Patent Application
20130180357
The field of the present invention is that of the motor vehicle and, more particularly, that of equipments for wiping the windshield of motor vehicles.
Motor vehicles are routinely equipped with wiper systems comprising windshield wipers for washing the windshield and preventing distortion of the view that the driver has of their environment. These windshield wipers are conventionally driven by an arm effecting an angular to-and-fro movement and include elongate wipers, in turn carrying squeegee blades made from an elastic material. These blades rub against the windshield and evacuate the water out of the field of view of the driver.
The movement of the wipers is generated by an electric motor connected to a gear system. These parts are positioned in the vicinity of the wipers that they drive, i.e. in an area exposed to inclement weather.
To prevent condensation inside the gear system, it is known to provide the latter with a breather membrane, i.e. a watertight membrane that is permeable to air. Such a membrane must be protected from external aggression and it has already been proposed to place it under a cover that protects it whilst allowing air to circulate on either side of the membrane.
However, in the known solutions, the membrane is disposed on a support and the cover that protects the membrane is an independent part that must be mounted on and fixed to the support. This can cause problems.
An object of the present invention is to remedy these drawbacks by proposing a device for protecting a breather membrane enabling the ventilation of a member, notably a gear motor of a wiper system, said device including a support intended to accommodate said membrane on the surface of said member and a cover for protecting said membrane, said device being configured to allow circulation of air between the interior and the exterior of the member via said membrane.
According to the invention, said cover is moulded in one piece with said support. It is also articulated relative to said support so as to enable fixing of said membrane onto said support in an open position of said cover and to cover said membrane in a closed position of said cover.
Thus there is provided a cover connected to the support, at least during manufacture, whilst enabling fitting of the membrane to the member that must be equipped with it.
In various embodiments of the invention, together or separately:
The invention also concerns a gear motor provided with a breather membrane and a device for protecting said membrane as described above.
Said gear motor includes, for example, a housing accommodating a gear system, said protection device being produced in one piece with said housing.
The invention further concerns a wiper system provided with such a gear motor.
The invention will be better understood and other objects, details, features and advantages of the invention will become more clearly apparent in the light of the following detailed explanatory description with reference to the appended diagrammatic drawings of embodiments of the invention provided by way of purely illustrative and nonlimiting example.
In these drawings:
Referring to
As shown in
Said membrane 2 allows air to pass from the interior of the member to its exterior, which makes it possible to limit the risks of condensation in the gear system 22, even in the motor 21. It is desirable to prevent any such phenomenon for the correct operation and the durability of the wiper system. The membrane 2 is moreover impermeable to the liquid to prevent any intrusion of water into the interior of the member. Such a membrane may for example be constituted of the material known as Goretex® or any other equivalent material.
Said protection device 1 includes a support 3 intended to accommodate said membrane 2 at the surface of said member and a cover 4 for protecting said membrane 2. Said cover 4 thus has a face, which cannot be seen, situated facing the membrane 2 and an opposite face 10. Said support 3 and/or said cover 4 are notably made of thermoplastic material.
Said device 1 is configured to allow circulation of air between the interior and the exterior of the member through said membrane 2 in order to be able to provide the required gaseous exchanges. Said support 3 and said cover 4 are thus disposed one relative to the other to enable such circulation.
According to the invention, said cover 4 is moulded in one piece with said support 3. It is moreover articulated relative to said support 3 so as to enable fixing of said membrane 2 on said support 3 in an open position of said cover 4 shown in
In other words, the support 3 and the cover 4 are produced in the same material moulding step. Moreover, the cover 4 could be either open as in
In the configuration of
Thus there is provided a cover 4 for protecting the membrane 2 that has the advantage of being captive whilst providing no obstacle to the installation of the membrane 2 on the member that it must equip.
Said device could include an articulation hinge 5 between said support 3 and said cover 5. Said hinge 5 is notably constituted by a thinning of the material. In other words, the thickness of the material of the hinge 5 is less than the thickness of the material of the cover 4 so as to enable its articulation relative to the support 3.
According to a first aspect of the invention, shown in
According to another aspect of the invention, as an alternative to or addition to the preceding aspect, said hinge 5 is adapted to separate easily. Thus the decision can be taken either to tear off said cover 4 if it is not needed or to leave it fastened to said support 3.
Here said support includes a surface 7 for fixing said membrane 2 and said hinge 5 is situated in a plane different from that of said surface 7 for fixing the membrane 2. This ensures the presence of sufficient clearance between the membrane 2 and the cover 4 for the circulation of air through said membrane 2.
In the
Said support 3 includes, for example, a well 9 provided with said surface 7 for fixing said membrane 2. Said well 9 here has a substantially parallelepiped exterior shape and a circular through-orifice 10 intended to be capped by said membrane 2.
The cover 4 is plane, of substantially rectangular shape, and the same size as the surface 7 for supporting the membrane 2. The hinge 5 is situated along facing edges of said support 3 and the cover 4. The distal edge 6 of the cover 4 is situated on the opposite edge of the latter. The fixing lug 8 or each fixing lug 8 is situated on the opposite edge of the support 3.
Said protection device 1 is for example situated at the level of the gear motor 20, in particular at the level of a housing of the gear system 22 of said gear motor. Said housing accommodates a gear mechanism connected to a drive shaft of the motor 21 that cannot be seen. Said support 3 of said protection device 1 could be made in one piece with said housing. More particularly, said housing includes a body closed by the cover 31, said protection device 1 being made in one piece with said cover 31.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1250484 | Jan 2012 | FR | national |
