Wiper Blade End Fitting Curved Bottom Wall
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional windscreen wiper end pieces fail to effectively contact and clean areas with greater curvature, such as those around vehicle pillars, due to their linear design opposing the structural element's curve, leading to incomplete wiping of the glazed surface.
Innovation Solution
An end piece with a specific internal volume and peripheral wall configuration, featuring a first housing for the wiper blade and a second housing for the structural element, where the first distance D1 between the slot's sides and the longitudinal wall is greater than the second distance D2, allowing for an inclination that adapts to the glazed surface's curvature, ensuring contact along its path.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If the end piece uses a rectilinear space to accommodate the structural element, then the manufacturing is simplified, but the wiper blade cannot adapt to the curvature of the glazed surface in pillar zones
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies curvature by designing the first housing with a curved bottom wall that follows the curvature of the glazed surface. This curved geometry allows the wiper blade to adapt to the curvature in pillar zones while maintaining manufacturability through conventional molding techniques.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements local quality by creating different geometric characteristics in different parts of the end piece. The first housing has a curved bottom wall for curvature adaptation, while the slot remains linear for simplified manufacturing. This localized differentiation resolves the contradiction between manufacturability and adaptability.
2Device complexity
If the end piece maintains a linear design, then the structure is simpler, but the wiper blade loses contact with the glazed surface in curved areas
Solution Approach 1:
The curved bottom wall of the first housing introduces the necessary curvature to maintain wiper blade contact with the glazed surface in pillar zones, while the overall end piece structure remains relatively simple and easy to manufacture.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the end piece into distinct functional zones: the first housing with curved bottom wall for curvature adaptation, the slot for structural element accommodation, and the second housing for additional components. This segmentation allows each zone to optimize its function without excessive overall complexity.
3Volume of moving object
If the first housing extends fully to the bottom wall, then the wiper blade accommodation is maximized, but the slot geometry becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the internal volume into the first housing for wiper blade accommodation and the slot for structural element passage. The slot is positioned and dimensioned to pass through the peripheral wall without requiring complex three-dimensional geometry, while the first housing extends to the bottom wall to maximize accommodation volume.
Solution Approach 2:
The curved bottom wall of the first housing is designed to follow the glazed surface curvature, maximizing the accommodation volume for the wiper blade heel while maintaining a relatively simple slot geometry that passes through the peripheral wall.
Data Source
AI summary
End piece (8) configured for installation at a longitudinal extremity (7) of a windscreen wiper (1), the end piece (8) comprising an internal volume (13) and a peripheral wall (12) which delimits the internal volume (13), the end piece (8) comprising at least a first housing (14) configured to accommodate a heel (5a) of a wiper blade (5) and being in communication with a slot (19) which passes through the peripheral wall (12), the slot (19) being delimited by sides (18), the first housing (14) extending longitudinally from an inlet (21), through which the heel (5a) of the wiper blade (5) may be introduced into the first housing (14), and extending preferably as far as a bottom wall (12a) of the peripheral wall (12), the first housing (14) being delimited by a longitudinal wall (17) disposed in the internal volume (13), characterized in that a first distance D1 measured at the inlet (21) between one of the sides (18) delimiting the slot (19) and the longitudinal wall (17) is greater than a second distance D2 separate from the first distance D1 and measured parallel to the first distance D1, the second distance D2 being measured between one of the sides (18) of the slot (19) and the longitudinal wall (17).