Universal coupler for a beam blade windshield wiper assembly
First Claim
1. A beam blade windshield wiper assembly having a universal coupler assembly, said windshield wiper assembly comprising:
- a wiping element that contacts the surface to be wiped, at least one elongated beam having a pair of longitudinal ends, and a coupler assembly;
said coupler assembly including a carrier that is mounted to said at least one elongated beam between said longitudinal ends;
a saddle that is removably received and retained by said carrier, wherein said carrier includes first and second ends, a front wall, a back wall disposed opposite said front wall that extends between said first and second ends of said carrier, and a top surface, a seat is formed on said top surface of said carrier, a shelf borders said seat on at least three sides thereof, and a ledge extends between two portions of said shelf along said back wall, and a pair of apertures are formed on said front wall of said carrier opposite said back wall, said seat, shelf, ledge and apertures cooperating to locate and fix said saddle relative to said carrier; and
a coupler that is adapted to be mounted to said saddle, said coupler including a pair of sidewalls each having a notch aligned with respect to each other and a land extending between said sidewalls cooperating to define a channel therebetween;
a cantilevered beam extending between said sidewalls in spaced parallel relation to said land, said cantilevered beam including a super-surface cooperating with said sidewalls to define an elongate passage, said channel and said elongate passage cooperating to operatively receive a first hook-type wiper arm attachment member of at least two different sizes, said cantilevered beam further including a sub-surface cooperating with said sidewalls to define an elongate track, said channel and said elongate track cooperating to operatively receive a second hook-type wiper arm attachment member of at least three different sizes; and
a substrate extending between said sidewalls in parallel relation to and disposed between said land and said cantilevered beam, said substrate cooperating with said land and said notches to receive at least two different diameter pin-type wiper arm attachment members and further cooperating with said sidewalls and said land to define an elongate cavity adapted to operatively receive at least one style bayonet-type wiper arm attachment member.
20 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention overcomes the limitations and disadvantages in the related art in a beam blade windshield wiper assembly having a universal coupler assembly. The universal coupler assembly includes a carrier that is operatively mounted to the windshield wiper assembly, a saddle that is removably received and retained by the carrier, and a coupler that is operatively mounted to the saddle. The carrier, saddle, and coupler cooperate to accommodate various sizes of “hook-type” attachment members, “bayonet-type” attachment members, as well as “pin-type” attachment members that are used to connect the wiper arm and the windshield wiper assembly.
27 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A beam blade windshield wiper assembly having a universal coupler assembly, said windshield wiper assembly comprising:
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a wiping element that contacts the surface to be wiped, at least one elongated beam having a pair of longitudinal ends, and a coupler assembly; said coupler assembly including a carrier that is mounted to said at least one elongated beam between said longitudinal ends; a saddle that is removably received and retained by said carrier, wherein said carrier includes first and second ends, a front wall, a back wall disposed opposite said front wall that extends between said first and second ends of said carrier, and a top surface, a seat is formed on said top surface of said carrier, a shelf borders said seat on at least three sides thereof, and a ledge extends between two portions of said shelf along said back wall, and a pair of apertures are formed on said front wall of said carrier opposite said back wall, said seat, shelf, ledge and apertures cooperating to locate and fix said saddle relative to said carrier; and a coupler that is adapted to be mounted to said saddle, said coupler including a pair of sidewalls each having a notch aligned with respect to each other and a land extending between said sidewalls cooperating to define a channel therebetween; a cantilevered beam extending between said sidewalls in spaced parallel relation to said land, said cantilevered beam including a super-surface cooperating with said sidewalls to define an elongate passage, said channel and said elongate passage cooperating to operatively receive a first hook-type wiper arm attachment member of at least two different sizes, said cantilevered beam further including a sub-surface cooperating with said sidewalls to define an elongate track, said channel and said elongate track cooperating to operatively receive a second hook-type wiper arm attachment member of at least three different sizes; and a substrate extending between said sidewalls in parallel relation to and disposed between said land and said cantilevered beam, said substrate cooperating with said land and said notches to receive at least two different diameter pin-type wiper arm attachment members and further cooperating with said sidewalls and said land to define an elongate cavity adapted to operatively receive at least one style bayonet-type wiper arm attachment member. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A beam blade windshield wiper assembly having a universal coupler assembly, said windshield wiper assembly comprising:
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a wiping element that contacts the surface to be wiped, at least one elongated beam having a pair of longitudinal ends, and a coupler assembly; said coupler assembly including a carrier that is mounted to said at least one elongated beam between said longitudinal ends, said carrier including a top surface and a seat formed on said top surface of said carrier; a saddle that is removably received and retained in said seat of said carrier, said saddle including a body, a coupler mount and a locking mechanism for releasably engaging said carrier, said body adapted to be cooperatively received in said seat formed by said carrier, wherein said carrier includes first and second ends, a front wall, a back wall disposed opposite said front wall that extends between said first and second ends of said carrier, and a top surface, a shelf borders said seat on at least three sides thereof, a ledge extends between two portions of said shelf along said back wall, and a pair of apertures are formed on said front wall of said carrier opposite said back wall, said seat, shelf, ledge and apertures cooperating to locate and fix said saddle relative to said carrier; and a coupler including a pair of sidewalls each having a nock aligned with respect to one another such that said coupler is adapted to be mounted to said saddle, said carrier, coupler, and saddle cooperating to accommodate at least five different sizes of hook-type attachment members, two different sizes of pin-type attachment members, and at least one size of bayonet-type attachment members. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification