Wiper arm

• US 6,964,079 B2
• Filed: 09/26/2002
• Issued: 11/15/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 02/27/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Original Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Inventors: Zimmer, Joachim
• Primary Examiner(s): Graham, Gary K.
• Application Number:
  US10/485,902
• Publication Number:
  US 20050050668A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,146 Days
• Field of Search: 152/503.51, 152/503.52, 152/503.1, 152/503.4, 295/05, 295/09, 298/972, 403/274
• US Class Current: 15/250.351
• CPC Class Codes: B60S 1/3434 Manufacturing details thereof
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49622 Vehicular structural member making
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49908 Joining by deforming
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49915 Overedge assembling of seated part

Abstract

The invention starts with a wiper arm (10), which includes a fastening part (14) and an articulated part (16) with a wiper rod (18), of which at least one part (14, 16, 18) is fabricated of sheet metal by stamping and bending and features at least one area with several sheet metal layers (26, 28). It is proposed that an external sheet metal plate (26) and an internal sheet metal plate (28) lying on top of one another are jointly bent around a bending edge (52), whereby the external sheet metal plate (26) features connecting toes (32) on its side edges (54) that run longitudinally to the bending edge (52), which engage in matching recesses (30) on the corresponding side edges (56) of the internal sheet metal plate (28), and, after bending under an initial tension, the internal sheet metal plate (28) is adjacent to the external sheet metal plate (26).

Claims

1. Wiper arm (10), which includes a fastening part (14) and an articulated part (16) with a wiper rod (18), of which at least one part (14, 16, 18) is fabricated of sheet metal by stamping and bending, and features at least one area with a plurality of sheet metal layers (26, 28), characterized in that an external sheet metal plate (26) and an internal sheet metal plate (28) lying on top of one another are jointly bent around a bending edge (52), whereby the external sheet metal plate (26) features connecting toes (32) on its side edges (54) that run longitudinally to the bending edge (52), which engage in matching recesses (30) on the corresponding side edges (56) of the internal sheet metal plate (28), and, after bending under an initial tension, the internal sheet metal plate (28) is adjacent to the external sheet metal plate (26).

2. Wiper arm (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that the sheet metal plates (26, 28) are composed of different materials.

3. Wiper arm (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that the external sheet metal plate (26) and the internal sheet metal plate (28) are formed from a sheet metal strip (36) and placed on top of one another via folding by 180°

, whereby the fold (42) runs transverse to the bending edge (52).

4. Wiper arm (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that the internal sheet metal plate (28) is a partial reinforcing sheet metal plate (44).

5. Wiper arm (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that a first sheet metal part (46) is connected to a second sheet metal part (48) by overlapping the two sheet metal parts (46, 48) in a connection area (50) and one of the sheet metal parts (46, 48) is fashioned as the external sheet metal plate (26) and one as the internal sheet metal plate (28).

6. Wiper arm (10) according to claim 5, characterized in that the second sheet metal part (48) fashioned as the internal part (26) features a step (58) towards the connection area (50), whose height corresponds to the sheet metal thickness of the first sheet metal part (46).

7. Process to manufacture a wiper arm according to claim 1, characterized in that the contours of the external sheet metal plate (26) and the internal sheet metal plate (28) are stamped out of sheet metal in a first procedural step, that the connecting toes (32) are bent in a second procedural step, that the external sheet metal plate (26) is placed on the internal sheet metal plate (28) in a third procedural step so that the connecting toes (32) are aligned with the recesses (30), and that the external sheet metal plate (26) and the internal sheet metal plate (28) are jointly bent around a bending edge (52) in a fourth procedural step.

8. Process according to claim 7, characterized in that the external sheet metal plate (26) and the internal sheet metal plate (28) are stamped out of a sheet metal strip (36) arranged one after the other in the direction of the bending edge (52) and folded together in such a way that they are lying on top of one another and the connecting toes (32) are aligned with the recesses (30).