove part, 18: End cap, 18a: Cap main body part, 18b, 18c: Fin part, 18d: First claw part, 18e: Second claw part, 18f: End part, 18g, 18h: Protruding part, 18i, 18j: Fin part main body

Claims (5)

A wiper blade is attached to a wiper arm that is pivotably provided and performs a reciprocating wiper motion on a windshield,
a blade rubber having a lip portion that contacts the windshield and a body portion that is integrally formed with the lip portion;
A pair of vertebrae that hold the main body and elastically deform the blade rubber to match the curvature of the windshield;
A holder member for holding the pair of vertebrae;
an end cap attached to a longitudinal end of the holder member;
Equipped with
Each of the pair of vertebrae has a through hole,
the end cap includes a cap body that houses the holder member, and a pair of fins that are provided on the cap body and can be opened and closed;
The cap body has a first claw portion protruding along an opening/closing direction of the pair of fin portions,
Each of the pair of fin portions has a second claw portion engageable with the first claw portion,
The wiper blade, wherein the first claw portion and the second claw portion are engaged with each other within the through hole when the pair of fin portions are in a closed state. The wiper blade according to claim 1, characterized in that the pair of fins protrude from both widthwise ends of the cap body toward the inside of the cap body when the pair of fins are in an open state. The wiper blade according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the pair of fins covers at least a portion of the through hole when the pair of fins is in a closed state. A method for assembling a wiper blade that is attached to a wiper arm that is pivotably provided and that reciprocates to wipe a windshield, comprising the steps of:
The wiper blade is
a blade rubber that contacts the windshield;
A pair of vertebrae each having a through hole, the blade rubber being elastically deformed to conform to the curvature of the windshield;
A holder member for holding the pair of vertebrae;
an end cap including a cap body portion capable of accommodating the holder member and having a first claw portion, and a pair of openable and closable fin portions provided on the cap body portion and each having a second claw portion engageable with the first claw portion;
It is composed of
(a) placing a part of the pair of vertebras to which the holder member is attached above the first claw portion while the pair of fin portions are in an open state;
(b) after the step (a), lowering the pair of vertebrae toward the cap body portion and placing the pair of vertebrae on the cap body portion so that the first claw portion is positioned in the through hole;
(c) after the step (b), closing the pair of fin portions to engage the first claw portion and the second claw portion within the through hole, thereby attaching the end cap to the longitudinal end portion of the holder member;
(d) after the step (c), a step of attaching the blade rubber to the pair of vertebrae;
2. A method for assembling a wiper blade comprising the steps of: The method for assembling a wiper blade according to claim 4, characterized in that in step (c), the first claw portion and the second claw portion are engaged in a direction along the opening and closing direction of the pair of fin portions.

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