Windscreen wiper blade with ageing member

Abstract

Windscreen wiper blade intended to be hinged to an actuating arm of a wiper system, this blade comprising: a member referred to as an ageing member able to change visual appearance over time; and at least one symbol (7) hidden by the ageing member, the symbol (7) becoming visible after the ageing member has changed in visual appearance, characterized in that the symbol (7) comprises at least one type of elementary pattern (70) the dimensions and/or relative layout of which code for information relating to the blade.

Claims

1. A windscreen wiper blade comprising: at least one member adapted to change visual appearance over time; and at least one symbol hidden at least in part by said member, wherein the at least one symbol comprises at least one type of elementary pattern the dimensions and/or relative layout of which enable coding of information relating to the type and point of sale of the replacement blade.

2. The windscreen wiper blade as claimed in claim 1, wherein the symbol is rendered visible following a change in the visual appearance of said member.

3. The windscreen wiper blade as claimed in claim 1, wherein the symbol is chosen from barcodes.

4. The windscreen wiper blade as claimed in claim 3, wherein the barcode chosen as the symbol is chosen from the group consisting of: one-dimensional barcodes and two-dimensional barcodes.

5. The windscreen wiper blade as claimed in claim 1, wherein said member includes said symbol.

6. The windscreen wiper blade as claimed in claim 5, wherein said member comprises: a lower patch including said symbol; an upper patch adapted to change appearance over time, disposed on top of said lower patch.

7. The windscreen wiper blade as claimed in claim 1, wherein the symbol is inscribed directly on the windscreen wiper blade.

8. The windscreen wiper blade as claimed in claim 1, wherein said member is adapted to change appearance over time because of the effect of an exterior agent.

9. The windscreen wiper blade as claimed in claim 8, wherein the exterior agent is one selected from the group consisting of a gas, a liquid and radiation.

10. The windscreen wiper blade as claimed in claim 8, wherein said member includes an initially opaque photosensitive substance adapted to become transparent when it has absorbed a particular quantity of light.

11. A windscreen wiper comprising the windscreen wiper blade as claimed in claim 1.

Description

(1) Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the light of the following examples and the appended figures, said examples and figures being provided by way of nonlimiting illustration only.

(2) FIG. 1, already described, is a representation of a prior art windscreen wiper blade that includes an ageing member, the blade being articulated to an actuating arm of a windscreen wiper.

(3) FIG. 2, already described, is a representation of the ageing member of the windscreen wiper blade represented in FIG. 1.

(4) FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic reproduction, in cross section, of an ageing member of a blade in accordance with a variant embodiment of the invention.

(5) FIG. 4 is a representation of a symbol of a windscreen wiper blade in accordance with the invention consisting in a one-dimensional barcode.

(6) FIG. 5 is a representation of a symbol of a windscreen wiper blade in accordance with the invention consisting in a two-dimensional barcode.

(7) The windscreen wiper blade in accordance with the invention, which is intended to be articulated to an actuating arm of a windscreen wiper system, includes: a so-called ageing member adapted to change visual appearance over time; and at least one symbol 7 masked by the ageing member, the symbol 7 being rendered visible following a change in the visual appearance of the ageing member.

(8) The ageing member preferably includes said symbol 7. In this case, as shown in FIG. 3, the ageing member includes: a lower patch 6 including said symbol 7; an upper patch 6 adapted to change appearance over time, disposed on top of said lower patch 6.

(9) Accordingly, when fitting the blade, the symbol 7 is not visible to the motorist, the initial appearance and the disposition of the upper patch 6 making it possible to mask the symbol 7.

(10) The upper patch 6 is typically of opaque initial appearance and is adapted to become transparent because of the effect of an exterior agent such as a gas that may be oxygen, a liquid that may be water or radiation that may be particle radiation such as ultraviolet radiation.

(11) For example, the upper patch 6 may include an initially opaque photosensitive substance adapted to become transparent when it has absorbed a particular quantity of light. The time necessary to absorb this particular quantity of light under normal conditions of use substantially corresponds to the average service life of the blade.

(12) The upper patch 6 may change appearance gradually, a period of the service life of the blade corresponding to each significant change of appearance.

(13) The invention is not limited to the embodiment described above. Still within the scope of the invention, the ageing member may include only one patch such as said upper patch 6, in which case the symbol 7 is inscribed directly on the windscreen wiper blade by etching, printing or gluing, the patch 6 being disposed in such a manner as to cover it.

(14) The symbol 7 includes at least one type of elementary pattern 70 making it possible to code information relating to the blade in terms of the dimensions and/or the shape thereof and/or the relative arrangement between elementary patterns 70 of the same or different types.

(15) The symbol 7 may therefore be chosen from barcodes that may notably be: One-dimensional (1D barcodes). As shown in FIG. 4, these codes are represented by a series of parallel lines of varying thickness. The symbol 71 may notably but not exclusively be a barcode such as a code 39, a code 93, a code 128, an EAN/UPC code, a two from five () code, a GS1 code or one of its variants such as a GS1-128, GS1 Databar, GS1 ITF-14 code. For example, the GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) of the windscreen wiper blade may be encoded in the form of an EAN 13 barcode. Two-dimensional (2D) barcodes. These codes are represented by diverse patterns such as dots, squares, rectangles, hexagons. The symbol 72 may therefore be a QR (Quick Response) type barcode, as shown in FIG. 5, consisting in black modules composed of rectangles, disposed in a white background square. The symbol 72 may notably but not exclusively be a barcode of the 16K code, codablock, PDF-417, DataMatrix, MaxiCode type. The symbol 72 may also be a barcode of the Bokode type, sometimes considered a three-dimensional (3D) code, comprising a light-emitting diode, a mask and a lens. Composite barcodes. These barcodes are the result of combining at least one 1D code with a 2D code.

(16) Said information is decoded by means of a decoding device including an electronic sensor, such as a barcode reader, a mobile telephone, a pocket terminal or a cyber camera.

(17) For example, the device for decoding the information may notably but not exclusively include: a CCD (Charge-Coupled Device) reader including a CCD sensor and means for emitting a light beam such as a light-emitting diode; a laser reader that includes a phototransistor and a laser diode for generating a laser beam, this laser reader enabling remote reading of the symbol 7; a pencil type reader including a phototransistor and a light-emitting diode for generating a light beam.

(18) The device for decoding the information also includes means for processing the electrical signal generated by said CCD sensor or by the phototransistor, this means for processing the signal making it possible to decode said information.

(19) The information coded by the symbol 7 may notably but not exclusively include: the part number of the blade; how to mount and demount it; the points of sale of the replacement blade; an address of an Internet site providing information on the blade; trackability indications for the blade.