A WINDSCREEN WIPER ARM, PARTICULARLY FOR AUTOMOBILES

Abstract

A windscreen wiper arm, particularly for automobiles, that is able to oscillate upwardly and downwardly between a downward position and an upward position. One end of the windscreen wiper arm is adapted to be pivotally connected to a mounting head mounted on a drive shaft. Another end of the windscreen wiper arm is rigidly connected to an adapter adapted to be connected to an elongated wiper blade to be placed in abutment with a windscreen to be wiped. A joint part is adapted to be interposed between the adapter and the elongated wiper blade. The adapter, at the location of its connection to the wiper blade, has a U-shaped cross-section with a base and two spaced-apart legs. The windscreen wiper arm is provided with a nozzle for spraying a washing liquid onto the windscreen to be wiped. The nozzle is detachably connected to the adapter. At least one protrusion of the nozzle engages into a corresponding hole in one of the legs of the U-shaped cross-section of the adapter. The protrusion extends inwardly in a direction towards the adapter. The protrusion has a shank passing through the hole, and an enlarged head abutting an inner wall of the leg provided with the hole. The joint part is provided with a slit in which the enlarged head rests for blocking any movement of the protrusion in a direction towards the windscreen to be wiped and in a direction away from the windscreen to be wiped.

Claims

1. A windscreen wiper arm comprising: an adapter adapted to be connected to an elongated wiper blade to be placed in abutment with a windscreen to be wiped, wherein said adapter, at a location of its connection to the wiper blade, has a U-shaped cross-section with a base and two spaced-apart legs; a joint part adapted to be interposed between said adapted and the elongated wiper blade; a nozzle for spraying a washing liquid onto the windscreen to be wiped, wherein said nozzle is detachably connected to said adapter, wherein at least one protrusion of said nozzle engages into a corresponding hole in one of said legs of said U-shaped cross-section of said adapter, said protrusion extending inwardly in a direction towards said adapter, said protrusion having a shank passing through said hole, and an enlarged head abutting an inner wall of said leg provided with said hole, and wherein said joint part includes a slit in which said enlarged head rests for blocking any movement of said protrusion in a direction towards the windscreen to be wiped and in a direction away from the windscreen to be wiped.

2. The windscreen wiper arm according to claim 1, wherein said slit extends in a longitudinal direction.

3. The windscreen wiper arm according to claim 1, wherein said joint part has a U-shaped cross-section with a base facing towards said base of said U-shaped cross-section of said adapter, and with legs each facing one of said legs of said U-shaped cross-section of said adapter, and wherein said slit is provided inside one of said legs of said U-shaped cross-section of said joint part facing towards one of said legs of said U-shaped cross-section of said adapter that is provided with said hole.

4. The windscreen wiper arm according to claim 1, wherein said hole in said adapter comprises a slot having an enlarged holed, a reduced hole, and a restricted neck interconnecting said enlarged hole and said reduced hole, wherein said slot and said protrusion are arranged to be relatively movable via said restricted neck between a first position, wherein said protrusion passes through said enlarged hole with play, and a second position, wherein said protrusion passes through said reduced hole under deformation.

5. The windscreen wiper arm according to claim 4, wherein said protrusion is arranged to pass through said reduced hole under elastic deformation in order to be snapped inside said reduced hole.

6. The windscreen wiper arm according to claim 4, wherein said protrusion includes an inner hole.

7. The windscreen wiper arm according to claim 4, wherein in said first position, said shank passes through said enlarged hole with play, and in said second position, said shank passes through said reduced hole under deformation, and wherein said enlarged head abuts an inner wall of said reduced hole.

8. The windscreen wiper arm according to claim 4, wherein said enlarged hole and said reduced hole comprise blind holes.

9. The windscreen wiper arm according to claim 4, wherein said enlarged hole and said reduced hole comprise through holes.

10. The windscreen wiper arm according to claim 4, wherein one of said legs of said U-shaped cross-section of said adapter comprises two slots, and wherein said nozzle comprises two corresponding protrusions extending inwardly in a direction towards said adapter.

11. The windscreen wiper arm according to claim 1, wherein said nozzle is detachably connected to said adapter at a lateral side of the windscreen wiper arm in use facing towards an upward position.

12. The windscreen wiper arm according to claim 1, wherein said nozzle is detachably connected to said adapter at a lateral side of the windscreen wiper arm in use facing towards a downward position.

13. The windscreen wiper arm according to claim 1, wherein said windscreen wiper arm comprises two nozzles, wherein one of said nozzles is detachably connected to said adapter at a lateral side of the windscreen wiper arm in use facing towards an upward position, and wherein the other of said nozzles is detachably connected to said adapter at a lateral side of the windscreen wiper arm in use facing towards a downward position.

14. The windscreen wiper arm according to claim 1, wherein said nozzle comprises a plastic material.

15. The windscreen wiper arm according to claim 1, wherein said adapter comprises a metal material.

16. The windscreen wiper arm according to claim 1, wherein said U-shaped cross-section of said adapter is mounted offset in a plane of said base relative to a longitudinal axis of the windscreen wiper arm.

17. The windscreen wiper arm according to claim 1, wherein a cap is detachably connected to said nozzle.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] The invention will now be explained in more detail with reference to figures illustrated in a drawing, wherein:

[0024] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a part of a windscreen wiper arm according to the invention, and an exploded view of detail A;

[0025] FIG. 2 shows a perspective and a front view of a nozzle according to the invention, and an exploded view of detail C;

[0026] FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the part of the windscreen wiper arm of FIG. 1 attached to the nozzle of FIG. 2, and a perspective view of a joint part used to interconnect the windscreen wiper arm and a wiper blade of the flat blade type;

[0027] FIG. 4 shows a top view of the part of the windscreen wiper arm and nozzle of FIG. 3, a cross-sectional view thereof along the line B-B, and an exploded view of detail D; and

[0028] FIG. 5 shows successive steps in interconnecting a wiper blade of the flat blade type and a windscreen wiper arm through a bayonet connection according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0029] FIG. 5 shows a windscreen wiper device 1 of the flat blade type including a wiper blade 2 having opposing longitudinal grooves 3 formed in the longitudinal sides of the wiper blade 2. Longitudinal strips 4 (“flexors”) made of spring band steel are fitted in the longitudinal grooves 3. The strips 4 form a flexible carrier element for the rubber wiper blade 2, which is thus biased in a curved position (the curvature in operative position being that of a windscreen to be wiped). The windscreen wiper device 1 also includes a connecting device 5 of plastic material for a windscreen wiper arm 6. The connecting device 5 comprises clamping members 7 that are integral therewith, which engage longitudinal sides of the strips 4 that face away from each other. Thus, the connecting device is firmly attached to the unit consisting of the wiper blade 2 and the strips 4. The windscreen wiper arm 6 is pivotally connected to the connecting device 5 about a pivot axis near one end thereof, and in the following manner. The connecting device 5 comprises two cylindrical protuberances 8 extending outwardly on either side of the connecting device 5. These protuberances 8 pivotally engage in identically shaped recesses 9 of a plastic joint part 10. The joint part 10 comprises a resilient tongue 11 extending outwardly, while the windscreen wiper arm 6 has an identically shaped hole 12. While mounting the windscreen wiper arm 6 onto the connecting device 5/joint part 10, the resilient tongue 11 is initially pushed in against a spring force and then allowed to spring back into the hole 12, thus snapping the resilient tongue 11 into the hole 12. This is called a bayonet connection. As shown, the joint part 10 has inwardly bent edges 13 serving to further enhance the retention of the connecting device 5/joint part 10 onto the windscreen wiper arm 6 in the vertical direction.

[0030] FIGS. 1 and 2 show how a nozzle 18 is connected to a windscreen wiper arm 6 according to the invention. The windscreen wiper arm 6 may be connected to a connecting device 5 and/or joint part 10 through a bayonet connection, as explained in relation to FIG. 5. The windscreen wiper arm 6 is able to oscillate upwardly and downwardly between a downward position and an upward position. One end of the windscreen wiper arm is arranged to be pivotally connected to a mounting head mounted on a drive shaft (not shown), and another end of the windscreen wiper arm 6 is rigidly connected to an adapter 14 arranged to be connected to an elongated wiper blade (not shown) to be placed in abutment with a windscreen to be wiped. As shown, the adapter 14, at the location of its connection to the wiper blade, has a U-shaped cross-section with a base 15 and two spaced-apart legs 16,17. In this case, the U-shaped cross-section is mounted offset in a plane of the base 15 relative to a longitudinal axis of the windscreen wiper arm 6.

[0031] According to the invention and as depicted in FIG. 2, the windscreen wiper arm 6 is provided with a nozzle 18 for spraying a washing liquid onto the windscreen to be wiped. The nozzle 18 is detachably connected to the adapter 14 through a key hole connection. Referring to FIG. 1, the key hole connection comprises two slots 19,20 in one leg 16 of the U-shaped cross-section of the adapter 14. Each slot 19,20 has an enlarged hole 21, a reduced hole 22 and a restricted neck 23 interconnecting the enlarged hole 21 and the reduced hole 22 (detail A). Referring to FIG. 2, the key hole connection also comprises two protrusions 24,25 extending inwardly from a wall of the nozzle 18. Each protrusion 24,25 includes a shank 26 and an enlarged head 27 (detail C). Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, each slot 19,20 and its corresponding protrusion 24,25 are arranged to be relatively movable via the restricted neck 23 between a first position, where the protrusion 24,25 passes through the enlarged hole 21 with play, and a second position, where the protrusion 24,25 passes through the reduced hole 22 under elastic deformation. As depicted, the enlarged heads 27 abut a chamfered inner wall of the reduced hole 22 (detail A). To enhance its elasticity in order to snap through the reduced hole 22, each protrusion 24,25 preferably has an inner hole 28, preferably a concentric inner hole inside the shank 26. As shown, the nozzle 18 has an elongated shape, and is provided with an inlet 30 and multiple outlets 29 for washing liquid. The inlet 30 is directed towards the windscreen wiper arm 6 in order to be connected to a supply channel (not shown) for the washing liquid located inside the windscreen wiper arm 6.

[0032] FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the adapter 14 and the nozzle 18 of FIGS. 1 and 2, where corresponding parts have been designated with the same reference numerals. A cap 31 may also be detachably fixed to the nozzle 18 through a snapping operation. In this particular case the cap 31 is L-shaped and fully covers the nozzle 18, so that the latter is not visible from the outside.

[0033] As depicted in FIGS. 3 and 4, the joint part 10 has a U-shaped cross-section with a base facing towards the base 15 of the U-shaped cross-section of the adapter 14, and with legs each facing one of the legs 16,17 of the U-shaped cross-section of the adapter 14. A longitudinally extending slit 32 is provided inside one of the legs of the U-shaped cross-section of the joint part 10 facing towards the leg 16 of the U-shaped cross-section of the adapter 14 that is provided with the holes 19,20. Each enlarged head 27 rests inside the slit 32 to block any movement of the protrusions 24,25 in a direction towards the windscreen to be wiped and in a direction away from the windscreen to be wiped. The joint part 10 (together with the connecting device 5 and the wiper blade 2) is mounted inside the adapter 14 through a bayonet connection after the nozzle 18 is connected to the adapter 14. The slit 32 is open at one end to enable the shank 26 to enter the slit 32 upon sliding the joint part 10 inside the adapter 14.

[0034] The present invention is not restricted to the preferred variants shown, but extends also to other embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.