This application claims priority from Korean Patent Application No. 10-2015-0114337 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wiper blade assembly, and more particularly to a wiper blade assembly, which can easily engage and disengage a wiper arm.
2. Description of the Related Art
A windshield of a vehicle is provided with a wiper blade assembly for ensuring eyesight of a driver by wiping rainwater off or removing foreign materials on rainy days. The wiper blade assembly is engaged with a wiper arm connected with a driving shaft connected to a wiper driving motor of a vehicle, and is driven by the wiper driving motor.
In this case, the wiper blade assembly is engaged with the wiper arm through a wiper connector. Generally, the wiper blade assembly is configured such that an adaptor is provided, a connector member is connected to the adaptor, and the wiper arm is connected to the connector member.
Referring to
It is shown in
Subsequently referring to
In this case, the wiper arm are engaged with a driving shaft connected to a wiper driving motor of a vehicle, and the wiper blade assembly 10 is driven by driving the wiper arm.
That is, the general wiper blade assembly is configured such that an adaptor is provided, and a connector member is connected with a predetermined region of the adaptor, that is, a connector acceptor, and the wiper arm is connected with the connector member.
Meanwhile, generally, the connector acceptor includes a hinge shaft (not shown) integrated with the connector acceptor, and thus the connector member may be connected with the hinge shaft.
However, the general wiper blade assembly is disadvantageous in that an additional connector member is needed in order to connect the wiper arm to the adaptor.
Further, this wiper blade assembly is disadvantageous in that, in the connection of the wiper arm to the adaptor, a beginner does not know whether the wiper arm should be engaged with any portion of the wiper blade assembly, and thus the engagement of the wiper arm with the wiper blade assembly is not easy.
Moreover, this wiper blade assembly is disadvantageous in that, in the disconnection of the wiper arm from the adaptor, a beginner cannot easily conduct the disengagement disconnection of the wiper arm from the adaptor, and thus it is difficult to disengage the wiper arm from the wiper blade assembly in order to replace the wiper blade assembly.
Aspects of the present invention are to provide a wiper blade assembly, which can easily engage and disengage a wiper arm.
However, aspects of the present invention are not restricted to the one set forth herein. The above and other aspects of the present invention will become more apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains by referencing the detailed description of the present invention given below.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wiper blade assembly, including: an adaptor; and a cap member connected to a predetermined region of a front of the adaptor to rotate, wherein the cap member includes one or more hollows, the adaptor includes one or more pressing plates, and the cap member is rotated relative to the one or more pressing plates in a state where the one or more pressing plates are inserted in the one or more hollows.
The wiper arm may be a U-shaped hook type wiper arm, and the U-shaped hook type wiper arm may include a longitudinal support and a U-shaped hook located at the front end of the longitudinal support. The wiper blade assembly may further include a top cover connected with the adaptor. The top cover may include a top cover body, a first wiper arm coupling unit located on the top cover body and coupled with the longitudinal support, and a second wiper arm coupling unit located in the front of the top cover body and coupled with the U-shaped hook.
The adaptor may include an adaptor body and a press coupling unit located in front of the adaptor body; the press coupling unit may include a first press coupling unit located at a first side of the adaptor body and a second press coupling unit located at a second side of the adaptor body; the first press coupling unit may include a first elastic piece connected with the adaptor body, a first pressing plate located at the end of the first elastic piece, and a first support protruding from the first pressing plate; and the second press coupling unit may include a second elastic piece connected with the adaptor body, a second pressing plate located at the end of the second elastic piece, and a second support protruding from the second pressing plate.
The one or more hollows may include a first hollow and a second hollow spaced from the first hollow; the one or more pressing plates may include a first pressing plate inserted into the first hollow and a second pressing plate inserted into the second hollow; the cap member may include a cap unit covering the predetermined region of the front of the adaptor and lateral cap portions continuously formed to the cap unit and located at lateral sides of the cap unit; the cap unit may include an upper cap portion covering the upper surface of the front of the adaptor and a front cap portion continuously disposed to the upper cap portion and covering the front of the adaptor; the lateral cap portions may include a first lateral cap portion located at a first lateral side of the cap unit and a second lateral cap portion located at a second lateral side of the cap unit; and the first lateral cap portion may include the first hollow, and the second lateral cap portion may include the second hollow.
The cap member may be rotated such that the front of the adaptor is opened before the engagement of the wiper arm and closed after the engagement of the wiper arm, so as to support the wiper arm.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wiper blade assembly, including: an adaptor; and a cap member connected to a predetermined region of a front of the adaptor to rotate, wherein the cap member includes a cap unit covering the predetermined region of the front of the adaptor and lateral cap portions located at lateral sides of the cap unit and including a first hollow and a second hollow spaced from the first hollow, the adaptor includes a first pressing plate inserted into the first hollow, a first support protruding from the first pressing plate, a second pressing plate inserted into the second hollow, and a second support protruding from the second pressing plate, the cap member includes a first locking jaw located at a first side of the inner end of the cap unit and a second locking jaw located at a second side of the inner end of the cap unit and spaced from the first locking jaw, the cap member is not rotated when the first support and the second support support the first locking jaw and the second locking jaw, respectively, and the cap member is rotated when the first support and the second support release the first locking jaw and the second locking jaw, respectively.
The first support and the second support may release the first locking jaw and the second locking jaw, respectively, by pressing the first pressing plate and the second pressing plate to move the first support and the second support inward.
The above and other aspects and features of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings, in which:
Advantages and features of the present invention and methods of accomplishing the same may be understood more readily by reference to the following detailed description of preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the concept of the invention to those skilled in the art, and the present invention will only be defined by the appended claims.
Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another element. Thus, for example, a first element, a first component or a first section discussed below could be termed a second element, a second component or a second section without departing from the teachings of the present invention.
The use of the terms “a” and “an” and “the” and similar referents in the context of describing the invention (especially in the context of the following claims) are to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context. The terms “comprising,” “having,” “including,” and “containing” are to be construed as open-ended terms (i.e., meaning “including, but not limited to,”) unless otherwise noted.
Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It is noted that the use of any and all examples, or exemplary terms provided herein is intended merely to better illuminate the invention and is not a limitation on the scope of the invention unless otherwise specified. Further, unless defined otherwise, all terms defined in generally used dictionaries may not be overly interpreted.
Spatially relative terms, such as “beneath,” “below,” “lower,” “above,” “upper” and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature's relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. It will be understood that the spatially relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is turned over, elements described as “below” or “beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “above” the other elements or features. Thus, the exemplary term “below” can encompass both an orientation of above and below. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly.
Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings.
However, in
First, the wiper blade assembly according to the present invention includes a contact member (not shown) made of a rubber material and in contact with a vehicle windshield, an elastic member (not shown) supporting the contact member, and a pair of cover members (not shown) covering the contact member. Since these omitted components are obvious in the related field, detailed description thereof will be omitted.
Subsequently referring to
The wiper blade assembly 100 according to the present invention may include an adaptor 300 attachable to or detachable from the accepting portion of the connection cover 200, and may also include a top cover 400 connected with the adaptor 300.
Meanwhile, although not shown in
Further, wiper arms having various forms may be connected directly to the adaptor 300 even when the top cover 400 is removed. Since this is obvious in the related field, detailed description thereof will be omitted.
In this case, the connection cover 200 may be disposed in the central region of the wiper blade assembly 100 in a length direction. Unlike this, if necessary, the connection cover 200 may also be disposed the outer region of the wiper blade assembly 100. Therefore, in the present invention, the position of the connection cover 200 is not limited.
Subsequently referring to
That is, the cap member 500 is connected to the predetermined region of the front of the adaptor 300 to rotate such that the front of the adaptor 300 is opened before the engagement of a U-shaped hook type wiper arm and closed after the engagement of the U-shaped hook type wiper arm, thereby supporting the U-shaped hook type wiper arm through the cap member 500.
Hereinafter, the adaptor, top cover and cap member according to the present invention will be described.
First, the wiper blade assembly according to the present invention includes an adaptor; and a cap member connected to a predetermined region of a front of the adaptor to rotate. Here, the cap member may include one or more hollows, and the adaptor may include one or more pressing plates. The cap member may be rotated according to the one or more pressing plates in a state where the one or more pressing plates are inserted in the one or more hollows.
In this case, the one or more hollows may include a first hollow and a second hollow spaced from the first hollow, and the one or more pressing plates may include a first pressing plate inserted into the first hollow and a second pressing plate inserted into the second hollow.
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings.
Referring to
The press coupling unit 320 includes a first press coupling unit 320a located at a first side of the adaptor body 310 and a second press coupling unit 320b located at a second side of the adaptor body 310.
The first press coupling unit 320a includes a first elastic piece 330a connected with the adaptor body 310 and a first pressing plate 340a. The second press coupling unit 320b includes a second elastic piece 330b connected with the adaptor body 310 and a second pressing plate 340b.
The first press coupling unit 320a includes a first support 350a protruding from the first pressing plate 340a. The second press coupling unit 320b includes a second support 350b protruding from the second pressing plate 340b.
The first support 350a and the second support 350b support or release first locking jaw and second locking jaw to be described later, respectively, thereby enabling the rotation of the cap member.
That is, when the first pressing plate 340a and the second pressing plate 340b are pressed in the X direction of
This will be described later.
Referring to
More specifically, the top cover 400 includes a top cover body 410, and includes U-shaped hook type wiper arm coupling units 420 and 430 located in a predetermined region of the top cover body 410.
Referring to
In this case, the U-shape hook 3 may be provided with an inner circumference.
Referring to
That is, the U-shaped hook type wiper arm 1 may be coupled with the top cover 400 in a state where the longitudinal support 2 of the U-shaped hook type wiper arm 1 is disposed on the first wiper arm coupling unit 420 and the U-shaped hook 3 of the U-shaped hook type wiper arm 1 is disposed on the second wiper arm coupling unit 430.
As described above, the cap member 500 is configured to be connected to the predetermined region of the front of the adaptor 300 to rotate. More specifically, referring to
Further, the cap member 500 includes lateral cap portions 520a and 520b continuously formed to the cap unit 510 and located at lateral sides of the cap unit 510.
In this case, the lateral cap portions 520a and 520b include a first lateral cap portion 520a located at a first lateral side of the cap unit 510 and a second lateral cap portion 520b located at a second lateral side of the cap unit 510.
Further, the first lateral cap portion 520a includes a first hollow 521a into which the aforementioned first pressing plate 340a of the adaptor 300 is inserted, and the second lateral cap portion 520b includes a second hollow 521b into which the aforementioned second pressing plate 340b of the adaptor 300 is inserted.
That is, the cap member 500 is rotated relative to the adaptor 300 in a state where the first pressing plate 340a of the adaptor 300 is inserted in the first hollow 521a of the cap member 500 and the second pressing plate 340b of the adaptor 300 is inserted in the second hollow 521b of the cap member 500.
Subsequently referring to
Meanwhile, the cap member 500 may further include a wiper arm support 540 located beneath the lower surface of the inner side of the upper cap portion 510a. However, in the present invention, the presence of the wiper arm support 540 is not limited.
Hereinafter, the connection and rotation of the cap member according to the present invention will be described.
Referring to
In the connection of the adaptor with the cap member, the first lateral cap portion 520a of the cap member includes the first hollow 521a inserted into the first pressing plate 340a of the adaptor, and the second lateral cap portion 520b of the cap member includes the second hollow 521b inserted into the second pressing plate 340b of the adaptor. In this case, the first pressing plate 340a of the adaptor is inserted into the first hollow 521a of the cap member, and the second pressing plate 340b of the adaptor is inserted into the second hollow 521b of the cap member, thereby connecting the adaptor with the cap member.
Further, since the cap unit 510 includes the upper cap portion 510a covering the upper surface of the front of the adaptor and the front cap portion 510b continuously disposed to the upper cap portion 510a and covering the front of the adaptor, the cap unit 510 of the cap member covers the predetermined region of the front of the adaptor.
Meanwhile, as shown in
However, in the case where a user intends to release the covering of the cap member by rotating the cap member covering the predetermined region of the front of the adaptor, as shown in
First, referring to
That is, the covering of the predetermined region of the front of the adaptor with the cap member is released by the rotation of the cap member, and thus the U-shaped hook type wiper is engaged with the wiper blade assembly in this state.
In the engagement of the U-shaped hook type wiper with the wiper blade assembly, as described above with reference to
In this case, in the state of
Therefore, in the present invention, as shown in
That is, the cap member 500 is connected to the predetermined region of the front of the adaptor to rotate such that the front of the adaptor is opened before the engagement of the U-shaped hook type wiper arm and closed after the engagement of the U-shaped hook type wiper arm, thereby supporting the U-shaped hook type wiper arm through the cap member 500.
As described above, the general wiper blade assembly shown in
Further, this wiper blade assembly is disadvantageous in that, in the disconnection of the wiper arm from the adaptor, a beginner cannot easily conduct the disconnection of the wiper arm from the adaptor.
However, in the present invention, the covering of the predetermined region of the front of the adaptor with the cap member is released by the rotation of the cap member, the U-shaped hook type wiper arm is disposed on the wiper arm coupling units, and then the cap member is rotated again to cover the predetermined region of the front of the adaptor, thereby supporting the U-shaped hook type wiper arm through the cap member.
Therefore, in the present invention, the wiper arm can be easily attached or detached by the rotation of the cap member, and thus the wipe blade assembly according to the present invention can be easily attached to or detached from the wiper arm even by a beginner.
Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the an will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10-2015-0114337 | Aug 2015 | KR | national |
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8997303 | Song et al. | Apr 2015 | B2 |
9090231 | Park et al. | Jul 2015 | B2 |
20070289079 | Van Bealen | Dec 2007 | A1 |
20100005609 | Kim | Jan 2010 | A1 |
20120227206 | Depondt | Sep 2012 | A1 |
20150135464 | Benner | May 2015 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
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0692415 | Jan 1996 | EP |
1996-049720 | Feb 1996 | JP |
10-2012-0066208 | Jun 2012 | KR |
10-1198352 | Nov 2012 | KR |
10-1245363 | Mar 2013 | KR |
Entry |
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KR101198352A1 (machine translation), 2012. |
Korean Notice of Allowance dated Feb. 6, 2017 for corresponding Korean Patent Application No. 10-2015-0114337. |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20170043749 A1 | Feb 2017 | US |