JPH10297437A - Wiper device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a wiper device in which vibration of a wiper blade can be restricted. SOLUTION: In a wiper device 10, a restricting attachment 50 is arranged in a retainer 12 rotationally around a supporting shaft 56. When the restricting attachment 50 is turned to the predetermined turning position, a projection part 60 is positioned above a wiper blade 20. When the restricting attachment 50 is turned to another turning position, the projection part 60 is positioned on the side of the wiper blade 20 and a clearance between side walls 52 is narrowed substantially. In this way, a substantial clearance between the side walls 52 can be changed when the restricting attachment 50 is turned, so that vibration can be reduced excellently even if a wiper blade 20 with a different width dimension is used.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wiper device for wiping a surface to be wiped, such as a windshield glass surface of a vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a wiper device for wiping a windshield glass surface of a vehicle has a wiper blade connected to a tip of a wiper arm connected to a pivot shaft, and when the wiper arm rotates reciprocally together with the pivot shaft. The wiper blade reciprocates on the windshield glass surface, and the blade rubber of the wiper blade wipes the windshield glass surface.

[0003] Usually, the wiper blade is rotatable by a predetermined angle in a direction in which both ends in the longitudinal direction come into contact with and separate from the windshield glass about a connection portion with the wiper arm. For this reason, there is a slight play at the connection portion with the wiper arm so that the wiper blade can rotate smoothly.

[0004]

However, by providing the play, when the wiper blade reciprocates on the windshield glass, both ends in the longitudinal direction of the wiper blade centering on the connection portion are brought into contact with the windshield glass surface. On the other hand, it vibrates in the parallel direction, causing abnormal noise and chatter. In addition, by using the wiper blade for a long period of time, the play becomes large when the connecting portion is worn, and the vibration is further increased. Therefore, the possibility of generating abnormal noise and chatter is increased.

An object of the present invention is to provide a wiper device capable of limiting the vibration of a wiper blade in consideration of the above fact.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wiper device which is connected to the wiper arm which reciprocates around a pivot shaft, and which is reciprocally rotated on the surface to be wiped by the reciprocal rotation of the wiper arm. A wiper blade for wiping the wiped surface; and a vibration limiting means provided on the wiper arm and capable of changing an interval between the wiper arm and a side portion of the wiper blade.

According to the wiper device having the above structure, when the wiper arm reciprocates and the wiper blade wipes the surface to be wiped, the wiper blade vibrates around the connecting portion between the wiper arm and the wiper blade. If the wiper blade attempts to vibrate beyond the amplitude, the side of the wiper blade abuts against the vibration limiting means, so that the vibration of the wiper blade is limited by the vibration limiting means.

[0008] Here, the vibration limiting means of the wiper device includes:
The distance between the wiper blade and the side of the wiper blade can be changed. Therefore, for example, when a wiper blade having a longer width than a normal wiper blade such as a winter wiper blade (a so-called winter blade) and a normal wiper blade are properly used, the vibration limiting means and the wiper blade need to be separated. Even if the width dimension of the wiper blade is changed by appropriately adjusting the interval according to the width dimension of the wiper blade to be used, the interval between the side portion of the wiper blade and the vibration limiting means is kept small. Vibration is suppressed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the wiper apparatus according to the first aspect, the vibration restricting means is movable from a first position to a second position, and the second position is higher than the first position. The present invention is characterized in that a restriction attachment for reducing a gap with the wiper blade is provided.

According to the wiper device having the above structure, the clearance between the side portion of the wiper blade and the restriction attachment is reduced by moving the restriction attachment from the first position to the second position. Therefore, when changing from a winter blade having a long width to a normal wiper blade, the limit attachment is moved from the first position to the second position. Since the gap between the portion and the restriction attachment is reduced, vibration of the wiper blade is suppressed.

[0011]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a wiper device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, the wiper device 10 includes a retainer 12 that constitutes a wiper arm. As shown in FIG. 2, the retainer 12 has a U-shaped cross section opened toward the windshield glass 14 serving as a surface to be wiped.

As shown in FIG. 1, one end in the longitudinal direction is attached to a pivot shaft 11 and an arm head 13 which forms a wiper arm together with a retainer 12.
The retainer 12 is connected, and reciprocates with the reciprocation of the pivot shaft 13. Also,
At the other end of the retainer 12 in the longitudinal direction, a plate-shaped arm piece 1 which is longitudinally extended along the longitudinal direction of the retainer 12 is provided.
6 is fixed by fixing means such as rivets.

The tip of the arm piece 16 (the end opposite to the retainer 12) is bent in a substantially U-shape, and can be locked to the clip 22 of the wiper blade 20.

The wiper blade 20 has a plurality of levers including a primary lever 24, a secondary lever 26, and a yoke lever 28, and these primary lever 24, secondary lever 26, and yoke lever 28 are connected in a tournament shape. . Each lever 24, 26,
28, a rectangular opening 30 is formed at the center in the longitudinal direction of the primary lever 24 located at the uppermost stage, and vertical walls 32 formed on both sides in the width direction at this portion.
The above-mentioned clip 22 is rotatably supported by supporting means such as rivets. Further, holding portions 34 are formed at both ends in the longitudinal direction of each of the yoke levers 28 located at the lowermost stage, and hold a blade rubber 40 formed of a rubber material or a soft synthetic resin material.

As shown in FIG. 2, the end of the blade rubber 40 on the side of the windshield glass 14 is formed as a lip portion 42 whose width is gradually shortened. 14. For this reason, when the pivot shaft 11 reciprocates, the wiper blade 20 reciprocates on the windshield glass 14 via the arm head 13, the retainer 12, and the arm piece 16, and the lip portion 42 of the blade rubber 40 winds. A raindrop or the like on the glass 14 is wiped off.

Further, in the present wiper apparatus 10, as shown in FIG. 3, a winter blade 46 (a wiper blade for winter) is connected to the wiper blade 2 shown in FIGS.
Instead of the arm piece 16, the arm piece 16 can be locked and attached to the tip of the arm piece 16. The winter blade 46 is covered with a cover 44 made of a rubber material or a soft synthetic resin material, except for the lip portion 42 of the blade rubber 40 and each lever including the yoke lever 28. Prevents freezing.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, in the present wiper device 10, each vertical wall portion 1 on both sides in the width direction of the retainer 12 is provided.
Between 2A, a limiting attachment 50 as a vibration limiting means is pivotally supported.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the restriction attachment 50 formed of a synthetic resin, metal, or the like. As shown in this figure, the restriction attachment 50 has a pair of side walls 52 as first restriction parts facing each other. These side walls 52 are formed in a substantially square plate shape, and are connected together at one of the four corners by a connecting portion 54 to be integrated. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the interval L1 between the side walls 52 is
Is slightly larger than the width L2 of the arm piece 16.
When the winter blade 46 is attached to the winter blade 46 (see FIG. 1), a small gap is formed between the side wall 52 and the side of the cover 44 of the winter blade 46, and the clip 22 (that is, the arm piece 16 and the wiper blade 20 or The play in the direction of arrow P in FIG. 1 centered on the portion (connection portion with the winter blade 46) is reduced.

In a portion connected by the connecting portion 54, a supporting shaft 56 as a supporting portion is formed coaxially protruding from each side wall 52 toward the side opposite to the connecting portion 54. From the inside of the retainer 12 to the support hole 58 formed coaxially with the vertical wall portions 12A on both sides in the width direction (that is, the restriction attachment 50 is attached to both the vertical wall portions 1A).
(In a state of being sandwiched between 2A) and supported by a shaft. As a result, the restriction attachment 50 is
2 can be rotated around the support shaft 56 (that is, the directions of arrows A and B in FIGS. 7 and 8).

Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 4,
A protruding portion 60 is formed from each side wall 52 as a second limiting portion protruding toward the other opposing side wall 52.
Here, as shown in FIG. 2, the interval L3 between the two protrusions 60 is slightly larger than the width L4 of the wiper blade 20, and the normal wiper blade 2 is attached to the arm piece 16.
0 (see FIG. 1) and the longitudinal direction of the protrusion 60 is substantially perpendicular to the glass surface of the windshield glass 14 (position at the second position).
The gap between the blade and the wiper blade 20 is reduced similarly to the gap between the gaps L1 and L2 shown in FIG.

Each of the protrusions 60 is formed along one of the four sides of the side wall 52 until the longitudinal direction of each of the protrusions 60 becomes substantially parallel to the glass surface of the windshield glass 14. Support attachment 5 with support shaft 5
In the state rotated around 6 (the state at the first position), as shown in FIGS. 3 and 7, each protrusion 60 is located on the upper end side of the winter blade 46 so as not to interfere with the winter blade 46. It has become.

Further, as shown in FIG.
2 are formed with through holes 62 and 64, respectively. The through holes 62 correspond to the columnar projections 66 protruding from the vertical wall portion 12A of the retainer 12 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 toward the other vertical wall portion 12A. Rotating about the axis 56, the through hole 62 and the projection 66
When they face each other, the projection 66 enters the through-hole 62, whereby the restriction attachment 50 is held by the retainer 12 in the state shown in FIG. 3 (the state where the restriction attachment 50 is located at the first position). .

On the other hand, the through hole 64 is opposed to the vertical wall portion 12A from the position opposite to the protrusion 66 via the support hole 58 and at a distance equal to the distance from the support hole 58 to the protrusion 66.
The restricting attachment 50 rotates around the support shaft 56 and the through hole 6
When the projection 4 and the projection 68 face each other, the projection 68
4, whereby the restriction attachment 50 is held by the retainer 12 in a state shown in FIG. 2 (a state in which the restriction attachment 50 is located at the second position).

The connecting portions 54 of the four corners of each side wall 52
A fan-shaped pressing portion 70 is formed at a corner located on a diagonal line of the corners connected with each other. The portion where the pressing portion 70 is formed is thicker than the other portion of the side wall 52, the width of the restricting attachment 50 is larger than the width of the retainer 12, and the mounting state (FIGS. 2 and 3) In the illustrated state), the pressing portion 70 protrudes outward in the width direction from the retainer 12. Also, the pressing portion 70
As shown in FIG. 3, when the restricting attachment 50 rotates about the support shaft 56 and the projection 66 enters the through hole 62, the vertical wall 12A
Is formed to abut against the end of the
The rotation of the restriction attachment 50 is restricted. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the end 70B of the pressing portion 70 on the side facing the through-hole 64 has the restricting attachment 50 rotated about the support shaft 56 and the projection 68 has the through-hole 6.
4, it is formed so as to abut against the end of the vertical wall portion 12 </ b> A, whereby the rotation of the restriction attachment 50 is also restricted.

The pressing portion 70 is formed with a knurled portion 74 composed of a large number of radial grooves, so that the user can pinch the pressing portion 70 to reduce the distance between the side walls 52 or rotate the restricting attachment 50. It is said to be non-slip when making it.

Further, a character 76 of "S" is formed near the end 70A of the side wall 52 by printing or engraving as a guide for use in summer, and the end 70B
The character “W” in the vicinity of is used as a guide for winter use.
8 is formed by printing or engraving. These characters 76 and 78 are used as a guide of the rotational position of the restriction attachment 50, and as shown in FIG.
Is hidden inside the retainer 12 and a character 74 of “W” is visible.
When the restricting attachment 50 is rotated around the support shaft 56 until the position 4 substantially confronts the worker (the state shown in FIG. 5), the protrusion 66 enters the through hole 62 (that is, the restricting attachment 50 rotates to the first position). It has become. In addition, as shown in FIG.
4 is hidden inside the retainer 12 and the letter “S” 76
When the restricting attachment 50 is rotated around the support shaft 56 until the character 76 of “S” substantially faces the operator (the state shown in FIG. 6), the projection 68 enters the through hole 64 (that is, The restriction attachment 50 rotates to the second position).

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described. When attaching the normal wiper blade 20 to the arm piece 16 with the wiper device 10, first, both pressing portions 70 are pinched and pressed, and as shown in FIG.
Character 74 is hidden inside the retainer 12 so that a character 76 "S" is visible.
The restricting attachment 50 is rotated around the support shaft 56 in the direction of the arrow A in FIG. 8 until the position 6 substantially faces the operator (the state shown in FIG. 8). Here, as shown in FIG. 7, even when the projection 66 enters the through hole 62 and the restriction attachment 50 is held by the retainer 12 in a state before rotation, the pressing portion 70 is pinched and pressed, Since the side walls 52 are elastically deformed so as to approach each other and the projections 66 come out of the through holes 62, the restriction attachment 50 can be rotated without difficulty.

When the restriction attachment 50 rotates about the support shaft 56, the through hole 64 and the projection 68 face each other (ie,
When the restriction attachment 50 is rotated to the second position) and the pressing force (that is, the pinching force) on the pressing portion 70 is released in this state, the projection 68 enters the through hole 64. As a result, the restriction attachment 50 is held by the retainer 12, and in this state, the clip 22 of the wiper blade 20 is locked to the tip of the arm piece 16.

Here, in this state, as shown in FIG. 2, the longitudinal direction of each projection 60 is substantially perpendicular to the glass surface of the windshield glass 14, and both ends in the width direction of the wiper blade 20 are provided. Is opposed to the projecting portion 60, and the gap between the projecting portion 60 and both ends in the width direction of the wiper blade 20 is smaller than the interval between the retainer 12 and the wiper blade 20. Thereby, when the pivot shaft 11 reciprocates in this state, when the wiper blade 20 vibrates in parallel with the glass surface of the windshield glass 14 around the connecting portion between the arm piece 16 and the clip 22, The wiper blade 20 abuts on the protrusions 60, and the vibration of the wiper blade 20 is limited by each protrusion 60. Therefore, chatter and abnormal noise generated due to the vibration of the wiper blade 20 can be effectively reduced or prevented.

Next, a winter blade 46 having a longer width than the normal wiper blade 20 is attached to the arm piece 16.
At first, when both the pressing portions 70 are pinched and pressed to extract the projection 68 from the through hole 64,
As shown in the figure, the letter 76 "S"
2, the restricting attachment 50 is moved around the support shaft 56 until the character 78 of "W" is seen and the character 78 of "W" is substantially opposed to the worker (the state shown in FIG. 7). In the direction of arrow B. here,
Even if the protrusion 68 enters the through hole 64 and the restriction attachment 50 is held by the retainer 12 before rotation,
When the pressing portion 70 is pinched and pressed, the side walls 52 are elastically deformed so as to approach each other, and the protrusion 68
, The restriction attachment 50 can be rotated without difficulty.

The restricting attachment 50 rotates around the support shaft 56 so that the through hole 62 and the projection 66 face each other (ie, the restricting attachment 50 rotates to the first position). When the force (that is, the pinching force) is released, the projection 66 enters the through hole 62. As a result, the restriction attachment 50 is held by the retainer 12.

When the winter blade 46 is locked to the arm piece 16 in this state, the longitudinal direction of each projection 60 is substantially parallel to the glass surface of the windshield glass 14, and each projection 60 is It is located on the upper end side, and the windshield glass 14 side faces the both ends in the width direction of the winter blade 46 with respect to the projecting portion 60 of the restriction attachment 50 in this state. Here, the interval between the side walls 52 in a portion other than the protruding portion 60 is
Wider than the spacing between. Therefore, the wiper blade 20
When the winter blade 46 having a longer width dimension is attached to the arm piece 16 or after the attachment, the protrusion 60
Does not come into contact with the winter blade 46.

In this state, the winter blade 4
6 are opposed to the side wall 52 at both ends in the width direction. Here, the distance L1 between the side walls 52 is set to the width L2 of the winter blade 46 so that a gap can be formed between the side blade 52 and the winter blade 46.
Slightly smaller than the gap between the retainer 12 and the winter blade 46. Therefore, when the pivot shaft (not shown) reciprocates in this state, when the winter blade 46 vibrates in parallel with the glass surface of the windshield glass 14 around the connecting portion between the arm piece 16 and the cover 44, each Sidewall 52
The winter blade 46 abuts, and the vibration of the winter blade 46 is limited by each side wall 52. For this reason,
Chatter and abnormal noise generated due to the vibration of the winter blade 46 can be effectively reduced or prevented.

As described above, in the present wiper device 10, regardless of whether the wiper blade 20 or the winter blade 46 is attached to the arm piece 16, the restriction attachment 50
Is rotated around the support shaft 56 to set the restriction attachment 50 to a predetermined position. Even when a wiper blade having a different width dimension like the normal wiper blade 20 and the winter blade 46 is used, the side of the wiper blade The gap between the portion and the side wall 52 of the restriction attachment 50 can be kept narrow. Therefore, even when replacing the wiper blade 20 with the winter blade 46, or vice versa, there is no need to replace the components of the wiper arm such as the retainer 12, and the wiper blade 20 can easily be replaced with the winter blade 46. Or winter blade 46
Can be replaced with a wiper blade 20.

In the present embodiment, the vibration of the winter blade 46 is restricted by the side wall 52 of the restriction attachment 50, and the vibration of the wiper blade 20 is restricted by the projection 60.
The vibration of the wide wiper blade as shown in FIG.
When a narrow wiper blade such as a normal wiper blade 20 is used, the vibration of the narrow wiper blade is limited by the side wall 52 and the protruding portion 60 of the restriction attachment 50. The configuration, that is, the configuration may be such that the inner wall of the retainer 12 is used as the vibration limiting means.

Further, in the present embodiment, when switching from the wiper blade 20 to the winter blade 46, or when switching from the winter blade 46 to the wiper blade 20, the restriction attachment 50 is rotated so that the wiper blade 20 and the winter blade Although the distance between any side of 46 was kept small,
For example, a configuration may be employed in which the distance between any of the wiper blade 20 and the winter blade 46 is kept small by sliding the restriction attachment 50.

Further, in the present embodiment, the support shaft 56 formed on the restriction attachment 50 is supported by the support hole 58 of the retainer 12, whereby the restriction attachment 50 is rotatably attached to the retainer 12. However, the configuration of the support means for rotatably supporting the restriction attachment 50 is not limited to this.
For example, the restriction attachment 50 may be rotatably supported with respect to the retainer 12 by a support member separate from the restriction attachment 50 such as a rivet.

Further, in the present embodiment, the side wall 52 or the projecting portion 60 of the restriction attachment 50 corresponds to both sides of the wiper blade 20 and the winter blade 46. The side wall 52 and the protruding portion 60 may be formed corresponding to one of the side portions (that is, one side portion in the width direction).

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a wiper device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the wiper device in a state where a vibration limiting unit is located at a second position.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the wiper device corresponding to FIG. 2 in a state where the vibration limiting unit is located at a first position.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a vibration limiting unit.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the retainer as viewed from a bottom surface side.

FIG. 6 is a bottom view of the retainer.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged front view of the wiper device in a state where the vibration limiting unit is located at a first position.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged front view of the wiper device in a state where the vibration limiting unit is located at a second position.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 wiper device 11 pivot shaft 12 retainer (wiper arm) 13 arm head (wiper arm) 16 arm piece (wiper arm) 20 wiper blade 50 restriction attachment (vibration restriction means)

Claims (2)

[Claims] A wiper arm connected to the wiper arm for reciprocating rotation about a pivot shaft; And a vibration limiting means provided on the wiper arm and capable of changing a distance between the wiper arm and a side portion of the wiper blade. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said vibration restricting means moves from a first position to a second position.
The wiper device according to claim 1, further comprising a restriction attachment that is movable to a position and has a smaller gap with the wiper blade at the second position than at the first position.