Ford Global Technolgoies, LLC

Ford Motor Company Limited

Dennis Michael Sopko

Gerald F Herbert

Syed H Sarmast

Bradley Napier Doman

Charles F Hodge

Jerome Tzau

A vehicle window wiper assembly has a one-piece carrier with a central section and flexible tips to allow the wiper to accommodate windows of high curvature. The tips have a higher flexibility than the central section, due in part to molded serrations on the bottom surface in combination with decreased thickness and width with respect to the central section. The central section and the tips also have different radii of curvature which provide a uniform pressure distribution across the window during wiping operation, even at high curvature window locations. A blade channel extends the longitudinal length of the carrier for receiving a wiper blade therein. The central section has a molded air foil defined by a downwardly projecting, longitudinally extending lip on a leading edge for preventing wiper assembly lift. The rear edge of the central section may have similar lip. A pair of laterally opposed attachment flanges, as well as laterally opposed stability posts, are integrally molded with the central section, as are the tips and air foil lips. The carrier is integrally molded with the aforementioned features, preferably of a thermoplastic material, with no moving parts, and thus is not susceptible to the adverse effects of snow and ice induced lock-up.

Vehicle window wiper assembly having one-piece carrier with flexible tips

A wheel and cover assembly for an automotive vehicle is provided which includes a road wheel and a cover member aligned road wheel and provides a continuous cushioning member interposed laterally between the cover and the road wheel. The cushioning member is formed as the rubber band L-shaped in cross-section which cooperates with a plurality of circumferentially spaced standoff ribs formed on the laterally inner surface of the cover.

Automotive wheel and cover assembly with cushioning band

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Dearborn Heights, MI, United States of America

Dennis Michael Sopko