JPS6325986B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a windshield wiper, particularly for motor vehicles, which is provided with a side-mounting device for securely pivoting the windshield wiper blade to the windshield wiper arm that drives it. .

It is well known that windshield wiper blades (for windshields, headlights, etc.) are driven in alternating motion along the surface being wiped.
This drive is controlled by a windshield wiper arm that is hinged to the windshield wiper blade. The side mounting portion is arranged so that the windshield wiper arm is placed on the side of the windshield wiper blade frame to reduce the hinge height above the windshield and to shorten the distance between the windshield wiper arm and the windshield. It is likewise well known that it is often advantageous to use a handheld windshield wiper blade.
The first advantage mentioned above is that the anti-lifting properties of the windshield wiper can be improved, that is, the ability to obtain a satisfactory wiping action when the vehicle equipped with this windshield wiper is running at high speeds can be improved. The second advantage mentioned above is that the windshield wiper can be easily concealed in a parking position below a fixed part of the vehicle body structure.

The disadvantage of side-mounted devices is that these devices typically have a windshield wiper blade that has a special construction and has a transverse pin on one side of the frame that allows it to pivot with the windshield wiper blade. It is necessary to. However, this type of windshield wiper is used especially in French Patent No. 2008094.
A wiper as described in the specification is used. In this French patent specification, a pin is mounted on the side of the windshield wiper frame, which cooperates with the windshield wiper arm. At the end of this windshield wiper arm there is provided a frame with a groove-shaped cross section. Each flange of this frame is formed with a pivot bearing adapted to cooperate with a side pin of the windshield wiper blade. Retention of this combination is ensured by a leaf spring tightened on the windshield arm. When a motor vehicle is provided with a windshield wiper arm such as that described above, and the windshield wiper blade needs to be replaced due to wear of the scraping blade of the windshield wiper, conventionally, the same windshield wiper blade or wiper arm is replaced. The wiper blade must be refitted with side pins that can fit into two pivot bearings in the frame. This type of windshield wiper blade is more expensive to manufacture than a windshield wiper blade having a frame in which the connecting area is formed with a hole bounded by two flanges with a strut pin located between them.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a windshield wiper in which a windshield wiper arm with a frame provided with two pivot bearings and a windshield wiper blade with a frame are combined without the use of side pins. There is something to do. According to the present invention, this combination is achieved by using an intermediate connecting ferrule attached to a strut pin in the frame of a conventional windshield wiper blade without side attachments. The connecting ferrule is formed with a hole for receiving a hinge pin which serves to pivotally connect the side mount of the windshield wiper arm described above to the connecting ferrule.
According to the invention, this hinge pin can be locked to the ferrule by fitting the flange of the windshield wiper blade into a neck formed for this purpose on the hinge pin. This fit can be maintained by a locking piece that securely holds the connecting ferrule to the frame of the windshield wiper blade. Therefore, the windshield wiper according to the present invention allows a windshield wiper arm as described above to be combined with a windshield wiper blade without side attachments by simply using a connecting ferrule and hinge pin having a specific structure. Divided. Thus, replacement windshield wiper blades are readily available to the user and the relatively expensive windshield wiper blades with side pins are not required. Obviously, the use of an intermediate connecting ferrule does not add to the cost of a replacement windshield wire blade, so long as this connecting ferrule is obtained by molding from inexpensive plastic material.

Therefore, the present invention firstly provides a scraping blade;
A windshield wiper blade having a frame 3 fitted with a strut pin 7 provided adjacent to each frame flange with a free edge in the direction opposite to the scraping blade; a windshield wiper arm 1 supporting on said windshield wiper arm end a frame 2 having two side flanges forming respective pivot bearings 4, 4 each having a common axis substantially orthogonal to a center line passing through the windshield wiper arm; In a windshield wiper especially for automobiles, the windshield wiper arm and the frame are connected by hinge pins 17, 57 and a connecting ferrule 8, wherein the connecting ferrule 8 has (a) (i) (ii) a groove 10 defined between these lips and extending completely across the width of said connecting ferrule; iii) a rounded bottom 11 in said groove having a diameter greater than or equal to the diameter of said strut pin 7 of said frame; (b) a connecting means capable of cooperating with the support pin; and (b) the hinge pins 17, 5.
(c) the connecting means of the connecting ferrule and the support pin 7 of the frame;
and (d) locking means capable of locking the connecting ferrules to the frame when they cooperate with each other; (d) locking means capable of locking the connecting ferrules to the frame; a body defined by two flat sides separated from each other by a distance approximately equal to the separating distance; the hinge pin has a head 18, 58 which extends through the frame and at least partially through the connecting ferrule which is arranged parallel to the frame and on the outside thereof; providing at least one neck 19, 59 which introduces the free edge of one of the frame flanges of this frame when the connecting ferrule is locked to the frame 3 by the locking means;
The frame 3 is made of a groove member, and the web portion of the groove member is disposed on the side opposite to the scraping blade, and the support pin 7 acts to be assembled to the windshield wiper arm. The height of each frame flange of the frame 3 is made higher along the side of the notched hole 5, and each frame flange supports the support pin. , a retaining hook 14 cooperating with one of the lateral edges 5a, 5b of the hole 5 provided in the web portion of the frame 3 in the vicinity of the support pin 7 thereof for locking the connecting ferrule; There is a windshield wiper characterized by comprising:

Whether the support pin 7 is a pin having a circular cross section with a flat portion or a pin having a circular cross section without a flat portion, each of the lip portions 9, 9 is formed by rounding the groove 10. They are separated from each other by a distance less than or equal to the diameter of the base 11. If the strut pin 7 is a pin without a flat part, the introduction of the strut pin into the groove 10 is carried out by a force that elastically separates the lips 9, 9 of the connecting ferrule 8. Of course.

Embodiments of the windshield wiper of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As is clear from FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, the windshield wiper of the present invention includes a windshield wiper arm 1 with a frame 2 attached to one end, and a frame 2. windshield wiper blade shown only 3. This windshield wiper blade is equipped with a frame 3 that supports the scraping blade directly or via a compensation piece.

The windshield wiper arm 1 is connected at one end to a drive device. The frame 2 attached to the other end of the wiper arm 1 has two side flanges 2a, 2 arranged parallel to each other on opposite sides of the wiper arm 1.
a (Fig. 4). Each side flange 2a
A pivot bearing 4 is formed by molding a collar from the sheet metal forming each side flange 2a. The part of the frame 2 furthest from each side flange 2a is bent and compressed around the wiper arm 1. A windshield wiper arm and frame of this kind has previously been described in French Patent No. 2008094. In this patent specification, the frame is provided with leaf springs arranged between flanges 2a, 2a on both sides thereof.
Providing such a leaf spring is not absolutely necessary for implementing the combination according to the present invention, and since it is not necessary to use such a leaf spring in the present invention, FIGS. The leaf spring is not shown in the embodiment.

The frame 3 of the windshield wiper blade consists of a metal groove profile. The web portion of this groove profile is arranged on the opposite side from the scraping blade cooperating with the frame 3. The web section of this groove profile forms a cut-out rectangular hole 5 in the central area of the frame 3. Each flange of this groove profile has holes 5
The guide cheeks 6 that partition the hole 5 in the vertical direction are formed by increasing the height of the portions sandwiching the hole 5 at a right angle to the hole 5. The hole 5 is laterally partitioned by lateral edges 5a and 5b. Each lateral edge 5a, 5b is the limit of the cutout from the spanning web part in the area of the hole 5. The guide cheek 6 on the side opposite to the side on which the scraping blade is mounted has a free edge. The guide cheeks 6 are connected to each other by a connecting piece or a support pin 7 with each end swaged. Windshield wiper blades of this type are well known in the art.

The windshield wiper according to the invention comprises a connecting ferrule 8. Ferrule 8 is made from molded plastic material. Ferrule 8 is
Its sides are partitioned by mutually parallel flat surfaces,
One end is provided with two lips 9, 9 with a groove 10 between them. The groove 10 extends across the width of the ferrule 8 between the two mutually parallel sides mentioned above. The groove 10 opens into a rounded connecting part or bottom 11 forming a cylindrical surface. In the illustrated embodiment, as can be seen in FIG. 5, the rounded bottom 11 of the groove 10 has a diameter slightly larger than the distance separating the two lips 9, 9 from each other. This diameter is equal to the diameter of the strut pin 7.
The distance between the mutually parallel sides of the ferrule 8 is equal to the distance between the guide cheeks 6 of the frame 3. In order to fit the pin 7 into the cylindrical bottom 11 of the groove 10, it is sufficient to push the pin 7 in relation to each lip 9 in such a way that an elastic deformation of each lip 9 occurs. It is. The ferrule 8 further includes a lateral hole 12. The upper part of the lateral hole 12 is partitioned by a protruding annular lip 13. Connecting ferrule 8
When assembled to the frame 3 by associating the pin 7 with the rounded bottom part 11, the axis of the hole 12 is in the opposite direction to the axis of the rounded bottom part 11 from the direction in which the scraping blade is located. lean to one side.
Ferrule 8 on the side opposite to the side with groove 10
is provided with a retaining hook 14 forming a locking piece with which the ferrule 8 can be locked to the frame 3. The hook 14 cooperates with the edge 5a of the hole 5. When the ferrule 8 is made to pivot about the pin 7, the hook 14 comes under the edge 5a due to elastic deformation and thus retains the hook 14 without further elastic deformation. The small tongue 14a is pressed to prevent the connecting ferrule 8 from pivoting in a direction opposite to that in which it was positioned. The ferrule 8 is also provided with hollow parts 15,16. The respective hollows 15, 16 are merely intended to prevent the molding of too bulky parts of the plastic material which form the ferrule but have no functional role.

The coupling ferrule 8 can be assembled to the windshield wiper arm by means of a hinge pin 17. The hinge pin 17 is provided with a head 18 which comes to rest against the end of a pivot bearing 4 arranged on one of the sides 2a, 2a of the frame 2, or more precisely on this side flange. When the hinge pin 17 is supported by two pivot bearings 4, the frame 2
penetrate from side to side. Next, hinge pin 1
7 passes through the ferrule 8 by a hole 12. The hinge pin 17 connects two necks 19, 19 (fourth
(Figure). Each neck 19 is also wide enough to fit into the free edge of each guide cheek 6. The distance between the head 18 of the pin 17 and the neck 19 closer to it is such that when the head 18 contacts the cooperating bearing 4, the distance between the head 18 and the neck 19 of the pin 17 is such that one of the lips 13 pivots of the other. When in contact with the bearing 4, the two necks 19, 19 are positioned exactly along each flat side dividing the ferrule 8. When assembling the ferrule 8 to the frame 2 (shown in Figure 2) using the hinge pin 17,
By introducing the strut pin 7 into the groove 10, the ferrule 8 can in this case be pivoted around the strut pin 7. The ferrule 8 can be locked to the frame 3 by a hook 14. During this locking, the free edge of each guide cheek 6 becomes interlocked in the two necks 19,19. Thus, this assembly results in a windshield wiper that uses a windshield wiper arm with a frame with two pivot bearings and a windshield wiper blade with a strut pin.

The annular lip 13 securely supports the hinge pin 17 during the engagement of the free edge of the cheek 6 into the neck 19, and furthermore the lip 13 adjacent to the frame 2
It is clear that the elasticity of the hinge pin 17 ensures that the lateral play is taken up at the height position of the hinge pin 17.

It is quite clear that the method of tightening the connecting ferrule to the frame ensures that the connecting ferrule is locked to the frame and the hinge pin is retained within the connecting ferrule.

It is equally clear that the embodiment described above can be modified by providing the hinge pin 17 with only one neck 19. In this case, a hinge pin having a slightly different shape from the hinge pin 17 is obtained. Such a hinge pin is shown, for example, in FIG. The hinge pin 57 shown in FIG. 7 has a head 58 and a neck 59. The hinge pin 57 has two sections having different diameters, a first section 57a and a second section 57b having a smaller diameter than the section 57a. Section 57a
is the section near the head of the hinge pin 57,
A neck 59 formed on the hinge pin 57 is provided. There is a section 57 between the neck 59 and the section 57b.
A centering bearing portion 57c having the same diameter as a is provided. The section 57a of the hinge pin 57 is
It is adapted to cooperate with a respective pivot bearing formed in each side flange of the frame 2, which is positioned so as to extend through the frame 2.
The neck 59 is adapted to receive the free edge of the frame guide cheek closer to the frame 2 when the connecting ferrule is locked. The bore formed in the connecting ferrule has in this case two diameters, namely an outer centering hole with a diameter cooperating with the centering bearing 57c and then a hole of equal narrower diameter immediately after the section 57b. have In this variant, the hinge pin can be locked to the connecting ferrule by only one neck. However, there is no particular difference compared to the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 to 6.

Although the present invention has been described in detail with respect to the embodiments above, it goes without saying that the present embodiments can be modified in various ways without departing from the spirit of the invention.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of four parts of one embodiment of the windshield wiper of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the windshield wiper arm shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a side view showing the windshield wiper arm of FIG. 1 assembled to a wiper blade. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the - line in FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is an enlarged side view of the connecting ferrule of the windshield wiper of FIG. 1, and FIG. 6 is a plan view of FIG. 5. FIG. 7 is a side view of a modified hinge pin used in the windshield wiper of the present invention. 1...windshield wiper arm, 2...wake, 2
a, 2b...side flange, 3...frame, 4...
... Pivoting bearing, 7 ... Support pin, 8 ... Connection ferrule, 10 ... Groove, 11 ... Bottom, 12 ...
Hole, 14...Hook, 17...Hinge pin, 1
8...Head, 19...Neck.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A frame 3 which is fitted with a first scraping blade and a strut pin 7 provided adjacent to each frame flange with a free edge in the direction opposite to the scraping blade. a windshield wiper blade with a
Second, a frame 2 having two side flanges forming respective pivot bearings 4, 4 each having a common axis substantially perpendicular to the center line passing through the windshield wiper arm end is attached to said windshield wiper arm end. A supported windshield wiper arm 1 is provided, and the connection between the windshield wiper arm and the frame is provided by a hinge pin 17,
57 and a connecting ferrule 8, especially in a windshield wiper for an automobile, the connecting ferrule 8 has (a) (i) two lip-shaped parts 9, 9 formed at one end thereof, and (ii) a groove 10 confined between these lips and extending completely across the width of said connecting ferrule; (iii) a diameter greater than or equal to the diameter of said strut pin 7 of said frame; (b) a connecting means comprising a rounded bottom portion 11 provided in the groove and capable of cooperating with the strut pin of the frame of the windshield wiper blade; (b) the hinge pins 17, 5;
(c) the connecting means of the connecting ferrule and the support pin 7 of the frame;
and (d) locking means capable of locking the connecting ferrules to the frame when they cooperate with each other; (d) locking means capable of locking the connecting ferrules to the frame; a body defined by two flat sides separated from each other by a distance approximately equal to the separating distance; the hinge pin has a head 18, 58 which extends through the frame and at least partially through the connecting ferrule which is arranged parallel to the frame and on the outside thereof; providing at least one neck 19, 59 which introduces the free edge of one of the frame flanges of this frame when the connecting ferrule is locked to the frame 3 by the locking means;
The frame 3 is made of a groove member, and the web portion of the groove member is disposed on the side opposite to the scraping blade, and the support pin 7 acts to be assembled to the windshield wiper arm. The height of each frame flange of the frame 3 is made higher along the side of the notched hole 5, and each frame flange supports the support pin. , a retaining hook 14 cooperating with one of the lateral edges 5a, 5b of the hole 5 provided in the web portion of the frame 3 in the vicinity of the support pin 7 thereof for locking the connecting ferrule; A windshield wiper characterized by comprising: 2. The windshield wiper according to claim 1, wherein the support pin of the frame is a pin having a circular cross section and having two flat portions facing each other along the diameter. 3 the respective lips 9, 9 defining the groove 10;
3. A windshield wiper as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that they are separated from each other by a distance less than or equal to the diameter of the rounded bottom of said groove. 4. The hinge pin 17 is provided with two neck portions 19, 19 separated from each other by a distance equal to the distance between the free edges of the frame flanges in the vicinity of the support pin 7. A windshield wiper according to any one of items 1 to 3. 5. Any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the diameter of the portion of the hinge pin that passes through the connection ferrule is equal to the diameter of the portion of the hinge pin that passes through the frame of the windshield wiper arm. Windshield wiper described in Crab. 6. The connecting ferrule is provided with an annular lip portion 13 that projects above the side surface of the connecting ferrule in a direction perpendicular to each neck of the hinge pin on the side opposite to the frame and is pressed against the hinge pin. Claim 1 characterized by
The windshield wiper according to any one of Items 1 to 5. 7. The windshield wiper according to claim 6, wherein a side edge of the annular lip portion 13 adjacent to the frame of the windshield wiper arm is pressed against the frame.