Wiper and machining method for achieving the fixing of a support element to a connecting device

Abstract

A wiper comprising a supporting element and a connecting device; the outer surface of the supporting element is not provided with a plastic coating which is easy to be bonded and fused with plastic in a molten state; the connecting device has a receiving part with a claw shape, at least the receiving part of the connecting device is made of plastic material, each supporting element is provided with a material-removing part at least on the same side of the area where the supporting element and the receiving part of the connecting device overlap each other and spaced apart along the length direction of the supporting element, the material-removing part is only used to accommodate the molten plastic which fills the molten welding area of the bottom wall of the receiving part of the connecting device at the position of the material-removing part, and the supporting element is stably fixed in the receiving part of the connecting device by ultrasonic welding.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a windshield wiper for wiping water from vehicle windows, particularly motor vehicle windows. Background Technology

[0002] Frameless wipers are widely used in the automotive industry, such as... Figure 1It includes a support element 1a' for transmitting the pushing force applied by the wiper arm to the wiper blade, and a connector 21a on a connecting device 2a for directly or indirectly connecting the wiper arm. Direct connection means the connector 21a on the connecting device 2a can be directly hinged to the adapted wiper arm. Indirect connection means the connector 21a on the connecting device 2a needs to be connected to another wiper connector as an intermediate connector, which can be fixed to the wiper arm and then hinged to the connector 21a on the connecting device 2a. The support element 1a' is composed of one elastic sheet or two elastic sheets extending along the length direction and spaced apart. Each elastic sheet is made of metal and its outer surface does not have a plastic coating that can bond and fuse with molten plastic. The connecting device 2a has a claw-shaped component. The receiving portion 22a of the connecting device 2a is made of plastic. The receiving portion 22a at least partially surrounds the support element 1a' and substantially constrains its relative displacement in the height and width directions. In order to achieve stable fixation of the support element 1a' to the receiving portion 22a of the connecting device, the industry has developed a welding process to achieve the fixation of the two, such as the technical solution disclosed in patent publication CN1225606A. However, if the support element is only made of a metal elastic sheet, and its outer surface is not coated with a plastic coating that facilitates fusion with the plastic material, it is impossible to achieve a stable connection between the two for a long time by simply melting the plastic of the corresponding part of the connecting device into a plastic molten liquid through ultrasonic welding process.Later, the industry revealed a process for welding support elements coated with plastic onto connecting devices, such as patent publication CN103384619A. This process can at least further enhance the stability of the connection between the support element and the connecting device. However, current existing technology that discloses the use of hot-melt welding to connect the connecting device and the support element generally involves opening a blind hole or through hole (not shown) above the receiving portion 22a of the connecting device 2a to introduce energy from the ultrasonic generator 3a, thereby achieving the connection between the support element 1a' and the connecting device 2a. However, with this process, since the support element 1a' has a certain degree of curvature during prefabrication, and the aforementioned welding process, at least one of the... The welding working surface is located on the outer arc surface 11a' of the support element 1a'. Therefore, during the welding process, a force in the same direction as the curvature formed by the prefabrication of the support element will inevitably be generated. Since the welding point 4a exists between the outer arc surface 11a' of the support element 1a' and the inner top wall 221a of the receiving part 22a, even after the welding is completed, the support element 1a' will be driven to change from a bent posture under no-load conditions to an extended posture. However, the outer arc surface 11a' of the support element 1a' can never be tightly fitted with the inner top wall 221a of the receiving part 22a. This causes the support element 1a' to bend between the two welding points 4a and the inner top wall 221a of the receiving part 2a, which is similar to the prefabrication of the support element 1a'. With consistent slight curvature, the windshield wiper is placed on the vehicle's windshield for wiping. In each wiping cycle, the wiper moves continuously in the direction of the double arrow M, passing over windshields with varying curvatures. This causes the support element 1a' to move in the direction of the double arrow O between the two welding points 4a located at the receiving part 22a of the connecting device 2a. This periodic change causes the support element 1a' to synchronously switch from a curved shape to an extended shape, resulting in slight periodic changes in the distance N between the two welding points 4a. These periodic mechanical loads are the main cause of shear stress at the welding points 4a. When the welding points 4a are subjected to this shear stress for a long time, they are prone to detachment. Failure affects the product's lifespan. Furthermore, due to the slight curvature of the support element 1a' at the two welding points 4a, once welded, this slight curvature is essentially solidified. The wiper arm needs to apply sufficient downward pressure to the support element 1a' via the connecting device 2a to ensure the wiper blades at the two welding points 4a and their adjacent areas adhere better to the outer surface of the windshield. However, in actual use, the force applied by the wiper arm to the support element 1a' is limited. Therefore, the wiper blades at the two welding points 4a and their adjacent areas still exhibit slight curvature, failing to fully adhere to the outer surface of the windshield, thus affecting the wiper's wiping quality.To ensure a smooth fit between the support element 1a' and the inner top wall 221a of the receiving portion 22a of the connecting device 2a, some manufacturers introduce a pressure element (not shown) during the welding process to force a more even fit between the support element 1a' and the inner top wall 221a of the receiving portion 22a of the connecting device 2a. This undoubtedly increases the complexity of the manufacturing process. Furthermore, since the molten welding area where welding energy is introduced is located at the top of the connecting device 2a, it is prone to interference with certain types of connectors 21a. For example, some connectors 21a need to be offset parallel to one side of the longitudinal central axis of the connecting device, which causes the connectors 21a to encroach on the molten welding area of ​​the top wall of the connecting device 2a. Alternatively, even if some connectors 21a are located in the middle of the connecting device 2a, their excessive size partially encroaches on the molten welding area at the top of the connecting device 2a. Therefore, the connecting device 2a is often designed to accommodate only a single type of scraper arm, rather than being able to accommodate different scraper arms, reducing the product's adaptability.

[0003] In view of this, the inventor conducted in-depth research on the aforementioned deficiencies in the prior art, which led to the creation of this case. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The first objective of this invention is to provide a windshield wiper that is simple to manufacture, has a long service life, high cleaning efficiency, and better adaptability.

[0005] A second objective of the present invention is to provide a processing method for fixing the support element and the connecting device of the aforementioned wiper.

[0006] To achieve the first objective of this invention, a windshield wiper includes a support element and a connecting device. The support element is made of metal and its outer surface does not have a plastic coating that easily bonds and fuses with molten plastic. The connecting device has a claw-shaped receiving portion, at least of which is made of plastic. The receiving portion at least partially surrounds the support element and substantially constrains its relative displacement in the height and width directions. When the support element and the connecting device are assembled, and the support element does not have a slot for clamping the wiper blade along its longitudinal central axis X, the support element has at least one material removal slot staggered along its length on both sides of the longitudinal central axis X, located in the area where it overlaps with the receiving portion. When the support element has a slot for clamping the wiper strip along the longitudinal central axis X direction, each support element has at least two material removal sections on the same side of the area overlapping with the receiving part and spaced apart along its length; the inner contour of each material removal section has at least a limiting surface that restricts the support element relative to the connecting device in the length and width directions on the same horizontal reference plane, and the material removal section is only used to accommodate the molten plastic in the molten welding area of ​​the bottom wall of the receiving part at the corresponding material removal section position. A first solid weld is formed by filling part of the molten plastic into the material removal section, and a second solid weld is formed by filling part of the molten plastic into the side wall and adjacent gap of the support element and the receiving part, thereby realizing the fixation of the support element by the connecting device.

[0007] To achieve the second objective of this invention, a processing method for fixing a support element and a connecting device in a windshield wiper is disclosed. The method involves installing the material removal portion of the support element into the receiving portion of the connecting device, and fixing the connecting device with a fixing base, such that the bottom wall of the receiving portion of the connecting device is positioned opposite a hot-melt device. The hot-melt device has working heads arranged in a vertical direction relative to the fusion welding area of ​​the bottom wall of the receiving portion, with the number of working heads matching the number of material removal portions. When each working head of the hot-melt device is inserted into the fusion welding area of ​​the receiving portion of the connecting device under pressure and begins operation, the plastic in the fusion welding area of ​​the bottom wall of the receiving portion of the connecting device is heated by the working heads of the hot-melt device to form a molten plastic. This molten plastic is then heated by the hot-melt device... Under the pressure applied by the working head towards the inner arc surface of the support element, the material is squeezed into and filled into the material removal section of the support element and the side wall and adjacent gaps between the support element and the receiving section. This causes the inner arc surface of the support element to be squeezed by the pressurized molten plastic, causing its center point radius of curvature to elastically deform towards infinity. This ensures that the outer arc surface of the support element can be more flat and fit against the inner end face of the top wall of the receiving section of the connecting device in the area between the material removal sections. The working head of the hot melt device stops working under pressure and waits for time T until the molten plastic cools and solidifies to form a solid weld, thus fixing the support element to the connecting device. Then, the working head of the hot melt device is moved away from the molten welding area of ​​the bottom wall of the receiving section of the connecting device to complete the processing.

[0008] The wiper made using the above processing method and structural design has the advantage that the solid welds (equivalent to weld points) used to fix the support element and the receiving part of the connecting device to each other are formed by introducing energy from the bottom wall of the receiving part. While forming the solid welds, the support element will be driven to fit more flatly against the inner end face of the top wall of the receiving part at least between the two solid welds along the length direction, without the need for additional pressing parts or other auxiliary tools. Furthermore, since no molten welding area is introduced at the top of the connecting device, the structural design and arrangement of the connector does not need to consider the space clearance between it and the molten welding area, which greatly increases the adaptability of the connecting device. At the same time, since the support element creatively introduces a material removal part, and the inner contour of the material removal part has at least a limiting surface that restricts the support element relative to the connecting device along the length and width directions on the same horizontal reference plane, once the material removal part is filled with the first solid weld, the fixing of the connecting device to the support element is further ensured. Attached Figure Description

[0009] The specific description given as a non-limiting example better explains what the invention includes and how it can be practiced. Furthermore, this description refers to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0010] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the welding of the connecting device and supporting element of a conventional windshield wiper.

[0011] Figure 2 A 3D view of the assembled windshield wiper;

[0012] Figure 3 An exploded perspective view of the connecting device and supporting element of the wiper of the present invention;

[0013] Figure 4-1 A bottom view of the assembled windshield wiper of the present invention;

[0014] Figure 4-2 A bottom perspective view of the connecting device of the present invention (revealing another embodiment of the fusion welding area).

[0015] Figure 5 This invention discloses schematic diagrams of a first type of support element in different embodiments;

[0016] Figure 6-1 A cross-sectional view (without welding) of the first type of support element of the present invention assembled into the receiving part of the connecting device along the width direction of the connecting device;

[0017] Figure 6-2 A cross-sectional view (without welding) of the first type of support element of the present invention assembled into the receiving part of the connecting device along the length direction of the connecting device;

[0018] Figure 7-1 A cross-sectional view (already welded) of the first type of support element of the present invention assembled into the receiving part of the connecting device along the width direction of the connecting device;

[0019] Figure 7-2 A cross-sectional view (already welded) of the first type of support element of the present invention assembled into the receiving part of the connecting device along the length direction of the connecting device;

[0020] Figure 8 This invention relates to a mounting bracket for fixing a connecting device for a windshield wiper;

[0021] Figure 9 A schematic diagram of the wiper connection device of the present invention placed on the mounting base and equipped with a first type of support element;

[0022] Figure 10 A schematic diagram of the machining and welding of the connecting device and supporting element of the wiper of the present invention;

[0023] Figure 11 A partially exploded view of the second type of support element and the wiper with a bearing clip of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 12 A bottom view of the second type of support element of the present invention assembled into the receiving part of the connecting device (first embodiment);

[0025] Figure 13A bottom view of the second type of support element of the present invention assembled into the receiving part of the connecting device (second embodiment);

[0026] Figure 14 A cross-sectional view (already welded) of the second type of support element and bearing clip assembled into the receiving part of the connecting device along the width direction of the connecting device.

[0027] Label Explanation:

[0028] 100. Wiper blade; 1a, 1b. Supporting elements; 11a. Elastic sheet; 111. Inner arc surface; 112. Outer arc surface; 12a. Connecting piece; 13a, 13b. Material removal part; 14a. Positioning notch; 15a. Gap; 2. Connecting device; 21. Receiving part; 211. Top wall; 212. Side wall; 213. Bottom wall; 2131. Fusion welding area; 22. Connector; 23. Positioning protrusion; 3. Wiper strip; 4. Solid welded material; 5. Ultrasonic generator; 6. Fixing base; 61. Base body; 62. Limiting cavity; 63. Positioning piece; 631. Inserting blade; 7. Bearing clamp; 71. Notch; Detailed Implementation

[0029] The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0030] like Figure 2 and Figure 11 This invention discloses windshield wipers 100a and 100b for wiping water from vehicle windows. Specifically, the support elements 1a and 1b of the wipers 100a and 100b are made of metal, and their outer surfaces do not have a plastic coating that easily bonds and fuses with molten plastic. Furthermore, the support elements 1a and 1b are fixed to the receiving part 21 of the connecting device 2 mainly through a hot-melt welding process. The hot-melt device used in the following description is an ultrasonic generator, but it is not limited to ultrasonic generators. Those skilled in the art can use a hot-melt device similar to an ultrasonic generator to achieve short-term melting of plastic at a specified location.

[0031] First type of support element 1a: The support element 1a has a slot 15a for clamping the wiper blade 3 along the longitudinal central axis X direction. Generally, as follows: Figure 3As shown. The support element 1a is composed of two elastic sheet-like bodies 11a that extend along the length direction and are spaced apart. The two ends of the two elastic sheet-like bodies 11a can be fixed by connecting pieces 12a or end buckles (not shown). The two elastic sheet-like bodies 11a are pre-made to have a certain degree of curvature. In some embodiments, a support element 1a with a slot 15a can also be formed by punching a complete elastic sheet-like body 11a along the longitudinal central axis X. In the following description, only the embodiment in which the support element 1a uses two elastic sheet-like bodies 11a is described. However, the inventive concept disclosed in this embodiment is also applicable to the embodiment in which the support element 1a is formed by punching a complete elastic sheet-like body 11a to form the slot 15a.

[0032] like Figure 3 As shown, the connecting device 2 includes a receiving part 21 and a connector 22 from bottom to top. The connector 22 can be made into a mating part that is directly hinged to the wiper arm, or into a mating part that is connected to the wiper connector, and then connected to the wiper arm through the wiper connector. Those skilled in the art can adapt and adjust the specific structure of the connector 22 to fit different wiper arms using existing technology. The above structure is prior art and is not the focus of protection in this case. It should be emphasized that since the top of the connecting device 2 does not introduce a fusion welding area, the structural design and arrangement of the connector 22 does not need to consider the space clearance between it and the fusion welding area, which greatly increases the adaptability of the connecting device 2. The receiving part 21 is composed of two opposing U-shaped grooves, forming a claw-like shape. Each U-shaped groove is composed of a top wall 211, a side wall 212, and a bottom wall 213 connected in sequence. At least the receiving part 21 is made of plastic. However, for ease of manufacturing, the connector 22 and the receiving part 21 of the connecting device 2 are generally integrally injection molded. When the support element 1a is assembled to the receiving part 21 of the connecting device 2, the receiving part 21 at least partially surrounds the support element 1a and substantially constrains its relative displacement in the height and width directions. The substantial constraint is defined as the width and height of the receiving part 21 being slightly larger than the width and thickness of the support element 1a, respectively, and the gap formed by the two along the width and height directions is generally controlled within 0.3 mm. Each elastic sheet 11a has at least one material removal part 13a, 13b spaced apart along its length in the area where it overlaps with the receiving part 21 of the connecting device 2. Figure 5As shown, the support element 1a has a total of four material removal portions 13a and 13b, that is, two material removal portions 13a and 13b of each elastic sheet 11a are spaced apart along its length direction, and the material removal portions 13a and 13b of each elastic sheet 11a are symmetrically distributed along the longitudinal central axis X and the lateral central axis Y of the support element 1a, respectively. At the same time, the inner contour of the material removal portion 13a has at least a limiting surface that restricts the elastic sheet 11a relative to the connecting device 2 in the length and width directions on the same horizontal reference plane, such as... Figure 5 Six different shaped material removal sections 13a and 13b are revealed. These material removal sections 13a and 13b can be achieved by punching or laser cutting. Material removal sections 13a of types I to IV are notches with openings on their inner contour lines. The opening end of the notch forms at least one limiting surface that restricts the displacement of the support element 1a relative to the connecting device 2 along the width direction. For example, the limiting surface of material removal section 13a of type I is an arc-shaped limiting surface L1 with a constriction formed along its width direction (the area outlined by a circle in the figure). The limiting surfaces of types II to IV are... Its width direction forms a barb L2 (the area outlined by a circle in the figure); the material removal part 13b of the V to VI types is a through hole L3 with a closed inner contour line, such as a circular or rectangular setting. Of course, the setting of the material removal parts 13a and 13b is not limited to the above-mentioned forms. In fact, as long as the opening of the material removal parts 13a and 13b follows a principle: after the internal space of the material removal parts 13a and 13b is filled, the relative displacement of the elastic sheet 11a relative to the filler along its length and width directions on the same plane can be restricted.

[0033] like Figures 6-1 to 7-2 The present invention discloses a welding structure between the support element 1a and the receiving part 21 of the wiper 100a, wherein, as shown in the figure... Figures 6-1 to 6-2 The present invention discloses a cross-sectional view of the wiper 100a of the present invention, in which the support element 1a and the wiper blade 3 are assembled into the receiving part 21 of the connecting device 2. From the above view, it can be clearly seen that the support element 1a is assembled into the two U-shaped grooves of the receiving part 21, and the middle gap 15a is used to hold the wiper blade 3. Since the support element 1a has a certain degree of curvature, and in order to facilitate the assembly of the support element 1a into the cavity of the receiving part 21, there are small gaps between the support element 1a and the top wall 211, side wall 212 and bottom wall 213 of the receiving part 21.

[0034] like Figures 7-1 to 7-2The ultrasonic generator 5 operates only on the molten welding area 2131 of the bottom wall 213 of the receiving part 21, corresponding to the material removal part 13a, causing the plastic in this area to melt and form a plastic melt. Part of the plastic melt fills the material removal part 13a to form a first solid weld 41, and part of the plastic melt fills the gap between the support element 1a and the side wall 212 of the receiving part 21, forming a second solid weld 42. The first solid weld 41 and the second solid weld 42 are configured together as a solid weld 4 (equivalent to a welding point), ensuring that the support element 1a will not shift relative to the connecting device 2 in the width and length directions. Figure 10 Since the ultrasonic welding operation is performed from the bottom wall 213 of the receiving part 21 towards the top wall 211, the working pressure of the working head of the ultrasonic generator 5 and the molten plastic act on the inner arc surface 111 of the support element 1a. Furthermore, each elastic sheet 11a has at least two solid welded parts 4 spaced apart along its length. Therefore, the outer arc surface 112 of the elastic sheet 11a can be driven to fit more smoothly against the inner end face of the top wall 211 of the receiving part 21, reducing the formation of welds between the two weld points 4. Figure 1 The indicated arc of movement along the O direction reduces the shear stress generated by the two welding points 4, and also drives the wiper strip 3 to better fit the outer surface of the vehicle window glass.

[0035] Better designs, such as Figure 4-1 Combination Figure 6-2 As shown, the bottom wall 213 of the receiving part 21 of the connecting device 2 forms a recess in the fusion welding area 2131. The thickness of this recess can be adjusted according to actual needs, such as the power of the ultrasonic generator, heating time, etc. Finally, the plastic in the recess is adjusted to form a suitable volume of molten plastic after being melted by the ultrasonic generator 5, so that the volume of the molten plastic is just enough to fill the material discharge part 13a and the side wall (212) of the support element 1a and the receiving part (21) and the adjacent gaps to form the first solid weld 41 and the second solid weld 42 respectively. It should be noted that, wherein Figure 4-1 The revealed recess (counterhole) is semi-closed. Figure 4-2 The recess (counterhole) revealed is closed, and there is no substantial difference between the two. The choice of different shaped recesses depends on the size of the overlapping area between the support element 1a and the bottom wall 213 in the width direction. If the area of ​​the overlapping area is large enough, it is preferable to have a closed recess, which can form a larger area of ​​the first solid weld 41a, further enhancing the fixation of the receiving part 21 of the connecting device 2 on the support element 1a.

[0036] Better designs, such as Figure 4-1 and Figure 5The receiving portion 21 of the connecting device 2 is spaced apart along the length direction, and the connecting device 2 is provided with at least one positioning protrusion 23 in each interval. The supporting element 1a is provided with a positioning notch 14a at a preset position corresponding to the positioning protrusion 23. The design of the positioning protrusion 23 and the positioning notch 14a makes it easier for workers to accurately position the elastic sheet 11a and the receiving portion 21 during assembly. At the same time, it also increases the limiting component along the length direction between the supporting element 1a and the connecting device 2, ensuring that if the solid weld 4 fails, the limiting component will at least ensure that the wiper 100a will not detach from the wiper arm during wiping for a certain period of time, thus avoiding potential safety accidents.

[0037] The present invention also discloses a processing method for fixing the support element 1a and the connecting device 2 in a windshield wiper, wherein the material removal part 13a of the support element 1a is correspondingly installed into the receiving part 21 of the connecting device 2, and the connecting device 2 is fixed by the fixing seat 6, such as... Figures 8 to 10The fixing base 6 includes a body 61, the middle of which forms a limiting cavity 62. The limiting cavity 62 is used to allow the top of the connecting device 2 to be inverted and horizontally fixed in the limiting cavity 62, with the bottom wall 213 of its receiving part 21 facing upwards. The ultrasonic generator 5 is disposed above the bottom wall 213 of the receiving part 21 of the connecting device 2, and has working heads with the same number as the fusion welding areas 2131 of the bottom wall 213 of the receiving part 21 of the connecting device 2. When the working heads of each ultrasonic generator 5 are inserted into the fusion welding areas 2131 of the receiving part 21 of the connecting device 2 with pressure and start working, the plastic in the fusion welding areas 2131 of the bottom wall 213 of the receiving part 21 of the connecting device 2 is heated by the high-frequency vibration and friction of the working heads of the ultrasonic generator 5 to form a plastic melt. Under the pressure applied by the working heads of the ultrasonic generator 5 towards the inner arc surface 111 of the support element 1a, the plastic melt is squeezed into and fills the material removal part 13a of the support element 1a and the support element 1a. The gap between the support element 1a and the receiving part 21 allows the inner arc surface 111 of the support element 1a to be squeezed by the pressurized molten plastic, causing the radius of curvature at its center point to elastically deform towards infinity. This ensures that the outer arc surface 112 of the support element 1a can more directly fit against the inner end face of the top wall 211 of the receiving part 21 of the connecting device 2 in the area between the material removal parts 13a. The working head of the ultrasonic generator 5 stops high-frequency vibration friction under pressure and waits for time T. After the molten plastic filled into the material removal part 13a cools, it forms the first solid weld 41. After the molten plastic filled into the side wall 212 of the support element 1a and the receiving part 21 and the adjacent gap cools, it forms the second solid weld 42. The first solid weld 41 and the second solid weld 42 are configured together as solid weld 4 to fix the support element 1a by the connecting device 2. Then, the working head of the ultrasonic generator 5 is moved away from the molten welding area 2131 of the bottom wall 213 of the receiving part 21 of the connecting device 2 to complete the processing.

[0038] The preferred design ensures that the two elastic sheet-like bodies 11a will not move towards each other during the welding process (because the molten plastic, while filling the gap between the sheet-like bodies 11a and the receiving part 21, will drive the two elastic sheet-like bodies 11a to move towards each other in the direction of the longitudinal central axis), and ensures that the spacing of the gaps 15a of the supporting element 1a meets the design requirements, such as... Figure 8The base 61 of the fixed seat 6 has a positioning piece 63 protruding upward at both ends of the limiting cavity 62 and along the longitudinal central axis X of the connecting device 2. Each positioning piece 63 is inserted into the gap 15a formed by two elastic sheet-like bodies 11a. The two sides of the positioning piece 63 abut against the opposite sides of the corresponding elastic sheet-like bodies 11a, thereby restricting the two elastic sheet-like bodies 11a from moving towards the positioning piece 63 during the welding process. A more optimized design is that the top of the positioning piece 63 forms a cutting edge 631. The thickness of the cutting edge 631 gradually increases from top to bottom. This cutting edge 631 design facilitates the insertion of the two positioning pieces 63 into the gap 15a of the support element 1a.

[0039] The second type of support element 1b: the support element 1b does not have a slot for clamping the wiper strip 3 along the longitudinal central axis X direction, such as Figure 11 This type of wiper 100b requires at least one additional support clip 7 to connect the wiper blade 3 to the support element 1b. The support clip 7 is a conventional technology, and can be found in patent documents such as CN103619667A or CN108657127A. The inventive concept and processing method for fixing the support element 1b to the receiving part 21 of the connecting device 2 can be found in the first type of support element 1a. The two are essentially the same, which is to open a material removal part 13b on the support element 1b and connect it only through the fusion welding area 21 of the bottom wall 213 of the receiving part 21. 31. Energy from the ultrasonic generator 5 is introduced to achieve a fixed connection between the support element 1b and the receiving part 21 of the connecting device 2. There are only a few minor differences: Difference 1: Due to the introduction of the bearing clip 7, it is preferable that a notch 71 can be formed at the corresponding welding point position of the bearing clip 7; Difference 2: Since the support element 1b is a complete elastic sheet 11a, only two material removal parts 13b need to be provided on the support element 1b (i.e., two corresponding fusion welding areas 2131 are provided on the bottom wall 213 of the receiving part 21 of the connecting device 2). Figure 12 As shown, the two material removal sections 13b are located on both sides of the longitudinal central axis X and are staggered along the length direction. Of course, in order to achieve a more stable connection between the support element 1b and the receiving part 21 of the connecting device 2, such as... Figure 13 Four material removal sections 13b are provided on the support element 1b (i.e., four are provided correspondingly on the fusion welding area 2131 of the bottom wall 213 of the receiving part 21 of the connecting device 2), and each pair of material removal sections 13b is located on the left and right sides of the support element 1b along the longitudinal central axis X. Difference 3: The support element 1b lacks the design of the positioning notch 14a, therefore the receiving part 21 of the connecting device 2 also lacks the design of the positioning protrusion 23.

[0040] like Figure 14The accompanying drawing reveals the welding structure between this type of support element 1b and the receiving part 21 of the connecting device 2. The drawing clearly shows that the plastic in the molten welding area 2131 of the bottom wall 213 of the connecting device 2 melts upon heating, forming molten plastic that fills the material removal part 13b to form a first solid weld 41. This molten plastic then fills the side wall 212 of the support element 1b and the receiving part 21, as well as adjacent gaps, and after cooling, forms a second solid weld 42. The first solid weld 41 and the second solid weld 42 are combined to form a solid weld 4, thus fixing the support element 1b to the connecting device 2. It should also be noted that since this type of support element 1b does not have a gap, the fixing base 6 does not need to add a positioning piece 63.

[0041] Although embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described above, it is understood that the above embodiments are exemplary and should not be construed as limiting the present invention. Those skilled in the art can make changes, modifications, substitutions and variations to the above embodiments within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A windshield wiper, the windshield wiper comprising a support element (1a, 1b) and a connecting device (2); the support element (1a, 1b) is made of metal and its outer surface does not have a plastic coating that is easy to bond and fuse with plastic in a molten state; the connecting device (2) has a receiving portion (21) with claw-like features, at least the receiving portion (21) of the connecting device (2) is made of plastic, the receiving portion (21) at least partially surrounds the support element (1a, 1b) and substantially constrains its relative displacement in the height direction and the width direction; Its features are: When the support element (1a, 1b) and the connecting device (2) are assembled in place, when the support element (1b) does not have a slot (15a) for clamping the wiper strip (3) along the longitudinal central axis X, the support element (1b) has at least one material removal part (13a, 13b) staggered along the length direction on both sides of the area where it overlaps with the receiving part (21) and is located on the longitudinal central axis X. When the support element (1a) has a slot (15a) for holding the wiper strip (3) along the longitudinal central axis X direction, each support element (1a) has at least two material removal parts (13a, 13b) on the same side of the area where it overlaps with the receiving part (21) and spaced apart along its length. Each of the material removal sections (13a, 13b) has an inner contour that at least has a limiting surface that restricts the support element (1a, 1b) relative to the connecting device (2) in the length and width directions on the same horizontal reference plane. The material removal section (13a, 13b) is only used to accommodate the molten plastic in the molten welding area (2131) of the bottom wall (213) of the filling receiving section (21) at the corresponding material removal section (13a, 13b). A first solid weld (41) is formed by filling part of the molten plastic into the material removal section (13a, 13b) and cooling it. A second solid weld (42) is formed by filling part of the molten plastic into the side wall (212) of the support element (1a, 1b) and the receiving section (21) and the adjacent gap. The connecting device (2) fixes the support element (1a, 1b).

2. The wiper blade as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The support elements (1a, 1b) have a total of four material removal sections (13a, 13b), with each pair of material removal sections (13a, 13b) located on both sides of the longitudinal central axis X of the support elements (1a, 1b).

3. The wiper blade as described in claim 2, characterized in that: Each of the material removal sections (13a, 13b) is symmetrically distributed along the longitudinal central axis X and the lateral central axis Y of the support element (1a, 1b).

4. The wiper blade according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that: The material removal section (13a, 13b) is a through hole with a closed inner contour or a notch with an opening in the inner contour. The opening end of the notch forms at least a limiting surface that restricts the displacement of the support element (1a, 1b) relative to the connecting device (2) in the width direction.

5. The wiper blade as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The bottom wall (213) of the receiving part (21) of the connecting device (2) forms a recess in the fusion welding area (2131). The thickness of the recess facilitates the introduction of energy to heat melt the plastic in the recess, forming a plastic melt of suitable volume, so that the volume of the plastic melt is just enough to fill the material discharge part (13a, 13b) and the support element (1a, 1b) and the side wall (212) of the receiving part (21) and the adjacent gap.

6. The wiper blade according to any one of claims 1-5, characterized in that: When the support element (1a) has a slot (15a) for holding the wiper blade (3) along the longitudinal central axis X direction, the receiving part (21) of the connecting device (2) is spaced apart along the length direction, and the connecting device (2) has at least one positioning protrusion (23) in the interval, and the support element (1a) has a positioning notch (14a) at the position corresponding to the positioning protrusion (23).

7. A processing method for fixing the support elements (1a, 1b) and the connecting device (2) in a windshield wiper, characterized in that: The material removal parts (13a, 13b) of the support elements (1a, 1b) are correspondingly installed into the receiving part (21) of the connecting device (2), and the connecting device (2) is fixed by the fixing seat (6) so that the bottom wall (213) of the receiving part (21) of the connecting device (2) is opposite to the position of the hot melt device (5). The hot melt device (5) is arranged vertically relative to the melting welding area (2131) of the bottom wall (213) of the receiving part (21) of the connecting device (2) and the material removal part (13a, 13b). a, 13b) With the same number of working heads, when the working heads of each hot melt device (5) are inserted into the melting welding area (2131) of the receiving part (21) of the connecting device (2) under pressure and start working, the plastic in the melting welding area (2131) of the bottom wall (213) of the receiving part (21) of the connecting device (2) is heated by the working heads of the hot melt device (5) to form a plastic melt. The plastic melt is subjected to the pressure applied by the working heads of the hot melt device (5) towards the inner arc surface (1a, 1b) of the support element (1a, 1b). Under the pressure of direction 11), the material is squeezed into and filled into the material removal section (13a, 13b) of the support element (1a, 1b) and the side wall (212) of the support element (1a, 1b) and the adjacent gap, so that the inner arc surface (111) of the support element (1a, 1b) is squeezed by the pressurized plastic melt, causing the radius of curvature of its center point to elastically deform towards infinity, ensuring that the outer arc surface (112) of the support element (1a, 1b) is located in the material removal section ( The area between 13a and 13b) can be more flat and fit against the inner end face of the top wall (211) of the receiving part (21). The working head of the hot melt device (5) stops working under pressure and waits for time T until the plastic melt cools and solidifies to form a solid weld (4), thereby fixing the supporting elements (1a and 1b) by the connecting device (2). Then the working head of the hot melt device (5) is moved away from the molten welding area (2131) of the bottom wall (213) of the receiving part (21) of the connecting device (2) to complete the processing.

8. The processing method for fixing the support elements (1a, 1b) and the connecting device (2) as described in claim 7, characterized in that: The connecting device (2) is fixed horizontally, and the bottom wall (213) of the receiving part (21) faces upward.

9. The processing method for fixing the support element (1a) and the connecting device (2) as described in claim 7, characterized in that: When the support element (1a) has a slot (15a) for clamping the wiper blade (3) along the longitudinal central axis X direction, the fixing seat (6) includes a body (61), the middle part of which forms a limiting cavity (62), the limiting cavity (62) is used to allow the top of the connecting device (2) to be inverted in the limiting cavity (62) and horizontally fixed, and the bottom wall (213) of its receiving part (21) faces upward; the body (61) has a positioning piece (63) protruding upward at the front and rear ends of the limiting cavity (62) and along the longitudinal central axis X direction of the connecting device (2), and each positioning piece (63) is inserted into the slot (15a) formed by the support element (1a) to restrict the two elastic sheet-like bodies (11a) on both sides of the slot (15a) of the support element (1a) from moving towards each other during the welding process.

10. The processing method for fixing the support elements (1a, 1b) and the connecting device (2) as described in claim 7, characterized in that: The hot-melting device (5) is an ultrasonic generator.

Images