Itt Automotive Electrical Systems, Inc.

Gm Global Technolgoy Operations, Inc.

Douglas D Patterson

Harry C Buchanan, Jr

Michael J McClain

Scot A Blommel

James E Roberts

Daniel L Harmon

An automotive windshield wiper system with adjustable wiping pressure includes a drive shaft, a head rigidly mounted to the drive shaft for unitary rotation therewith, a wiper arm pivotally connected to the head at a first end and retaining a wiper blade at a second end, and a spring between the head and the wiper arm inducing a force pivoting the wiper arm toward an associated wiping surface. A controller is disposed between the spring and the head and relies exclusively on the relative rotation between the wiper arm and the vehicle body as a source of all motive power to selectively displace an end of the spring and thereby vary the force on the wiper arm.

Variable pressure windshield wiper arm

An integral windshield wiper arm having a pivot, a crank, and a blade mount communicates fluid from a reservoir beneath a cowl to a windshield wiper blade above the cowl. The pivot has a sealed cavity running its length. The cavity in each of the crank and the blade mount fluidly connect with the cavity in the pivot.

Wet integral windshield wiper arm

A specially designed and attached anti-wind lift airfoil also acts to reduce wiper chatter in several ways. The foil is fixed to and runs along side the blade support, bracing and stiffening it. In addition, masses molded inside the foil, plus its own mass, increase the total mass and moment of inertia of the wiper in operation, which acts to counteract the sticking effect. The foil is somewhat resilient, and is fixed to the blade support at widely spaced points, with its center section unsupported. If the blade does stick and slip in operation, undulations are thereby set up in the resilient airfoil, absorbing and damping out the energy that would otherwise show up as chatter.

Growing community of inventors

Centerville, OH, United States of America

Douglas D Patterson