Patent Application
20070017055
The present invention relates generally to the field of windshield wipers and, more particularly to a windshield wiper scrubber adapter.
Windshield wipers are a common known necessity installed in every automobile. A windshield wiper motor is mounted under the front head adjacent to the bottom of the front windshield. The wiper motor arcuately rotates a wiper arm back and forth across the front of the windshield.
A windshield wiper includes a wiper housing and a wiper tread that are mounted to the end of the wiper arm. The wiper arm urges the windshield wiper against the front surface of the windshield.
The wiper tread acts a squeegee and presses against the windshield surface, thereby pressing and sweeping loose foreign material and fluid to one side or the bottom of the windshield. The fluid comes in the form of rain or stored washer fluid pumped from an internal reservoir under the hood.
When it is raining with a steady downfall, the amount of fluid presented to the windshield is sufficient to loosen any foreign matter that is adhered to the windshield surface. This foreign matter and the fluid is then squeegeed or swept away by the wiper tread. Typically the wiper tread is a rubber material that extends the length of the wiper housing and has a small width.
When it is not raining, windshields tend to accumulate all kinds of foreign matter including dust, dirt, bird droppings, splattered insects and the like. During hot weather, these foreign matters quickly adhere to the windshield surface, thus making visibility difficult.
One method of removing the foreign matter during these non-raining driving sessions is to pump washer fluid onto the windshield and attempt to loosen the foreign matter with combination of the washer fluid and the rubber tread. However, the rubber tread and washer fluid are often inadequate to substantially remove the foreign matter. In fact, often times this action spreads the foreign matter across a greater surface area of the windshield making visibility even worse. Usually a great amount of washer fluid must be pumped onto the windshield to provide effective removal of the foreign matter.
During some seasons or in some areas, foreign matter quickly accumulates back onto the windshield, making repeated cleaning attempts necessary. A great amount of washer fluid is thus expended during a short drive. For long drives, it is common for the reservoir to become empty because of the amount of fluid necessary to keep this foreign matter from the disrupting the driver's vision. It is sometimes necessary to carry spare washer fluid, pull the car over, lift the front hood and refill the reservoir.
Further, the repeated use of the wiper tread to attempt to loosen the foreign matter quickly wears away this delicate tread and it is then necessary to replace the worn wipers.
It is an object of the present invention to improve the art of automobiles.
It is a further object of the present invention to improve the art of windshield wiper systems of the present invention.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a windshield wiper scrubber adapter that fits within standard windshield wiper systems.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a windshield scrubber adapter that scrubs rather than wipes or squeegees away foreign matter from an automobile windshield.
It is a feature of the present invention to provide a windshield scrubber adapter that is adaptable to a windshield wiper system and includes a porous scrubber having a sufficient surface are to effectively scrub foreign matter loose from an automobile windshield.
These and other objects and features are described herein in which there is provided a scrubber adapter for a windshield wiper system. The windshield wiper system includes a wiper motor having a rotating wiper arm mounted thereto. The windshield wiper system further includes a wiper blade housing mated at an opposing end of the rotating wiper arm and a standard wiper tread mounted within the wiper blade housing.
The scrubber adapter includes a scrubber adapter housing, a scrubbing member mounted to the scrubber adapter housing, and coupling means for coupling the wiper blade housing with said adapter blade housing.
The scrubbing member is typically porous nylon material. Although one skilled in the art can readily determine additional material that work satisfactorily with the aims and goals of the present invention. The scrubbing member has a preferred windshield surface width of approximately one-half inch, more or less.
The windshield wiper housing and the adapter housing are mated through a number of varying means. In one embodiment, a connecting pin is inserted through axially aligned openings in both the wiper housing and the adapter housing and fixed therein with cotter pins. Obviously, a number of connecting means and apparatus may be used to couple the two housings.
In another embodiment, the windshield wiper adapter further includes a wiper tread of its own adjacently mounted to the scrubbing member. The standard windshield wiper is thus removed and the windshield wiper adapter of the present invention is installed. Thus, both scrubbing and squeegeeing is provided.
The present invention will be understood and appreciated more fully from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:
The present invention shall now be described in accordance with a preferred embodiment of a scrubber adapter isolated from a windshield wiper system and then installed in accordance with the windshield wiper system. Referring now the
The scrubbing member 12 does not easily wear down and become useless in accordance with its use in the present invention. Further, the scrubbing member 12 presents a contact surface design 14 which has a small amount of frictional force between the contact surface 14 and a windshield 16, depicted in
The scrubbing member 12 is porous so that fluid and foreign material readily passes there through so that the scrubbing member 12 does not become weighted down with absorbed material. In this manner the integrity of the scrubbing member 12 is quickly restored to its initial state after use.
Before describing the remainder of the scrubber adapter 10 it is necessary to describe a standard wiper blade 18 of the present art. Referring now to
A track member 30 extends from the bottom surface 32 of the wiper blade housing 20. A rail member 34 extends the length of the wiper tread 22 and fits in the track member 30 to secure the wiper tread 22 to the wiper blade housing 20.
Typically, the wiper blade housing 20 includes flexible members 36 extending between a back shell 38 and the track member 30. The flexible members 36 allow a certain amount of flexibility so that the wiper tread 22 and track member 30 conforms with the shape of the exterior surface of the windshield 16. The wiper arm 28 forces the standard wiper blade 18 to the windshield 16.
Referring now to a bottom view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention depicted in
When there is a significant amount of foreign material adhered to the windshield 16, the wiper tread 22 is insufficient to remove the material, unless a constant stream of fluid is applied to the windshield 16, because its surface area in contact with the windshield 16 is minimal through each stroke of the motor 19.
Turning back to the scrubber adapter 10, a scrubber adapter housing 44 includes a back shell 46 and flexible members 48 having similar dimensions to the back shell 38 and flexible members 36 of the standard wiper blade housing 20. A track member 50 again extends from the flexible members 48 substantially the entire length of the back shell 46.
The scrubbing member 12 in a preferred embodiment is adhered to the track member 50 using a plastic welding material (not shown). The plastic welding material sells under the trademarked name of Devcon®. It should be apparent that many various apparatus and methods can be used to secure the scrubbing member 12 to the scrubber adapter housing 44 and still fit within the spirit and scope of the present invention. In fact, the track member 50 of the adapter housing 44 can be any shaped member if the plastic welding material is used.
The back shell 46 of the scrubber adapter housing 44 may also include a mating member 24 extending from its top surface for mating with the wiper arm 28.
Turning now to
In the embodiment just described, the scrubber adapter 10 can be quickly installed for seasonal use and removed when not needed.
In an alternative embodiment of the present invention and depicted in
In use with either the preferred embodiment or the alternative embodiment, the scrubbing member 12 has a width of between one quarter of an inch and one inch, with approximately one half inch being preferred. Thus, as the wiper arm 28 rotates arcuately back and forth, and with some fluid being applied, the scrubber member 12 contacts such a large surface area of the windshield 16 over a single motor 19 stroke that most of the foreign matter adhered to the windshield 16 is either removed or loosened. The wiper tread 22 squeegees away the loosened foreign matter and the excess fluid from the windshield 16. Thus, the wiper tread 22 and the scrubbing member 12 cooperate to quickly clean the windshield 16.
A spring 58 installed between the back shell 60 of the adapter housing 56 and either/or both of the flexible members 36, 48 urges the flexible members 36 and/or 48 toward the windshield 16. Thus, the scrubbing member 12 and wiper tread 22 evenly come into contact with the windshield 16 even if one of the scrubbing member 12 or wiper tread 22 wears away quicker than the other.
The porous design of the scrubbing member 12 allows the foreign matter and the fluid to quickly pass therethrough, thus allowing the scrubbing member 12 to quickly restore itself to its initial shape and saturation.
Various changes and modifications, other than those described above in the preferred embodiment of the invention described herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. While the invention has been described with respect to certain preferred embodiments and exemplifications, it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention thereby, but solely by the claims appended hereto.
