AU755523B2 - Wiper blade element and retaining clip - Google Patents

Description

riui i iz/w Regulation 3.2(2) -Iw-I

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Application Number: Lodged: Invention Title: WIPER BLADE ELEMENT AND RETAINING CLIP The following statement Is a full description of this Invention, Including the best method of performing It known to us WIPER BLADE ELEMENT AND RETAINING CLIP This invention relates to wiper blade assemblies such as are used in automotive windscreen wipers.

Many modern automotive windscreen wiper blade assemblies include a multiple yoke harness, within which is fitted a replaceable wiper blade element, often termed a "refill" when sold as a spare part. The harness usually comprises a main yoke, attached centrally to a wiper arm and having a pair of subsidiary yokes pivotally attached in their central regions to the ends of the main yoke.

These subsidiary yokes may carry one or more further yokes. The arrangement of yokes is usually such that a flexible wiper blade element secured to the ends of certain of the yokes is urged against the windscreen with approximately equal forces at each of the said certain yokes when the main yoke is urged by a force *-*applied at its centre towards the windscreen. The wiper blade element includes an actual wiping component which is typically an elongate rubber moulding.

In a particularly simple and popular arrangement, the ends of the yokes to which the wiper blade assembly is secured are provided with claws which are adapted to engage in longitudinal slots in the wiper blade element. The wiper blade element itself includes the elongate wiping component and at least one (usually two) stiffening strips (also known as "rails") each received in a longitudinal slot in the wiping component. The claws partially surround a head portion of the wiping component, which includes the stiffening strips' slots, and have three functions. First they hold the wiping component in the correct orientation against the windscreen for wiping. Second, they allow a longitudinal sliding movement of the wiper blade element with respect to the harness so that the wiper blade element can follow the curvature of the windscreen while moving over it. Third, they retain the stiffening strips in their respective slots in the wiping component along its length.

This arrangement is popular at least in part because of its simplicity of manufacture in that the wiping component is a constant-cross-section moulding or extrusion and the stiffening strip or strips are particularly simple.

It is of course necessary in this arrangement that the wiper blade element be prevented from moving out of engagement with the claws and that the wiping component and stiffening strips be prevented from moving longitudinally relative to each other. A number of arrangements have been devised for these purposes.

By way of example, Bollen et al describe in PCT Application No.

PCT/DE93/00088 a clip for use at a single end of a wiper blade element of the type described above. The clip has a body portion with internal projections which cooperate with corresponding recesses in the stiffening strips to prevent their movement in the body portion, further internal projections and an end wall adapted to restrain the wiping component against longitudinal movement in the body portion, and parallel legs extending from the body portion. In use, the clip is located at an end of the wiper blade element, hence outboard of a claw and S the legs extend along sides of the claw and are latched together at their ends inboard of the claw thereby to retain the wiper blade element in the harness.

Although only one such clip is required on the wiper blade element, this arrangement requires attention to latching the legs during installation, and if this is forgotten or incompletely done the wiper blade element may not be retained the harness. The clip does not lend itself to production in metal due to the requirement of a latching mechanism on the legs and requires the formation of c ;recesses in the stiffening strips.

Burton and Volkoff, in Australian Patent Application no. 74325/94 describe a clip intended for use at both ends of a wiper blade element of the type described above. This clip also has a body portion with internal projections receivable in cooperating recesses in the stiffening strips, and has an end wall so that the end walls of two clips at opposite ends of the wiper blade element together prevent longitudinal movement of the wiping component relative to the stiffening strips. The two clips can bear against the two endmost claws of the harness so that the wiper blade element is retained in the harness. A disadvantage of this arrangement, in addition to the need for recessed stiffening strips, is the need for two clips.

The present invention allows a wiper blade element to be installed in a harness by pushing the wiper blade element through the claws of the harness until it is fully engaged therein, and includes a clip of which only one is required per wiper blade element.

The invention is suited to wiper blade elements having a constant-crosssection wiping component and stiffening strips of constant or substantially constant cross-section.

The clip included in the invention is suitable for production in either plastics or metal and, if of metal, can be assembled to a wiping component and stiffening strips in the course of being formed.

As well as its application to.new wipers, the invention may assist stockists of spare parts for wipers. It is convenient to stock wiper blade elements (refills) consisting of assemblies of wiping component and stiffening strips to each of which assemblies is pre-fitted a clip according to the invention. Such parts may 15 be trimmed to length, if necessary, by cutting at the opposite end to the clip S before fitting to the harness.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention provides a clip for use in an elongate wiper blade element having a wiping component to retain said wiper blade element in a wiper blade 000 20 assembly which assembly includes a harness having at least one claw for o connecting said harness to the wiper blade element, said clip including: a body portion including securing means for securing said body portion to S the wiping component of the wiper blade element when in use, said clip further including at least one leg connected to said body portion and having a free end with a hook portion thereat, wherein in use the body portion is located longitudinally outward of the claw, the or each said leg extends over the claw and the hook portion is located longitudinally inward of the claw, thereby to retain the wiping component relative to the claw and to limit longitudinal movement of the wiper blade element within the harness.

Preferably, the clip has two said legs, and in use of the clip the two legs are located adjacent to opposite sides of a harness member to which the claw is attached.

4 The or each said leg is preferably located on the same side of the wiper blade element as the harness.

Preferably, the or each said leg is resilient so that when the clip is secured to the wiping component and the wiper blade element is pushed through the claw, the or each leg flexes so enabling the or each said hook portion to ride over the claw and thereafter spring back so that the claw is retained between the body portion and the or each hook portion.

In a particularly preferred form, the clip is adapted for use in a wiper blade element including the wiping component and at least one stiffening strip received in a first longitudinal groove in a side of the wiping component, the body portion of the clip including retaining means for preventing longitudinal movement of the wiping component relative to the body portion and means for preventing o longitudinal movement of the or each said stiffening strip relative to the body S portion.

15 Preferably, the body portion includes a channel section having a base and g two sidewalls, each sidewall having a free edge with a projection therealong extending inwardly of the channel and receivable in one of two further longitudinal grooves in the wiping component.

*se The said retaining means may include a barb on the base or on at least 20 one of the projections, said barb being adapted to grip into the wiping o component.

Preferably, the or a said stiffening strip is prevented from moving longitudinally relative to the body portion in at least a first direction by abutment means so positioned on the body portion as to abut an end region of the or each said stiffening strip.

The abutment means may include a wall portion extending inwardly of the body portion from at least one of the base, a sidewall, or a projection of the body portion.

In a further aspect, the invention provides a wiper blade assembly including: an elongate wiper blade element having a wiping component and a harness with at least one claw for connecting the harness to the wiper blade element, characterised in that the wiper blade element includes at least one clip in any of the forms disclosed above for retaining the wiper blade element in the harness.

In a still further aspect, the invention provides a wiper blade element for use in a wiper blade assembly, which wiper blade element includes: an elongate wiping component and at least one stiffening strip received in a first longitudinal groove in a side of the wiping component; and a clip in any of the forms disclosed above.

In a preferred form of the wiper blade element, the or each said stiffening strip is bent upwardly or downwardly at the said end region to engage with an end zone of the wiping component thereby to prevent longitudinal movement of that stiffening strip relative to the body portion in a direction opposite to the said first direction.

In yet another aspect, the invention provides a method of manufacturing a S 15 wiper blade element according to Claim as disclosed above including the steps S of: assembling together the wiping component and the at least one stiffening strip; providing, in one or more press means, a metal blank adapted to be so manipulated in said press means as to form the said clip; and forming the clip in ie place on the wiping component from the said blank by said press means.

20 Preferably, in this method, the said blank is detached from a continuous strip of metal.

o The clip as disclosed above is preferably formed from a plastics material or of prepainted metallic material.

The preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described in more detail.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a perspective partial view of a wiper blade element with clip, all according to the invention and fitted to a wiper harness member.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the clip shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an end elevation of the clip shown in Figure 1, seen in the direction of the arrow C in Figure 2.

1 Figure 4 is a plan view from below of the clip shown in Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a plan view from above of the clip shown in Figure 1.

Figure 6 is a cross-section of the wiper blade element shown in Figure 1 taken at the line A-A.

Figure 7 is a partial cross section of the wiper blade element shown in Figure 1, taken at the line B-B.

Figure 8 is a plan view of a face of a sheet material blank suitable for formation into the clip shown in Figure 1.

Figure 9 is a plan view of a strip of sheet material showing a sequence of steps to form the clip shown in Figure 1 to be applied to the end of a wiper blade element.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring first to Figure 1, there is shown a wiper blade element 1 of an automotive windscreen wiper, having an elongate wiping component 2 of rubber or the like and two stiffening strips 3, 3' received in longitudinal grooves 4, 4' in the wiping component 2. The wiping component 2 and the stiffening strips 3, 3' are retained in a clip 5, which is located at one end of, and forms a part of, the wiper blade element 1. The wiper blade element 1 is retained in a claw 6 formed at an end of a harness member 7 which is one of several such *...*harness members, each having a pair of spaced claws similar to the claw 6 and comprised in a pressure-distributing harness (not shown) for the wiper blade element 1, such as is well known in the automotive art. The claw 6 partly S• surrounds a head portion 8 of the wiper blade element 1 and permits the wiper blade element 1 to move longitudinally relative to the harness member 7, i.e. in the directions of arrow 9. Such freedom of movement is necessary at all but one of the claws of the harness to enable the wiper blade element 1 to follow the contour of a windscreen.

The clip 5 is intended both to limit longitudinal movement of the wiper blade element 1 relative to the harness member 7 and so prevent separation of the wiper blade element 1 from the harness and also to prevent longitudinal separating movement of the stiffening strips 3, 3' relative to the wiping component 2. To this end, the clip 5 has two legs 11, 11' which extend from a body portion 10, which pass over the claw 6 and on either side of the harness member 7, and which have hook portions 12, 12'. The claw 6 is trapped between the body portion 10 of the clip 5 and the hook portions 12, 12' of the legs 11, 11', thereby to limit longitudinal movement of the wiper blade element 1 relative to the harness member 7. (Although in Figure 1 limited movement of the claw 6 relative to the clip 5 is clearly possible, the legs 11, 11' could if desired be made shorter to actually prevent such relative movement.) The legs 11, 11' may be substantially rigid but capable of flexing so as to allow the hook portions 12, 12' to pass over the claw 6 as the wiper blade element 1 is fed through the claw 6 and thereafter to take up a position wherein they bear against the claw 6. This may, in an alternative arrangement, be achieved by providing substantially rigid legs 11, 11' with little or no flexibility in themselves. With such an arrangement the flexibility provided by the rubber or *elastomeric wiping component 2 is sufficient to allow the hook position 12, 12' to ride over the claw 6. In a still further but less preferred arrangement, the legs 11, 11' may be provided in a bent upwards configuration so that the hook portion or portions may clear the claw 6 during installation of the wiper blade element and thereafter be plastically deformed downwardly by the user behind the claw 6.

As noted above, it is preferred that the legs 11, 11' and the hook portions 12, 12' all spring resiliently into position after passing over the claw 6. It is to be noted that passing the legs 11, 11' over the claw 6, instead of beside it and instead of between the claw 6 and the top surface of the head portion 8 of the wiper blade Selement 1 has been found to make the clip 5 easier to design for application to a range of harnesses, and therefore to suit the spare parts market. For example, for the legs 11, 11' to pass between the claw 6 and the top of the wiper blade element 1, adequate clearance would have to be available, an issue that does not arise with the clip The clip 5 also retains within a body portion 10 both the stiffening strips 3, 3' and the wiping component 2 so that longitudinal movement of the strips 3, 3' and wiping component 2 relative to the body portion 10, and each other, is prevented and no corresponding clipping is needed at the other end of the 8 wiper blade element 1. The claw 6 (like other claws in the harness) retains the stiffening strips 3, 3' in the grooves 4, along their lengths to stiffen the wiper blade element.

The body portion 10 of the clip 5 is generally channel-sectioned, having a base 13 and two sidewalls 14, 14'. Along free edges of the sidewalls 14, 14' there are provided projections 15, 15'. As best seen in Figure 6, the channelsectioned body portion 10 surrounds the head portion 8 of the wiping component 2 save for a gap 16 between the projections 15, 15' through which passes a web 17 of the wiping component 2. To ensure that the wiping component 2 is prevented from moving longitudinally in either direction relative to the clip 5, barbs 21 formed along the projections 15, 15' grip the web 17. As an alternative to the barbs 21, inwardly directed tabs can be formed from the base 13 engaging frictionally into the top face of the wiping component 2. Tabs 18, 18' protrude from extensions 22, 22' of the side walls 14, 14' and conveniently bear against both a portion of an end face of the wiping component •2 and an end region of the stiffening strips 3, To ensure that the stiffening strip 3, 3' are prevented from moving longitudinally relative to the wiping component 2, upstanding projections 19, 19' are bent from ends of the strips 3, 3' which engage with a portion of the end face of the wiping component 2. Thus, as shown in Figure 7, the strip 3 is prevented from moving to the right by engagement of the strip 3 with the tab 18 and it is prevented from moving to the S' left by the projection 19 engaging the wiping component 2. If desired, the projections 19, 19' formed at ends of the strips 3, 3' may be trapped between the tabs 18, 18' and an end face 20 of the body portion 10, for example by bending the projections 19, 19' in the direction opposite to that shown in Figure 7. In this embodiment, strips 3, 3' are fixed relative to the clip In the arrangements thus described, the rubber of the wiping component 2 is fixed relative to the clip 5 by the barbs 21 (or their equivalent) engaging with the wiping component 2. The clip 5 is retained relative to the harness by the hook portions 12, 12' and the body portion 10 being located on either side of the claw 6. The stiffening strips 3, 3' are retained relative to the wiping component 2 by the tabes 18, 18' engaging an end of the strips 3, 3' and by the projections 19, 19' acting as an abutment against an end zone of the wiping component 2, or by being retained between the tabs 18, 18' and an end face 20 of the clip In an alternative embodiment particularly useful when the clip 5 is made from moulded plastics material, internal projections can be provided from the side walls 14, 14' engageable in recesses formed on side edges of the strips 3, 3'.

The clip 5 is also suited for forming from a single blank of sheet metal, preferably pre-painted, by normal press operations such as shearing and folding. A blank 23 suitable for formation into the clip 5 is shown in Figure 8, wherein fold lines 24, 25, 26, 27 and 28 are indicated by dotted lines.

Although the clip 5 may be formed from individual blanks of the type shown in figure 8, in commercial production, processing may occur as shown in figure 9 and described below in relation to this figure. In this form of processing, a prepainted strip of metal 29 provided with indexing holes 30 is fed into a multi die press tool. In the illustration the strip is fed in the direction of arrow A one step at a time with each press stroke. With each press stroke a series of separate shearing or bending operations occur to form a clip member as shown at 31 secured to the strip 29 by only a small strand of material 34. At position 31 to position 32, the side walls 14, 14' are splayed apart allowing easy insertion of 2. an end of a wiping component 2 with two stiffening strips 3, 3' inserted in their grooves in the wiping component 2. At the final step 33, the side walls 14, 14' are pressed inwardly thereby engaging the barbs 21 into the wiping component 2 and the clip member is severed at 35 from the strip 29. In this way, a final wiper blade element is formed. The wiping component and stiffening strips 2, 3 and 3' may be manually inserted at positions 31 to 32 or may be automatically handled robotically or by some other feed machinery.

Many other variations may be made in the components and methods described above without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims (19)

1. A clip for use in an elongate wiper blade element having a wiping component to retain said wiper blade element in a wiper blade assembly which assembly includes a harness having at least one claw for connecting said harness to the wiper blade element, said clip including: a body portion including securing means for securing said body portion to the wiping component of the wiper blade element when in use; said clip further including at least one leg connected to said body portion and having a free end with a hook portion thereat, wherein in use the body portion is located longitudinally outward of the claw, the or each said leg extends over the claw and the hook portion is located longitudinally inward of the claw, thereby to retain the wiping component relative to the claw and to limit longitudinal movement of the S" wiper blade element within the harness.

S2. A clip according to Claim 1 having two said legs, and wherein two said legs are provided and in use of the clip the two legs are located adjacent to opposite sides of a said harness member to which the claw is attached. oo

3. A clip according to Claim 1 or 2 wherein the or each said leg is located on the same side of the wiper blade element as the harness.

4. A clip according to any one of Claims 1 to 3 wherein the or each said leg is resilient so that when the clip is secured to the wiping component and the wiper blade element is pushed through the claw, the or each leg flexes so enabling the or each said hook portion to ride over the claw and thereafter spring back so that the claw is retained between the body portion and the or each hook portion.

A clip according to any one of Claims 1 to 4 and for use in a wiper blade element including the wiping component and at least one stiffening strip received in a first longitudinal groove in a side of the wiping component, the body portion of the clip including retaining means for preventing longitudinal movement of the component relative to the body portion and means for preventing 11 longitudinal movement of the or each said stiffening strip relative to the body portion.

6. A clip according to Claim 5 wherein the body portion includes a channel section having a base and two sidewalls, each sidewall having a free edge with a projection therealong extending inwardly of the channel and receivable in one of two further longitudinal grooves in the wiping component.

7. A clip according to Claim 6 wherein the said securing means includes at least one barb on the base or on at least one of said projections, said barb being adapted to grip into the wiping component. *o*

8. A clip according to claim 7 wherein at least one of said projections has at least one said barb formed thereon projecting inwardly of said clip, the or each said barb having a first edge facing towards the or each said leg and a second edge facing away from the or each said leg, said first edge being directed inwardly of said projection and being angled in a direction away from the or each said leg.

9. A clip according to claim 8 wherein the second edge of the or each said barb is directed inwardly of said projection and angled in a direction away from the or each said leg, said first and second edges of the or each said barb meeting at a point.

A clip according to any one of Claims 5 to 9 wherein the or a said stiffening strip is prevented from moving longitudinally relative to the body portion in at least a first direction by abutment means so positioned on the body portion as to abut an end region of the or each said stiffening strip.

11. A clip according to Claim 10 wherein said abutment means includes a wall portion extending inwardly of the body portion from at least one of the base, a sidewall, or a projection of the body portion.

12. A wiper blade assembly including: an elongate wiper blade element having a wiping component and a harness with at least one claw for connecting the harness to the wiper blade element, characterised in that the wiper blade element includes at least one clip according to any one of Claims 1 to 11 for retaining the wiper blade element in the harness.

13. A wiper blade element for use in a wiper blade assembly, which wiper blade element includes: an elongate wiping component and at least one stiffening strip received in a first longitudinal groove in a side of the wiping component; and a clip according to any one of Claims 5 to 11.

14. A wiper blade element according to Claim 13 wherein the or each said stiffening strip is bent upwardly or downwardly at an end region to engage with an end zone of the wiping component.

15. A method of manufacturing a wiper blade element according to Claim 13 or 14 including the steps of: assembling together the wiping component and the at least one stiffening strip; providing, in one or more press means, a metal blank adapted to be so manipulated in said press means to form a said clip; and **forming the clip in place on the wiping component from the said blank by said press means.

16. A method according to Claim 15 wherein the said blank is detached from a continuous strip of metal.

17. A method of manufacturing a wiper blade assembly according to claim 12 including the steps of providing in one or more press means, a metal blank adapted to be so manipulated in said press means to form a said clip; forming the clip in place on the wiping component from said blank by said press means; and connecting said clip and the wiping component to the harness of said wiper blade assembly.

A clip according to any one of Claims 1 to 11 said clip formed from a 13

19. A clip according to any one of Claims 1 to 11 said clip formed of prepainted metallic material. A clip according to claim 1 substantially as described herein with reference to the attached figures. DATED this 10th day of October 2002 TRICO PRODUCTS CORPORATION WATERMARK PATENT TRADE MARK ATTORNEYS 290 BURWOOD ROAD HAWTHORN VICTORIA 3122 AUSTRALIA SKP:JC P3661AU00 9 9* 9 9 9 9 9