The present invention concerns a heating device for a vehicle windscreen wiper and a windscreen wiper including it. It also concerns a method of assembling such a windscreen wiper.
The heating device in this kind of windscreen wiper includes a heating element integrated into the body of the windscreen wiper and extending over substantially all the length thereof. Thanks to the presence of this heating element, it is possible to melt ice or snow that might otherwise form or accumulate on the windscreen wiper during cold weather and that then impedes its proper operation. This can be even more of a nuisance if the windscreen wiper is provided with a manifold for distributing a washing liquid which, in the event that it freezes, in particular at the level of the distribution holes, prevents the liquid from escaping and can generally render the whole of the windscreen wiper too rigid.
The heating device of the windscreen wiper may include one or more resistive wires associated with one of the elements constituting the windscreen wiper. The resistive wire or wires generally extend or extends all along one of these constituent elements.
There is also known a heating device of this kind including a resistive film incorporated into the windscreen wiper. This windscreen wiper is of the flat type, often referred to as a flexible windscreen wiper or flat windscreen wiper.
The constituent elements of this known windscreen wiper are shown in
The cover element 6 of the windscreen wiper 1 is in two parts of substantially the same length and connected to each other by way of a mechanical connector 10 that accommodates a hydraulic connector 11 for the washing liquid, together with an electrical connector 12 connected to a heating element 13 in the form of a resistive film that is incorporated into the windscreen wiper.
The mechanical connector 10 is closed outwardly by a cap forming a connecting member 14 connecting it to an actuating arm (not represented) via an articulation (not represented). A wiping device is therefore formed by the windscreen wiper 1, this actuating arm, and a motor (not represented) for driving the latter in oscillation.
The support element 3 includes in a central zone two lateral cut-outs 16 disposed facing each other. These cut-outs are for clipping the mechanical connector 10 onto the windscreen wiper during assembly thereof.
The element 4 forming a spline is generally made of metal and may be referred to hereinafter by the shorter term <<spline>>. This spline has an essential function in this windscreen wiper since it confers on the windscreen wiper as a whole the required stiffness for good mechanical strength for correct distribution of the force with which the windscreen wiper bears on a window at the same time as remaining sufficiently flexible to adapt to the shape of the surface of the window, which generally has a domed shape.
If this flexible windscreen wiper is raised, it assumes the shape of a bean such that its lower face is concave and its upper face consequently convex.
In this windscreen wiper with a heating device, the spline 4 also has the function of channelling and distributing the heat coming from the heating element 13 disposed on its upper face. Consequently, in a windscreen wiper with a heating device, it is important that the spline is made from a material that is a good conductor of heat so as to form an active part of the heating device.
The heating element 13 is in this example of a known windscreen wiper in the form of a resistive film fixed to the upper face of the element 4 forming a spline disposed in the housing 5 of the support element 3. The housing 5 is open upwardly over all its length via a wide longitudinal slot 17 in which this resistive film extends. Consequently, the lateral zones of the upper face of the spline are not covered by this resistive film.
Electrical contact points 18 provided on the resistive film immediately under the mechanical connector are connected to the electrical connector 12 by way of electrically conducive means that in the example shown include conductive wires 19 that pass through the slot 17 of the housing 5.
It is possible to use instead of the conductive wires 19 a leadframe or flexible contact shoes.
An object of the invention is to propose a heating device for a windscreen wiper of the same kind in which the heating element is better protected than in the windscreen wiper that has just been described, while its placement is the optimum for the distribution of heat to the lower face of the support element and toward the wiper blade, at the same time as providing a simple way to connect the heating element to the electrical connector integrated into the mechanical connector for the connection to the actuating arm.
This latter aspect is particularly difficult to implement, given that the width of the spline 4 is relatively limited, of the order of a 8 to 10 mm, and that it is desirable to avoid providing a relatively large hole in the core of the spline in order not to reduce the strength of the spline and not to impact on the distribution of pressure when the windscreen wiper is operating.
In accordance with the invention, the heating element is disposed so that the elements in the mechanical connector are not directly exposed to the heat emitted by the heating element, at the same time as providing a simple connection between the heating element and the electrical connector that is associated with the mechanical connector.
This reduces the risk of excessive heat damaging the elements in the mechanical connector, including the electrical connector, if the heating device is used frequently.
The invention consists in a heating device adapted to be assembled to a support element of a windscreen wiper, the heating device including:
In accordance with other features of the invention:
Another aim of the invention is to propose a windscreen wiper including such a heating device.
A further aim of the invention is to propose a method of assembling such a windscreen wiper.
Other features and advantages of the invention will emerge from the following nonlimiting description of an embodiment of the invention with reference to the appended figures, in which:
In the figures, the elements identical or equivalent to those already described with reference to
The essential difference relative to the heating device of the windscreen wiper already described with reference to
The heating element 13 is advantageously formed by a resistive film that will be well protected in the housing 5 provided in the support element 3. Of course, this does not exclude the use of resistive wires with the same arrangement instead of the resistive film.
As the heating element it is equally possible to use a resistive coating in the form of a resistive paint or other coating deposited on the spline 4.
Now, with this advantageous location of the heating element 13, there is a connection problem at the level of the electrical connection between the heating element 13 that is under the spline 4 and the electrical connector 12 that is on top of it.
In accordance with the invention, this connection problem is solved by virtue of the fact that the electrically conductive means such as the conductive wires 19, or other electrically conducive means, connecting the heating element 13 to the electrical connector 12 pass from the lower face to the upper face of the spline 4 around the latter on one side thereof, and in particular at one of its ends.
This avoids weakening the spline by making a hole in it, especially as the width of the spline is relatively limited, of the order of 8 to 10 mm.
The invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
The resistive film 13 has two connection points in the form of contact shoes 20 disposed parallel to each other in an end zone of the lower face of the spline. This end zone is centrally placed at the end of the spline 4.
Furthermore, the spline 4 has at its ends a lateral notch 21 for clipping on a respective cap 7 (see
Moreover, a mechanical connector 10 is clipped to the centre of the support element 3. This mechanical connector 10 has on its upper face a housing 22 for receiving an electrical connector 12 (see
The heating element 13 is connected to the electrical connector 12 by electrically conductive means in the form of conductive wires 19. In the example shown in
The invention also consists in a method of assembling a windscreen wiper including the heating device in accordance with the invention.
The assembly method in accordance with the invention includes the following phases:
In accordance with another feature of the method in accordance with the invention, the electrically conductive means 19 are fixed to contact shoes 20 provided at said end of the heating element.
In accordance with a further feature of the method in accordance with the invention, the electrically conductive means 19 are also connected to the electrical connector 12 before passing them around one of the ends of the spline 4.
The offset notch 25 is sufficiently deep on the one hand to receive the conductive wires 19 and on the other hand to ensure that the latter do not impede the insertion of the spline 4 into the support element 3.
The heating element 13 is provided with contact shoes 20 which in this case are disposed relatively near the offset notch 25.
One of the ends of the conductive wires 19 is advantageously soldered to a respective shoe 20 before the spline 4 is inserted by sliding it into the housing 5 of the support element. The other end of the conductive wires 19 is already connected to the electrical connector 12. The mechanical connector 10 is first mounted on the support element 3 and thereafter the spline 4 is inserted into the housing 5 and the electrical connector 12 is placed in the housing 22 provided on the mechanical connector 10, it remaining only to assemble the wiper blade 2, the two cover elements 6 and the caps 7, as well as the cap 14 that caps the mechanical connector 10.
The invention further consists in a windscreen wiper including the heating device in accordance with the invention. This windscreen wiper is advantageously part of a wiping device used on a vehicle.
Of course, the invention is not limited to the examples shown and described, and the person skilled in the art will be in a position to arrive at variants without this departing from the scope of the invention, in particular variants in which resistive wires or a resistive coating are or is used instead of the resistive film.
It should in particular be noted that the windscreen wiper with a heating device in accordance with the invention may also have no device for distributing a washing liquid or, to the contrary, be provided with a duplicated distribution device, one on each lateral side of the wiper. The presence of an aerodynamic deflector is not essential to the implementation of the invention either.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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1451451 | Feb 2014 | FR | national |