Wiper apparatus for motor vehicles

Details Wiper apparatus for motor vehicles Wiper apparatus for motor vehicles

1999-05-03

2002-04-30

Graham, Gary K. (Department: 1744)

Brushing, scrubbing, and general cleaning

Attachments

Optical-member-attachable cleaner

C015S250300, C403SDIG003, C384S561000, C384S624000, C384S903000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06378160

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to an industrial field of a motor vehicle wiper apparatus to be installed on motor vehicles such as passenger cars for private use, buses and trucks to wipe their windshields (or window) surfaces.
2. Description of Related Art
In general, in this type of wiper apparatus for motor vehicles, as shown in
FIGS. 4A and 4B
, a pivot (wiper shaft)
12
is borne by a pivot holder (sleeve)
11
which is fixedly secured to a vehicle body side. The pivot
12
is rotatable around the axis of the pivot holder
11
. A lower end portion of the pivot
12
is fixedly secured to a rocking link
13
which is connected to a wiper motor. An upper end portion of the pivot
12
is fixed to a proximal portion of a wiper arm. This structure causes a reciprocating wiping oscillation of the wiper arm accompanying a rotational drive of the wiper motor.
Furthermore, this apparatus requires that the pivot
12
be positioned and fixed with respect to the pivot holder
11
to prevent the pivot
12
from falling out of the pivot holder
11
. For this reason, a design disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. 4-50551 has been proposed, where a flat washer
14
is placed against a tip portion of a pivot
12
and a retainer ring
15
. A portion of this retainer ring
15
is cut and the entire retainer ring
15
is fitted in an engaging groove
12
a
in an outer circumference of the pivot
12
. The position of the engaging groove
12
a
corresponds to the top surface of the flat washer
14
so that the retainer ring
15
comes into contact with the flat washer
14
to retain pivot
12
on the pivot holder
11
.
However, when this apparatus is incorporated into a vehicle body, the pivot
12
and the pivot holder
11
are treated as a single wiper pivot assembly. After the assembly is installed on a vehicle body, a wiper arm is set thereto. In this instance, during the conveyance of the aforesaid wiper pivot assembly, there is the risk that, for example, a thread groove
12
b
in the tip portion of the pivot
12
collides against other components and deforms.
To cope with such an event, the pivot
12
is taken out from the pivot holder
11
and replaced with a new pivot
12
. However, removing the pivot
12
requires disconnecting the retainer ring
15
. Removing the retainer ring
15
is a problem because the retainer ring
14
is not only made of a spring steel but is also small and fitted in the engaging groove
12
a
. Therefore, special tools which require a delicate touch are needed.
In addition, since some parts of the wiper apparatus, such as the wiper arm and the pivot, appear outside the vehicle body, they can directly undergo external shocks. In some cases the shock reaches, not only the wiper arm, the pivot and the pivot holder, but also the entire wiper apparatus. The shock can affect the fit of the wiper apparatus to the vehicle body and may even affect the vehicle body.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In this invention, a pivot rotatably extends from the vehicle body interior side to the exterior through a pivot holder that is fixed integrally onto a vehicle body. The pivot holds a wiper arm at its penetrating tip portion. An engaging groove is made in a pivot holder penetrating portion of the pivot and a retainer ring is fitted in the engaging groove to retain the pivot on the pivot holder. The retainer ring clamps down into the engaging groove. The retainer ring has ends which can be forced apart. The engaging groove is notched with an inclined groove side surface toward the tip of the pivot.
In this way, releasing the pivot from the pivot holder is a simple operation. Additionally, if an external large shock is received, the retainer ring disconnects from the engaging groove of the pivot, and the pivot absorbs the shock by moving downwardly from the pivot holder. Thus, the shock does not affect the entire wiper apparatus or the vehicle body. This decreases the number of parts to be replaced or repaired which reduces cost.


REFERENCES:
patent: 5142728 (1992-09-01), Yamamoto et al.
patent: 5182957 (1993-02-01), Bohmer et al.
patent: 5337439 (1994-08-01), Frey et al.
patent: 5735171 (1998-04-01), Moute et al.
patent: 0 806 329 (1997-11-01), None
patent: Y2-58-48921 (1983-11-01), None
patent: Y1-60-261 (1985-01-01), None
patent: Y1-61-75365 (1986-05-01), None
patent: Y1-4-50051 (1992-04-01), None

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