Wiper blade and wiper

Abstract

The invention discloses a wiper rubber strip, which comprises at least one rubber strip base body and at least one wiper lip, the rubber strip base body is provided with at least one mounting groove on both sides in the width direction, a transverse connecting strip is constructed below the mounting groove, the wiper lip is swingably arranged in the central axis part of the transverse connecting strip through the connecting strip, at least one large-diameter part is formed on the side adjacent to the connecting strip, the transverse connecting strip extends downward to form two supporting strips on both sides in the width direction respectively, at least when the deflection angle between the longitudinal central axis X of the wiper lip and the longitudinal central axis Y of the transverse connecting strip is equal to α, the free end of one of the supporting strips abuts against the middle lower part of the outer side surface of the opposite position of the wiper lip, so as to basically limit the deflection angle between the longitudinal central axis X of the wiper lip and the longitudinal central axis Y of the transverse connecting strip from continuing to expand, and the other supporting strip does not abut against the glass surface.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of wiper accessory technology, and particularly to wiper blades and wipers equipped with the wiper blades. Background Technology

[0002] A windshield wiper is a tool used on the windshield of a motor vehicle to clean the windshield of rainwater and other dirt from obstructing vision. It generally consists of a wiper blade, a wiper bracket, and a wiper adapter. The wiper is mounted on the wiper arm via the wiper adapter (adapter). The wiper blade, from top to bottom, includes at least a blade base, a connecting strip, and a wiping lip. The wiping lip moves relative to the blade base via the connecting strip. However, because the pressure applied to the wiper bracket by the wiper arm varies between different brands and types of vehicles, insufficient pressure can lead to incomplete wiping, while excessive pressure often prevents the wiper blade from maintaining its proper rotation angle during wiping. In other words, the wiper blade's lip is easily compressed and flattened, resulting in an excessively large contact area between the lip and the windshield. This causes a large water film to form on the windshield surface during wiping, affecting the wiping quality. Additionally, the lip tends to generate noise during wiping. In some cases, when the wiper is not in use, the lip remains compressed on one side for extended periods, causing excessive or permanent deformation of the connecting strip relative to the blade base. Consequently, during wiping, the lip only flips towards one side of the blade base, failing to achieve a natural flip. This further leads to severe wiper vibration and abnormal noise, significantly reducing the wiping quality and lifespan of the wiper blade.

[0003] To address this, industry professionals have developed a scraping lip, see CN114379511A for details. Figure 1The system includes a support strip 3', a diagonal strip 4' fixedly installed at the bottom of the support strip 3', a rubber strip blade 5' fixedly installed on the bottom surface of the diagonal strip 4', a left auxiliary strip 6' fixedly installed on the bottom side of the diagonal strip 4' located on the side of the rubber strip blade 5', and a right auxiliary strip 7' fixedly installed on the side of the rubber strip blade 5' away from the left auxiliary strip 6'. During the swiping process, the bottom side of the diagonal strip 4' stops the left auxiliary strip 6' and the right auxiliary strip 7' respectively, to avoid the rubber strip blade 5' having too large a contact area with the windshield, which could lead to problems such as unclean swiping. However, with this structure, since the rubber strip blade 5', left auxiliary strip 6', and right auxiliary strip 7' are all located below the inclined strip 4' via the swing connecting strip 8', when the wiper lip is in operation, the rubber strip blade 5', left auxiliary strip 6', and right auxiliary strip 7' will all swing relative to the inclined strip 4'. The problem is that the left auxiliary strip 6' stops the rubber strip blade 5' while the right auxiliary strip 7' can rest against and support the glass surface, providing auxiliary support, and vice versa. Therefore, during the wiping process, the frictional resistance between one auxiliary strip and the glass is increased, which increases the operating power consumption of the wiper arm motor, reduces its service life, and also causes additional noise when the auxiliary strip rubs against the glass, or unnecessary jumping during contact with the glass, ultimately affecting the wiping quality of the wiper. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The primary objective of this invention is to provide a wiper blade that provides clean wiping, low noise, and long service life.

[0005] A second objective of the present invention is to provide a wiper blade comprising the aforementioned wiper blade rubber strip.

[0006] To achieve the aforementioned first objective, the present invention discloses a wiper blade, comprising at least one blade substrate and at least one wiper lip. The blade substrate has mounting grooves on at least two sides along its width direction. A transverse connecting strip is constructed below the mounting grooves, through which a support piece is directly or indirectly provided to increase the overall strength and torsional resistance of the blade substrate. The wiper lip is pivotally mounted on the central axis of the transverse connecting strip via a connecting strip, forming a large-diameter portion on at least one side adjacent to the connecting strip. The transverse connecting strip extends downwards on both sides along its width direction to form two support strips. At least when the sway angle formed between the longitudinal central axis X of the wiper lip and the longitudinal central axis Y of the transverse connecting strip is equal to α, the free end of one support strip abuts against the lower middle part of the outer side of the wiper lip at a relatively opposite position, thereby substantially limiting the further expansion of the sway angle formed between the longitudinal central axis X of the wiper lip and the longitudinal central axis Y of the transverse connecting strip, and the other support strip does not come into contact with the glass surface.

[0007] The term "wiper blade" preferably refers to at least one component, particularly a sub-assembly, of a windshield wiper. Specifically, "wiper blade" should refer to a wiper blade made of at least one elastic material, serving as a wiper blade with a wiping lip, which is configured to move above the surface to be cleaned during contact in order to clean the surface and / or to remove fluid from said surface, particularly a glass surface, preferably a vehicle windshield and / or headlight glass. Preferably, the wiper blade, particularly the wiping lip and / or the blade base, is made of a natural or artificial elastomer, particularly of plastic and / or rubber. Preferably, the wiping lip and the blade base are made of the same material. Preferably, the wiping lip and the blade base are connected by a connecting strip. Preferably, the wiping lip, connecting strip, and blade base are formed as a single piece. "One-piece construction" should particularly refer to a connection with at least material interlocking, for example, through welding, bonding, spraying, and / or other processes that appear meaningful to those skilled in the art, and / or to be advantageously integrally formed, such as by casting and / or by injection molding or extrusion, such as co-extrusion, and advantageously by a single blank. Preferably, this should particularly refer to integral, especially preferably by a forming process. "Integral" should particularly refer to being formed as a single unit. Preferably, this single unit is formed by a single blank, a block material, and / or a casting, especially preferably by injection molding or extrusion, particularly by single-component and / or multi-component injection molding or extrusion. Preferably, the main extension direction of the rubber strip matrix extends at least substantially parallel to the main extension direction of the wiper lip and / or wiper strip, and the "main extension direction" of the object should preferably refer to a direction that extends parallel to the longest side of the smallest cuboid, which completely surrounds the object. "Substantially parallel" should in particular refer to an orientation relative to a reference direction, especially in a plane, wherein the orientation has a deviation of less than 8°, advantageously less than 5° and particularly advantageously less than 2° relative to the reference direction.

[0008] Preferably, the rubber strip substrate is arranged without contact with the surface, especially the vehicle glass, at least during the operation of the wiper unit.

[0009] With the above design, by adding downwardly extending support bars on both sides of the transverse connecting bar along its width, since the transverse connecting bar is adjacent to the mounting groove for placing the support piece, the support piece can be defined as a pre-bent elastic support for a frameless wiper. "Installed state" in this regard should particularly refer to a state in which the wiper is prepared for wiping and / or wiping operation. Specifically, the wiper is arranged on and / or coupled to the wiper arm in the installed state, wherein there is a mechanical, electrical, and / or fluid coupling between the wiper arm and the wiper. Preferably, the at least one elastic support is at least partially made of metal. As an alternative or supplementary option, it is conceivable that the elastic support is at least partially made of plastic, composite material, or other material that is meaningful to those skilled in the art; preferably, the elastic support is at least partially made of spring steel; preferably, the elastic support has at least substantially the shape of a bent bar in the unloaded state, and particularly advantageously, the shape of a flattened bent bar. The elastic support can be constructed as a single component or a multi-component structure. Preferably, the curvature of the elastic support, in an unloaded state, is greater than the curvature of the vehicle's glass surface, especially the vehicle glass, and guides the elastic support through the vehicle glass in at least one operating state and / or in the installed state. For framed wipers, the support strip can be defined as a rigid, flat support that does not require pre-bending. The support strip is at least partially made of plastic, composite material, metal, or other material that is meaningful to those skilled in the art. The support strip is installed into the mounting groove of the wiper blade substrate, ensuring that the wiper blade has sufficient rigidity and torsional resistance.Because the transverse connecting strip is adjacent to the mounting groove, the assembled wiper blade has its transverse connecting strip closest to the support plate, allowing it to receive effective support and improving its rigidity and torsional resistance. Simultaneously, the transverse connecting strip and the two support strips form a component with a U-shaped cross-section. Compared to a traditional transverse connecting strip that is merely a rectangular plane or a slightly curved plane, this component clearly possesses superior torsional resistance. Therefore, when the wiper is wiping, the blade base and the two support strips can be considered as a single, oscillating unit, meaning the blade base moves between the mounting groove area and the transverse connecting strip area. The relative torsion is negligible, and the wiper lip is considered a single oscillating body. The connecting strip allows the wiper lip to oscillate relative to the transverse connecting strip. When the sway angle formed between the longitudinal centerline X of the wiper lip and the longitudinal centerline Y of the transverse connecting strip is equal to α, it obtains effective support from the support strip on one side, preventing the wiper arm from applying excessive downward pressure to the wiper blade through the wiper bracket. The sway angle formed between the longitudinal centerline X of the wiper lip and the longitudinal centerline Y of the transverse connecting strip continues to expand, improving the cleanliness and service life of the wiper blade, and effectively reducing the noise generated during wiping.

[0010] Wherein, the sway angle α is A1, and A1 is defined as the threshold of the safe sway angle. The threshold of the safe sway angle is preset according to the length and height of the wiper blade and the curvature of the windshield of the vehicle model to which it is adapted. That is, the sway angle α can only be limited to less than or equal to A1, so that the connecting strip is not prone to excessive deformation on one side, and it is impossible to cause permanent deformation. The connecting strip can achieve natural edge flipping, effectively ensuring the cleanliness of the wiper blade.

[0011] Furthermore, the sway angle α is A2, which is defined as the optimal sway angle. The optimal sway angle is preset based on the length and height of the wiper blade and the curvature of the windshield of the vehicle model. The optimal sway angle A2 is less than or equal to the threshold A1 of the safe sway angle. The sway angle α of the wiper lip is set to A2, which minimizes the contact area with the windshield while ensuring clear wiping. When the wiper blade is wiping, it can reduce the frictional resistance of the wiper lip, improve the cleanliness of the wiper blade, further reduce noise, reduce the load on the wiper arm motor, and extend the service life of the wiper arm motor.

[0012] Furthermore, a clearance surface is formed in the lower middle part of the outer side wall of the support bar.

[0013] This design further avoids the wiper blade from swaying, ensuring sufficient clearance between the outer wall of the support strip on the side away from the wiper lip and the glass surface, thus preventing unnecessary noise and increased frictional resistance of the wiper blade.

[0014] Furthermore, the free end of the support bar forms an arc-shaped protrusion facing the wiper lip, which provides contact support with the wiper lip and further limits the sway angle of the wiper lip.

[0015] Furthermore, the transverse connecting strip forms an opening groove on each side of the longitudinal central axis.

[0016] This design allows for adjustments to the flexibility of the wiper blade substrate when a higher height is required. The inner top wall of the slot also provides cushioning and auxiliary support for the support strip.

[0017] Furthermore, the large diameter portion of the wiper lip has a lateral extension, which is designed such that when the sway angle formed between the longitudinal centerline X of the wiper lip and the longitudinal centerline Y of the lateral connecting strip is ≥β, where β < α, the lateral end of the lateral extension will abut against and support each other with the inner end face of the lateral connecting strip and / or the inner wall of the upper part of the support strip.

[0018] With the above design, the lateral end of the lateral extension will preferentially abut against the inner end face of the lateral connecting strip and / or the inner wall of the upper part of the support strip, thereby avoiding the sway angle formed between the longitudinal centerline X of the wiper lip and the longitudinal centerline Y of the lateral connecting strip, which is directly to angle α. The sway angle is large and it is easy for the wiper lip to generate a lot of noise during the flanging process. By having the lateral extension abut against the support strip before the wiper lip abuts against it, the impact energy is reduced, which can greatly reduce the flanging noise of the wiper lip.

[0019] To achieve the second objective mentioned above, the present invention also discloses a wiper blade comprising the aforementioned wiper rubber strip. Attached Figure Description

[0020] 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: Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the wiper blade disclosed in publication number CN114379511A; Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the wiper blade strip according to the first embodiment of the present invention; Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the wiper blade state when the sway angle of the wiper lip is β according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the wiper blade state when the sway angle of the wiper lip is α according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Figure 5This is a schematic diagram of the wiper blade and the receiving clamp plate in the first embodiment of the present invention; Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the wiper blade strip according to the second embodiment of the present invention; Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the wiper blade strip according to the third embodiment of the present invention. Implementation

[0021] The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0022] In the description of this invention, it should be understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "upper", "lower", etc., indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings. They are only for the convenience of describing this invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, they should not be construed as limitations on this invention.

[0023] Please see Figures 2 to 4 This invention discloses a wiper blade, which comprises, from top to bottom, a blade base 1a and a wiper lip 2. The blade base 1a has, from top to bottom, a guide surface 14, a mounting groove 11, and a transverse connecting strip 12. The mounting groove 11 consists of two lateral slots 11 formed along the width direction on both sides of the upper part of the blade base 1a. When the wiper bracket is a framed wiper bracket, the lateral slots 11 can be used to place a support strip (not shown). When the wiper bracket is a frameless wiper, the lateral slots 11 can be used to directly place an elastic support component 100 (e.g.,...). Figure 3 ), or by installing the load-bearing clips 200 to load the elastic support component 100 (such as Figure 5 It should be noted that the structure of the bearing clip 200 is existing technology, and the technical solution disclosed in CN208376700U can be referred to, and will not be repeated here. Also, due to the addition of the bearing clip 200, the guide surface is not suitable for integral configuration on the rubber strip base 1a' of the wiper blade. The transverse connecting strip 12 extends downwards on both sides along its width to form two support strips 13. The wiper lip 2 is pivotally mounted on the central axis of the transverse connecting strip 12 via a connecting strip 3, and it forms a large-diameter portion 22 at least on one side adjacent to the connecting strip 3. Please refer to [link to relevant documentation]. Figure 4During wiping, at least when the sway angle formed between the longitudinal centerline X of the wiper lip 2 and the longitudinal centerline Y of the transverse connecting strip 12 reaches α, the free end of one of the support strips 13, which is in the same direction as the wiping direction of the wiper blade, abuts against the lower middle part of the outer side 21 of the wiper lip 2. This is to basically limit the sway angle α formed between the longitudinal centerline X of the wiper lip 2 and the longitudinal centerline Y of the transverse connecting strip 12 from further increasing, and the other support strip 13 will not come into contact with the glass surface. Regarding the definition of "basically", since the wiper blade is an elastomer made of composite materials including rubber, it is not a rigid material. Therefore, even if the wiper lip swaying to one side can obtain effective support from the support strip, in some extreme usage scenarios, such as heavy rain or excessive pushing force applied to the wiper blade by the wiper arm, the wiper lip 2 and the support strip 13 on the side abutting will sway to the wiping direction, that is, the sway angle α will continue to increase. This increase should be controlled at least within 20°, and more preferably within 5°. Regarding how to ensure that the support strip 13 located in the opposite direction of the wiping direction does not come into contact with the glass surface when the wiper is wiping, the distance between the bottom end of the support strip 13 and the windshield can be adjusted. More preferably, the lower middle part of the outer wall 131 of the support strip 13 forms a relief surface 132 with a gradually narrowing width from top to bottom in the horizontal direction. In this embodiment, a relief slope is provided, but it can also be made into a relief arc surface. This design ensures that the relief surface 132 of the support strip 13 located in the opposite direction of the wiper blade wiping direction has sufficient clearance with the windshield surface, which can further prevent the outer wall 131 (including the relief surface 132) of the support strip 13 on this side from coming into contact with the windshield surface.

[0024] Regarding the determination of the sway angle α formed between the longitudinal centerline X of the wiper lip 2 and the longitudinal centerline Y of the transverse connecting strip 12, those skilled in the art are capable of obtaining the preset sway angle through a limited number of experiments based on the length and height of the wiper blade and the curvature of the windshield of the vehicle model. Once the preset sway angle α is determined, under the premise of using wiper lips 2 of the same shape, the sway angle α can be determined by controlling the distance between the free ends of the two support strips 13 and the distance between the horizontal tangent of the free end of the support strip 13 and the horizontal tangent of the free end of the wiper lip 2. To facilitate quality inspection during the manufacturing process, such as measuring whether the distance between the free ends of the two support strips 13 conforms to the design dimensions, it is preferable to design the inner wall 134 of the support strip 13 to be basically vertically downward (e.g., Figure 3 The invention also provides another embodiment for controlling the yaw angle α, such as... Figure 6The free end of the support strip 13 forms an arc-shaped protrusion 133 facing the wiper lip 2. This arc-shaped protrusion 133 changes the distance between the free ends of the two support strips 13. Compared with the first embodiment, by changing the arc-shaped protrusion 133, under the premise of achieving the same sway angle α, the relative distance H2 between the horizontal tangent of the free end of the support strip 13 and the horizontal tangent of the free end of the wiper lip 2 in embodiment 2 is greater than the relative distance H1 between the horizontal tangent of the free end of the support strip 13 and the horizontal tangent of the free end of the wiper lip 2 in embodiment 1. It should be noted that the inner wall 134 of the support strip 13 is not necessarily a vertical plane. In some product designs, the inner wall 134 of the support strip 13 can be designed as an arc-shaped surface or an irregular curved surface.

[0025] Simultaneously, regarding the pre-set size of the sway angle α, this invention provides two design ideas. Design idea 1: When the sway angle α is defined as A1, where A1 is the threshold of the safe sway angle, the sway angle α can only be limited to a range less than or equal to A1. This makes the connecting strip less prone to excessive deformation on one side, and even less likely to cause permanent deformation. The connecting strip can achieve natural folding, effectively ensuring the cleanliness of the wiper blade. Design idea 2: The sway angle α formed between the longitudinal centerline X of the wiper lip 2 and the longitudinal centerline Y of the transverse connecting strip 12 is... A2, defined as the optimal sway angle, is preset based on the length and height of the wiper blade and the curvature of the windshield of the vehicle model. The optimal sway angle A2 is less than or equal to the safety sway angle threshold A1. When the sway angle α of the wiper lip 2 is set at A2, its contact area with the windshield is minimized while ensuring clear wiping. During wiping, the wiper blade reduces the frictional resistance of the wiper lip 2, improving the cleanliness of the wiper blade while further reducing noise and the load on the wiper arm motor, thus extending the service life of the wiper arm motor.

[0026] More preferably, such as Figure 3The present invention also discloses a design scheme in which the large diameter portion 22 is a lateral extension portion 221, the lateral extension portion 221 having a lateral end portion 222 extending along the width direction of the wiper blade, which is designed such that when the sway angle formed between the longitudinal center axis X of the wiper lip 2 and the longitudinal center axis Y of the lateral connecting strip 12 is ≥β, wherein β < α, the lateral end portion 222 of the lateral extension portion 221 preferably abuts against and supports each other with the inner end face of the lateral connecting strip 12 and / or the inner wall of the upper part of the support strip 13, and then the sway angle formed between the longitudinal center axis X of the wiper lip 2 and the longitudinal center axis Y of the lateral connecting strip 12 continues to expand to α, and the free end of one of the support strips 13, which is in the same direction as the wiper blade wiping direction, abuts against the lower middle part of the outer side surface 21 of the wiper lip 2 at the opposite position.

[0027] More preferably, such as Figure 7 In this embodiment, the transverse connecting strip 12 of the wiper blade substrate 1c forms an opening groove 121 on each side of the longitudinal central axis. This opening groove 121 allows for adjustment of the flexibility of the wiper blade substrate 1c when a higher height is required for some wiper blades. Furthermore, the inner top wall of the opening groove 121 provides buffering and auxiliary support to the support strip 13, enabling adjustment of the sway angle of the wiper lip 2.

[0028] The present invention also discloses a windshield wiper, which can be a framed wiper, a frameless wiper, or a hybrid wiper. It is adapted to different wiper brackets according to the classification of wipers. However, the most obvious difference between the above-mentioned wiper and conventional wipers is that it is equipped with a wiper blade with the aforementioned inventive concept. Wipers using this wiper blade can greatly improve the cleaning of the wiper blade, reduce the noise generated during the wiping process, and extend the service life of the wiper and the wiper motor.

[0029] The above embodiments and illustrations are not intended to limit the product form and style of the present invention. Any appropriate changes and modifications made by those skilled in the art should be considered as not departing from the patent scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A wiper blade, the wiper blade comprising at least one blade base (1a, 1b, 1c) and at least one wiper lip (2), wherein the blade base (1a, 1b, 1c) has at least one mounting groove (11) on both sides along the width direction, and a transverse connecting strip (12) is constructed below the mounting groove (11), and a support piece is directly or indirectly provided by the mounting groove (11) to increase the overall strength and torsional resistance of the blade base (1a, 1b, 1c), the wiper lip (2) is pivotally disposed on the central axis of the transverse connecting strip (12) via a connecting strip (3), and the wiper lip (2) forms a large diameter portion (22) at least on one side adjacent to the connecting strip (3), characterized in that: The transverse connecting strip (12) extends downward on both sides along the width direction to form two support strips (13); the large diameter portion (22) has a transverse extension portion (221), and the transverse extension portion (221) has a lateral end (222) extending along the width direction of the wiper blade; when the sway angle formed between the longitudinal centerline X of the wiper lip (2) and the longitudinal centerline Y of the transverse connecting strip (12) reaches β, the lateral end (222) first abuts against at least one of the inner end face of the transverse connecting strip (12) and / or the inner wall of the upper part of the support strip (13); as the sway angle continues to expand to α, where β < α, the free end of one support strip (13) in the same direction as the wiper blade abuts against the lower part of the outer side surface (21) of the wiper lip (2) at the opposite position, which is used to basically limit the sway angle from continuing to expand, and the other support strip (13) will not come into contact with the glass surface.

2. The wiper blade as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The sway angle α is A1, which is defined as the threshold of the safe sway angle. The threshold of the safe sway angle is preset according to the length and height of the wiper blade and the curvature of the windshield of the vehicle model. That is, if the sway angle α is greater than A1, the connecting strip is prone to excessive deformation on one side, or even permanent deformation.

3. The wiper blade as described in claim 2, characterized in that: The yaw angle α is set to A2, which is defined as the optimal yaw angle. The optimal yaw angle is preset based on the length and height of the wiper blade and the curvature of the windshield of the vehicle model. The optimal yaw angle A2 is less than or equal to the threshold A1 of the safe yaw angle.

4. The wiper blade as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The lower middle part of the outer wall (131) of the support bar (13) forms a relief surface (132).

5. The wiper blade as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The free end of the support bar (13) forms an arc-shaped protrusion (133) facing the wiper lip (2), and the arc-shaped protrusion (133) provides contact support with the wiper lip (2).

6. The wiper blade as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The transverse connecting strip (12) forms a lateral opening groove (121) on both sides along the width direction.

7. The wiper blade as described in claim 1, characterized in that: A guide surface (14) is also formed on the upper part of the adhesive strip substrate (1a, 1b, 1c).

8. A windshield wiper, characterized in that: The wiper blade has the wiper blade strip as described in any one of claims 1 to 7.

Images