Wiper lever comprising a wiper arm and a wiper blade which is connected to the same in an articulated manner

• US 7,669,276 B2
• Filed: 03/28/2003
• Issued: 03/02/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/04/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Original Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Inventors: Vertongen, Robert, Wilms, Christian, Beelen, Hans, Verelst, Hubert, Windmolders, Eric
• Primary Examiner(s): Graham; Gary K
• Application Number:
  US10/509,716
• Publication Number:
  US 20060064842A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,531 Days
• Field of Search: 152/503.2, 152/503.51, 152/504.3, 152/504.4, 152/503.61, 152/504.6
• US Class Current: 15/250.32
• CPC Class Codes: B60S 1/38 Wiper blades provided with liquid spreading means B60S1/524; provided with gas spreading means B60S1/546
• CPC Class Codes: B60S 1/3856 Gripping the blade
• CPC Class Codes: B60S 1/3868 pin formed on the exterior of side walls
• CPC Class Codes: B60S 1/40 Connections between blades and arms
• CPC Class Codes: B60S 1/4038 for arms provided with a channel-shaped end
• CPC Class Codes: B60S 1/4064 the channel-shaped end being provided with protrusions on, or holes in, the side walls to create a pivot
• CPC Class Codes: B60S 2001/382 the backing strip being an essentially planar reinforcing strip, e.g. vertebra
• CPC Class Codes: B60S 2001/3843 equipped with removable cover or protective elements
• CPC Class Codes: B60S 2001/4051 the intermediate element engaging the side walls of the arm

Abstract

A wiper lever (10) with a wiper arm (12) and a wiper blade (14) linked to it to clean windows of motor vehicles in particular is proposed, whose wiper blade is provided with a band-like, long-stretched-out, elastic supporting element (22) that is curved in the longitudinal direction over its band surfaces (26, 28), which features a rubber elastic wiper strip (30) that can be applied to the window on its concave-curved band surface (26), on whose convex-curved band surface (28) an articulated part (20) sits, on which an adapter (40) is positioned so that it can move in a pendulum fashion, which has walls (42) aligned in the longitudinal direction of the wiper blade and standing on the band surfaces of the supporting element (22) with planes situated at a distance from one another, and locking means (72) are arranged on the adapter that are moveable against a restoring force, which cooperate with counter-locking means (66) of the wiper arm. A particularly operationally reliable connection between the wiper arm and the wiper blade to form the wiper lever is achieved if the locking means are arranged on at least one of the two walls (42) and are moveable essentially transverse to the surfaces of these walls.

Claims

1. Wiper lever (10) with a wiper arm (12) and a wiper blade (14) linked to it to clean windows (15), which is provided with a band-like, elongated, elastic supporting element (22) that has opposite concave-curved and convex-curved band surfaces (26, 28) and that is curved in the longitudinal direction over its band surfaces (26, 28), which features a rubber elastic wiper strip (30) that can be applied to the window (15) on its concave-curved band surface (26), on whose convex-curved band surface (28) an articulated part (20) sits, on which an adapter (40) is positioned so that it can move in a pendulum fashion, which has walls (42) aligned in the longitudinal direction of the wiper blade and above the band surfaces of the supporting element with planes situated at a distance from one another, and moveable locking means (68, 72) are arranged on the adapter, which cooperate with counter-locking means (66) of the wiper arm, characterized in that the locking means are arranged on at least one of the walls (42) and are moveable essentially transverse to the surfaces of these walls, characterized in that the adapter (40) has a U-shaped cross-section at least in sections, whose U-legs (42) form the walls between which supporting walls (34) embodied on the articulated part (20) suitably dip, characterized in that the adapter (40) suitably grips over two longitudinal walls (34) of the articulated part (20), which are situated at a distance from one another, with its U-legs (42), that articulation means (50, 38) are arranged on the longitudinal walls and on the U-legs (42) and that the locking means (72) of the adapter (40) that is composed of an elastic material are located on an extension (70) of the U-legs of the adapter extending beyond the longitudinal walls (34), characterized in that the wiper arm (12) that is driven in a pendulum fashion about a pendulum axis accommodates the adapter (40) with a connecting piece (18) that is U-shaped in cross-section and that the extension (70) of the adapter extends towards the pendulum axis (16), and characterized in that the locking means (72) of the adapter (40) that are preferably moveable against a restoring force are located on the outer side of the extension (70) facing U-legs (52) of the connecting piece (18) that is provided with the counter-locking means (66) of the wiper arm (12).

2. Wiper lever according to claim 1, characterized in that locking means (72) are arranged on each of the two U-legs (42) of the adapter (40).

3. Wiper lever according to claim 1, characterized in that the counter-locking means (66) that cooperate with the locking means (72) of the adapter (40) are located on each of the two U-legs (52) of the connecting piece (18).

4. Wiper lever (10) with a wiper arm (12) and a wiper blade (14) linked to it to clean windows (15), which is provided with a band-like, elongated, elastic supporting element (22) that has opposite concave-curved and convex-curved band surfaces (26, 28) and that is curved in the longitudinal direction over its band surfaces (26, 28), which features a rubber elastic wiper strip (30) that can be applied to the window (15) on its concave-curved band surface (26), on whose convex-curved band surface (28) an articulated part (20) sits, on which an adapter (40) is positioned so that it can move in a pendulum fashion, which has walls (42) aligned in the longitudinal direction of the wiper blade and above the band surfaces of the supporting element with planes situated at a distance from one another, and moveable locking means (68, 72) are arranged on the adapter, which cooperate with counter-locking means (66) of the wiper arm, characterized in that the locking means are arranged on at least one of the walls (42) and are moveable essentially transverse to the surfaces of these walls, and characterized in that limit stops (59, 68) that are aligned opposing one another at a distance from one another in the longitudinal direction of the adapter are embodied on the adapter (40), which are assigned counter-limit stops (63, 66) located on a connecting piece (18) of the wiper arm (12).

5. Wiper lever according to claim 4, characterized in that the at least one of the limit stops located on the adapter (40) is formed by its locking means (72).

6. Wiper lever (10) with a wiper arm (12) and a wiper blade (14) linked to it to clean windows (15), which is provided with a band-like, elongated, elastic supporting element (22) that has opposite concave-curved and convex-curved band surfaces (26, 28) and that is curved in the longitudinal direction over its band surfaces (26, 28), which features a rubber elastic wiper strip (30) that can be applied to the window (15) on its concave-curved band surface (26), on whose convex-curved band surface (28) an articulated part (20) sits, on which an adapter (40) is positioned so that it can move in a pendulum fashion, which has walls (42) aligned in the longitudinal direction of the wiper blade and above the band surfaces of the supporting element with planes situated at a distance from one another, and moveable locking means (68, 72) are arranged on the adapter, which cooperate with counter-locking means (66) of the wiper arm, characterized in that the locking means are arranged on at least one of the walls (42) and are moveable essentially transverse to the surfaces of these walls, characterized in that the adapter (40) has a U-shaped cross-section at least in sections, whose U-legs (42) form the walls between which supporting walls (34) embodied on the articulated part (20) suitably dip, characterized in that the articulation means of the articulated part (20) are formed by an articulated bolt (38) arranged on each longitudinal wall (34), whose axes are aligned with one another, characterized in that articulation means of the adapter (40) are formed by bearing receptacles (50) arranged in the U-legs (42), each of which are open-edged via an assembly channel (46) terminating on the free end of the U-legs (42) that has been coordinated with the diameter of the respective articulated bolt (38), and characterized in that each U-leg (42) of the adapter (40) is provided on its outer side with a collar-like projection (60) encircling the bearing receptacle (50), to which a recess (62) is assigned, which is open to the free end of the respective U-leg and is adapted at least in sections to the contour of the projection.

7. Wiper lever according to claim 6, characterized in that each assembly channel (46) is provided with an elastically expandable narrowing (48).

8. Wiper lever according to claim 6, characterized in that the collar-like projections (60) together with the section (63) of the recesses (62) that are adapted to its progression form the limit stops and counter-limit stops.

9. Wiper lever according to claim 8, characterized in that the adapter (40) is provided on at least one of its U-legs (42) with an elastically deflectable tongue (70) that features a locking tooth (72) and that the locking tooth has a limit stop shoulder (68) pointing towards the collar-like projection (60), which cooperates with a counter-limit stop shoulder (66) embodied on the connecting piece (18) and pointing away from the collar-like projection.

10. Wiper lever according to claim 9, characterized in that the recess (62) in the U-legs (52) of the connecting piece (18) that is assigned to the collar-like projection (60) has a progression that is curved from its termination (61) at the free end of the U-legs toward the counter-limit stop shoulder (66).

11. Wiper lever according to claim 9, characterized in that the locking tooth (154) of the adapter (140) that forms the locking means is provided with a holding shoulder (165) pointing away from the U-base (144) of the adapter, which is assigned a counter-holding shoulder (166) embodied on the connecting piece (118) and pointing to its U-base.

12. Wiper lever according to claim 6, characterized in that the locking means (248) of the adapter (240) that are arranged on an extension (254) of the U-legs (242) have a locking shoulder (248) pointing toward the articulated connection, with which a counter-locking shoulder (276) of the connecting piece (268) that points away from the articulated connection cooperates, when the proper positioning has been achieved between the wiper arm (12) and the wiper blade (14).

13. Wiper lever according to claim 6, characterized in that a laterally projecting handle (256) is arranged on an extension (254) of the U-legs (242) that features the locking means (248) of the adapter (240).

14. Wiper lever (10) with a wiper arm (12) and a wiper blade (14) linked to it to clean windows (15), which is provided with a band-like, elongated, elastic supporting element (22) that has opposite concave-curved and convex-curved band surfaces (26, 28) and that is curved in the longitudinal direction over its band surfaces (26, 28), which features a rubber elastic wiper strip (30) that can be applied to the window (15) on its concave-curved band surface (26), on whose convex-curved band surface (28) an articulated part (20) sits, on which an adapter (40) is positioned so that it can move in a pendulum fashion, which has walls (42) aligned in the longitudinal direction of the wiper blade and above the band surfaces of the supporting element with planes situated at a distance from one another, and moveable locking means (68, 72) are arranged on the adapter, which cooperate with counter-locking means (66) of the wiper arm, characterized in that the locking means are arranged on at least one of the walls (42) and are moveable essentially transverse to the surfaces of these walls, characterized in that guiding means (260, 280) located both on a connecting piece (268) of the wiper arm as well as on the wiper blade, cooperate during assembly of these components and force their proper positioning vis-à

-vis each other, and characterized in that the guiding means of the wiper blade are formed by a groove-like link guide (260) located in a U-leg (242) of the adapter (240) and terminating at its U-base (258), into which the guiding means of the wiper arm (12, 268) embodied as guide pins (280) and arranged on the connecting piece (268) dip.

15. Wiper lever according to claim 14, characterized in that the guide groove (260) is provided with a funnel-like expansion (264) at its termination.

16. Wiper lever according to claim 14, characterized in that each U-leg of the adapter is provided on its outer side with a collar-like projection (272) encircling the bearing receptacle, and characterized in that the collar-like projection (272) is adjacent, with a supporting shoulder (288) that points towards the free end of the U-leg (242), to a counter shoulder (290) of the connecting piece (268).