Wiper Blade Fastening Arrangement for Torque Transmission
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Solution Overview
Problem
Windscreen wiper devices often lose contact with curved windshields, leading to unwiped areas and smearing, and face challenges in adapting to varying conditions like rain, snow, and wind pressure, while also being difficult to attach and remove.
Innovation Solution
A windscreen wiper device with an elongated flexible upper and lower part connected by rotary joints and a fastening arrangement that fits into a drive unit's hollow shaft, allowing for torque transmission through a frictional or positive connection, ensuring uniform contact pressure and easy installation/removal.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the wiper blade is made flexible to adapt to curved windshields, then wiping reliability is improved, but structural complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The wiper blade is divided into multiple fin ray elements (10, 12) connected by rotary joints (18, 20), allowing each segment to independently adapt to windshield curvature while maintaining overall structural manageability
Solution Approach 2:
The connecting elements (18, 20) are designed as rotary joints that allow dynamic movement between upper and lower parts, enabling the blade to adapt to curved surfaces while maintaining a relatively simple overall structure through controlled flexibility
2Ease of operation
If the wiper arm is designed with a simple fastening arrangement for easy attachment and removal, then ease of operation is improved, but torque transmission reliability may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The drive shaft (35) features a conical outer surface that mates with a corresponding conical inner surface in the hollow shaft (40), creating a self-centering, friction-based connection that is both simple to install and reliable for torque transmission
Solution Approach 2:
The conical friction connection acts as an intermediary mechanism between the simple fastening structure and the torque transmission requirement, using friction and geometric interlocking to transfer rotational force without complex fasteners
3Stress or pressure
If the wiper blade components are made flexible to maintain contact pressure, then uniform contact pressure is improved, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The rotary joints (18, 20) enable dynamic adjustment of the wiper blade segments to maintain uniform contact pressure across the windshield surface, while the standardized joint design keeps manufacturing precision requirements within practical limits
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution provides reliable, smear-free wiping and improved user-friendliness by maintaining uniform contact pressure and facilitating easy attachment and detachment of the wiper arm, while also providing overload protection and efficient torque transmission.
Implementation Method 1
connecting elements (18, 20) which are spaced apart from one another along a longitudinal extent (8) of the wiper blade (2) and are attached to the upper part (10) and/or the lower part (12) by means of a rotary joint (18, 20)
Implementation Method 2
The fastening arrangement (32) comprises a fastening part (30), a drive shaft (35) connected to the fastening part (30), which is suitable for being introduced into the hollow shaft (40) of the drive unit (4), and clamping means (44) for fixing the drive shaft (35) in the hollow shaft (40) of the drive unit (4)
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a windscreen wiper device for a vehicle, comprising a wiper blade (2) having an elongate upper part (10) and an elongate lower part (12) which are at least partially flexible. Also provided are multiple connecting elements (18) for connecting the upper part (10) and the lower part (12), the connecting elements being mutually spaced along a longitudinal extent (8) of the wiper blade (2) and being attached to the upper part (10) and/or the lower part (12) by a rotary joint, and the connecting elements (18) being designed to allow a movement of the upper part (10) and the lower part relative to each another with a movement component along a longitudinal extent (8) of the wiper blade (2). The wiper blade (2) has a fastening arrangement (32) which is designed to be fitted into a hollow shaft (40) of a drive unit and to be connected thereto so to transmit a torque from the drive unit via the hollow shaft (40) and the fastening arrangement (32) to the wiper blade (2).