JPH10264772A - Wiper device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a wiper device which can have a wide wiping area using simple constitution. SOLUTION: In a wiper device 10, a slide arm 32 is slidably attached to a main arm main body 20, and during the rising turning movement of a wiper blade 40 the slide arm 32 is put into sliding movement by the frictional resistance between blade rubber 42 and the surface of glass, thereby increasing the radius of rotation of the wiper blade 42. Also, during the falling turning movement of the wiper blade 42, the slide arm 32 is pulled by a sub-arm 64 which is reduced in its straight length between both ends by making a rising turning movement, so that the slide arm 32 is put into sliding movement in the opposite direction. Therefore, the radius of rotation of the wiper blade 42 becomes smaller, and the part of the surface of glass below the range wiped during the rising turning movement of the wiper blade 42 wiped.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a wiper device for wiping a windshield glass of a vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A wiper device that reciprocates on a windshield glass surface to wipe raindrops or the like usually has a configuration in which a wiper blade reciprocates around a pivot axis.
If the ratio of the vertical dimension to the vehicle width direction dimension of the windshield glass is high, the upper end side of the windshield glass cannot be wiped. Even if the length of the wiper blade is to be longer in order to wipe the upper end side of the windshield glass, the tip of the wiper blade must not be protruded from the vehicle at the lower turning position. There is a limit to lengthening the length.

One example of a means for solving such a problem is as follows.
JP-A-62-18159 or JP-A-63-57
No. 157.

[0004]

However, in the wiper device disclosed in the above publication, a plurality of gears are provided around the pivot shaft in conjunction with the rotation of the pivot shaft, and the rotation of these gears is further reduced. The entire length of the wiper arm is expanded and contracted by transmitting the signal to a slide arm provided on the wiper arm by a complicated link mechanism, thereby changing the turning radius of the wiper blade to increase the wiping range.

An object of the present invention is to provide a wiper device capable of obtaining a wide wiping area with a simple configuration in consideration of the above fact.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wiper device, comprising: a wiper blade for reciprocatingly rotating on a surface to be wiped and wiping the surface to be wiped in conjunction with reciprocating rotation of a drive shaft; Is connected to the drive shaft and the other end is connected to the wiper blade, and transmits the reciprocating rotation of the drive shaft to the wiper blade, and a main arm that can be extended and contracted in the longitudinal direction, and the drive shaft Is connected at one end to a support shaft having a different shaft center, and the other end is connected to the wiper blade, and rotates around the support shaft in conjunction with the rotation of the main arm. And a sub arm for contracting the main arm.

In the wiper device having the above structure, when the wiper blade reciprocates via the main arm by the reciprocating rotation of the drive shaft, the wiped surface is wiped by the wiper blade.

Here, when the main arm rotates around the drive shaft in the contracted state, the wiper blade tries to stop at that position due to frictional resistance between the wiper blade and the surface to be wiped. The tip of the main arm is pulled by the wiper blade to extend the main arm.

Also, with the main arm extended,
When the rotation of the drive shaft is reversed, the sub arm contracts the main arm. Therefore, in this case, the turning radius of the main arm is smaller than that at the time of rotation before the reverse rotation, and the drive shaft side is wiped by the wiper blade from the wiping range wiped by the wiper blade at the time of rotation before the reverse rotation. .

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the wiper device according to the first aspect, the sub-arm is connected to the support shaft provided on the side opposite to the initial stop position of the wiper blade via the drive shaft. However, when the wiper blade is moved backward, the extended main arm is pulled and contracted.

In the wiper device having the above structure, the support shaft is provided on the side opposite to the wiper blade in the initial stop state via the drive shaft. When the wiper blade moves backward, the wiper blade moves away from the support shaft, and When the tip (that is, the end on the wiper blade side) rotates around the support shaft, the sub arm pulls the main arm toward the drive shaft side via the wiper blade, whereby the main arm is contracted and the rotation radius is reduced. Become smaller. For this reason,
The drive shaft side is wiped by the return movement of the wiper blade from the wiping range at the time of the forward movement of the wiper blade.

A wiper device according to a third aspect of the present invention is the wiper device according to the first or second aspect, wherein the sub-arm has a base end side arm portion connected at one end to be rotatable about the support shaft; A distal end side arm portion rotatably connected to the wiper blade at one end and one end rotatably connected to the other end of the base side arm portion.

In the wiper device having the above-described configuration, the base arm and the distal arm forming the sub arm are rotatably connected to each other, and the main arm, the wiper blade, the distal arm, and the base end are provided. A link mechanism is formed by the arms.

Here, the linear distance between the tip of the sub arm (the end of the distal arm on the wiper blade side) and the base end (the end of the proximal arm on the support shaft side) is the longest. In this state, when the main arm rotates around the drive shaft toward the sub-arm, the linear distance between the distal end and the proximal end of the sub-arm is temporarily shortened, and the distal-side arm is connected to the base-side arm by the base. It rotates relatively to the end arm.

In this state, when the drive shaft reaches the reverse position of the wiper and rotates in the reverse direction, the distal arm attempts to rotate around the drive shaft with the rotation of the wiper blade. Thus, the main arm is pulled via the distal arm portion and the wiper blade in order to maintain the state as it is. Therefore, if the main arm is extended in the state of reaching the reversing position, the proximal arm pulls the main arm via the distal arm and the wiper blade, and the main arm is contracted.

A wiper device according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the wiper device according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the wiper blade is connected to the main arm near a longitudinal middle portion of the wiper blade and the wiper blade. A vibration limiter is rotatably connected to the sub arm at one end of the blade, and limits vibration in the width direction of the wiper blade when the wiper blade reciprocates.

According to the wiper device having the above structure, the vibration of the wiper blade during the reciprocating rotation is limited by the vibration restricting means. Here, although the vibration limiting means is connected to the main arm at the longitudinal center of the wiper blade, it is connected to and supported by the sub arm near one end in the longitudinal direction of the wiper blade. Does not vibrate, and the vibration can be satisfactorily limited.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the wiper device according to the fourth aspect, the vibration limiting means includes a pair of side walls facing the wiper blade on both sides in the width direction of the wiper blade. I have.

According to the wiper device having the above-described structure, the vibration restricting means has a pair of side walls opposed to each other via the wiper blade at both ends in the width direction at one longitudinal end of the wiper blade. Here, as described above, even if the wiper blade vibrates, even the vibration restricting means does not vibrate together with the wiper blade. Therefore, when the wiper blade vibrates, both ends in the width direction of the wiper blade are relative to the side wall. When the wiper blade comes into contact with and separates from the side wall, the vibration of the wiper blade is limited.

[0020]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a wiper device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in this figure, the wiper device 10 is
Is provided. The arm head 14 extends in a longitudinal direction toward a radial direction of a pivot shaft 18 as a drive shaft provided at a central portion in a width direction (arrow X direction in FIG. 6) below the windshield glass 16 (see FIG. 6). The base end is fixed to the pivot shaft 18 and connected to a wiper motor (not shown) as a driving means provided in the vehicle via transmission means such as the pivot shaft 18 and a connecting rod. The driving force reciprocates integrally around the pivot shaft 18.

At the tip of the arm head 14, a main arm main body 20, which forms the main arm 12 together with the arm head 14, is provided. Like the arm head 14, the main arm body 20 has a longitudinal direction extending in the radial direction of the pivot shaft 18, and a cut surface in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction is cut to the windshield glass 16 (see FIG. 6). 2 (that is, in the direction of arrow Y in FIG. 2), and the end on the pivot shaft 18 side is moved toward and away from the windshield glass 16 by a fastening means such as a rivet 22 or the like. The arm head 14 is connected to the arm head 14 so as to be rotatable by a predetermined angle in the direction (the direction of the arrow Y in FIG. 2 and the direction opposite thereto).

As shown in FIG. 2, a tension coil spring 24 is provided on the back side of the main arm main body 20 (ie, on the windshield glass 16 side). One end of the tension coil spring 24 is locked to a locking pin 26 provided at the tip of the arm head 14, and the other end is locked to a locking pin 28 provided on the back side of the main arm body 20. And the main arm body 20
Is constantly urged toward the windshield glass 16 side.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the distal end side of the main arm main body 20 from the longitudinal middle portion is a tubular portion 34 formed in a tubular shape having a rectangular cross section. As shown in FIG. 2, a guide groove 30 extending in the longitudinal direction of the main arm body 20 is formed in the upper wall of the cylindrical portion 34.

A slide arm on the distal end side of the main arm body 20 extends in the radial direction of the pivot shaft 18 similarly to the main arm body 20, and forms the main arm 12 together with the main arm body 20. 32 are provided. The main arm body 20 side of the slide arm 32 is inserted into the cylindrical portion 34, and is slidable along the cylindrical portion 34 in the longitudinal direction of the main arm main body 20.

At the end of the slide arm 32 on the side of the main arm body 20, a block-shaped stopper extending in the longitudinal direction of the slide arm 32 and projecting toward the upper wall of the cylindrical portion 34. 36 are formed. The stopper 36 is inserted into the guide groove 30 of the cylindrical portion 34, and when the slide arm 32 slides by a predetermined stroke in the longitudinal direction of the main arm body 20, the longitudinal end of the stopper 36 is moved in the longitudinal direction of the guide groove 30. The slide arm 32 abuts on the front end portion 30A or the rear end portion 30B, and limits the slide movement of the slide arm 32 with respect to the main arm main body 20 within a predetermined range.

In this embodiment, the guide groove 30 is formed in the upper wall of the cylinder 34, but the guide groove 30 is formed in the lower wall of the cylinder 34 facing the upper wall, and The stopper 36 of the slide arm 32 may be made to protrude toward the lower wall of the cylindrical portion 34 corresponding to the guide groove 30.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, a hook 38 which is curved in a substantially U-shape toward the windshield glass 16 (ie, the direction of arrow Y in FIG. 2) is formed at the tip of the slide arm 32. As shown in FIG. 1, a wiper blade 40 having a longitudinal direction extending in the radial direction of the pivot shaft 18 is attached. The wiper blade 40 includes a blade rubber 42 formed of a rubber material or a synthetic resin material. The wiper blade 40 is moved while the blade rubber 42 is in contact with the windshield glass 16 so that the blade rubber 42 The shield glass 16 is wiped.

Further, above the tip of the slide arm 32 (ie, on the side opposite to the windshield glass 16 and opposite to the direction of arrow Y in FIG. 2), the longitudinal direction of the wiper blade 40 extends. Oriented stay 50
Are fixed by a pair of rivets 52. The stay 50 has a side opposite to the end fixed by the rivet 52 (the rear end side of the wiper blade 40).
As shown in FIG. 4, it has a U-shaped cross section that opens toward the windshield glass 16 (that is, in the direction of the arrow Y in FIG. 4), and encloses the rear end side of the wiper blade 40.

As shown in FIG. 4, a stopper 56 made of a rubber material or a resin material is fixed to the inside of each side wall 54 of the stay 50 so as to penetrate the side wall 54. The connection between the hook 38 and the wiper blade 40 shown in FIG.
In the case where the rear end side of 0 vibrates in the direction in which the wiper blade 40 comes into contact with or separates from the side wall 54, the vibration of the wiper blade 40 is suppressed by the wiper blade 40 abutting against the stopper 56.

Further, as shown in FIG.
A cylindrical bearing 60 is fixed to a base end portion of the “0” (an end portion on the rear end side of the wiper blade 40) so as to penetrate the stay 50, and a narrow plate-shaped distal end side arm constituting the sub arm 64. A rivet 62 that penetrates a distal end portion 66A of a sub arm body 66 (see FIG. 1) as a part is caulked and fixed while penetrating the bearing 60. As a result, the sub arm main body 66 is rotatable around the rivet 62 with respect to the stay 50. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, similarly to the stay 50, the stay 5 of the sub arm main body 66 is provided.
The rivet 72 also penetrates the end 66 </ b> B on the opposite side from the end 0, and penetrates the bearing 68 provided at the distal end of the arm head 70 as the base arm forming the sub arm 64 together with the sub arm main body 66. It is swaged and fixed. Thus, the sub arm main body 66 is rotatable around the rivet 62 with respect to the stay 50 and also rotatable around the rivet 72 with respect to the arm head 70.

As shown in FIG. 1, the arm head 70
Is a longitudinal direction toward a radial direction of a pivot shaft 74 as a support shaft provided below the windshield glass 16 on the side of the pivot shaft 18 (the side opposite to the arrow X direction in FIG. 6). Arm head 70
Is fixed to the pivot shaft 74 and is rotatable around the pivot shaft 74 integrally with the pivot shaft 74. Thus, the arm head 14,
Main arm 12, slide arm 32, stay 50,
The sub arm main body 66 and the arm head 70 form a link mechanism, and when the arm head 14 rotates, the pivot shaft 74 rotates via the main arm 12 to the arm head 70.

Here, as shown in FIG. 6, the initial stop state of the wiper device 10 is a state where the wiper blade 40 is at the lower turning position, that is, the wiper blade 40 is substantially at the lower end of the windshield glass 16. In this state, the stopper 36 of the slide arm 32 abuts on the rear end 30B of the guide groove 30, and the rivet 72, which is a connecting portion between the arm head 70 and the sub arm main body 66, is pivoted. The dimensions of the main arm main body 20, the slide arm 32, the stay 50, the sub arm main body 66, and the like are set so as to be located on the side opposite to the main arm 12 with respect to the line connecting the shaft 74 and the rivet 62.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described with reference to the schematic diagrams of FIGS. 6 and 7
As shown in FIG. 6, the side of the pivot shaft 18 (FIG. 6)
A pivot shaft 80 that rotates in conjunction with the pivot shaft 18 is provided at the lower end of the windshield glass 16 (in the direction opposite to the arrow X in FIG. 7), and a wiper blade 84 is connected via a wiper arm 82. The pivot shaft 80 and the wiper arm 8
2 and the wiper blade 84 have the same configuration as that of a normal wiper device that has been generally used in the past, and a description of these configurations and operations will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 6, when the wiper motor 40 is operated and the main arm 12 moves upwardly above the windshield glass 16 with the wiper blade 40 positioned at the lower turning position, as shown in FIG. When you move,
The wiper blade 40 is rotated upward through the main arm 12. Here, when the wiper blade 40 rotates upward, frictional resistance occurs between the windshield glass 16 and the blade rubber 42 (see FIG. 1) of the wiper blade 40, and the wiper blade 40 resists the upward rotation. Attempt to stop 40. For this reason, when the arm head 14 rotates upward, the slide arm 32 integral with the wiper blade 40 moves in the upward rotational direction of the main arm main body 20 relative to the main arm main body 20 integral with the pivot shaft 18. Tries to relatively displace in the opposite direction.

Here, the slide arm 32 in this state
The pivot shaft 1 of the guide groove 30
8 is in contact with the rear end 30 </ b> B of the main arm body 20, the stopper 36 is inserted into the end of the guide groove 30 on the front end of the main arm body 20.
Can be displaced outward in the radial direction of the pivot shaft 18 by a distance K until it comes into contact. Therefore, even if frictional resistance acts between the windshield glass 16 and the blade rubber 42 of the wiper blade 40, the slide arm 32 is raised by the upward pressing force of the main arm body 20 that rotates upward. The slide arm 32 does not follow the main arm body 20 in the width direction of the shield glass 16 (that is, the direction opposite to the direction of the arrow X in FIG. 6), and the slide arm 32 does not follow the main arm body 20 by a predetermined stroke. The slide arm 32 moves the windshield glass 16 until the stopper 36 comes into contact with the distal end portion 30A of the guide groove 30 on the distal end side of the main arm body 20.
Is displaced with respect to. As a result, the total length of the main arm 12 is larger than the total length L in the initial stopped state by the slide arm 32.
Becomes longer by the amount of displacement K.

Therefore, in this state, the wiper blade 40
The upper end of the windshield glass 16 shown in FIG. 6 is rotated by rotating the wiper blade 40 around the pivot shaft 18 via the main arm 12 until the position of the windshield glass 16 reaches the upper reversing position (that is, until the state shown in FIG. 7). The area on the side (the area E surrounded by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 6) is wiped by the blade rubber 42 of the wiper blade 40.

The sub arm 64 rotates in conjunction with the upward rotation of the main arm 12. Here, the pivot shaft 74 is located on the side of the pivot shaft 18 (see FIGS. 6 and 7).
(In the direction opposite to the arrow X in FIG. 3), the stay 50 is connected to the pivot shaft 1 together with the wiper blade 40.
8, the stay 50 approaches the pivot shaft 74. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, when the wiper blade 40 is in the upper inverted position, the wiper blade 40 is in the lower inverted position. (That is, the state shown in FIG. 6) is shorter than the linear distance M between the pivot shaft 74 and the rivet 62.

Next, as shown in FIG. 7, the wiper blade 40 reaches the upper reversal position and the pivot shaft 18
When the main arm 12 is rotated downwardly below the windshield glass 16 by the rotation of the sub-arm 64, the sub-arm 64 moves to the main arm 12 while the linear distance M between the pivot shaft 74 and the rivet 62 remains short due to inertia. The rivet 72 is rotated downward around the rivet 72. Therefore,
In this state, the main arm 12 rotates downward and the stay 50
Is the pivot shaft 7 which is the center of rotation of the sub arm 64
When the sub-arm 64 moves away from the
Then, the slide arm 32 of the main arm 12 is pulled toward the pivot shaft 18 through the “0”, and the slide arm 32 is slid toward the pivot shaft 18 until the stopper 36 contacts the rear end 30 </ b> B of the guide groove 30.
Accordingly, unlike the case of the upward rotation, the overall length of the main arm 12 is short at the time of the downward rotation, and the wiper blade 4
Since the turning radius of 0 is small, the lower side (the range surrounded by the alternate long and short dash line F in FIG. 7) of the wiping range at the time of the upward turning is wiped by the downward turning of the wiper blade 40.

When the stopper 36 contacts the rear end 30B of the guide groove 30 during the downward rotation, the sub-arm 6
4 cannot pull the stay 50 slide arm 32. Conversely, the main arm 12 pulls the sub arm 64 away from the pivot shaft 74. As a result, the linear distance between the pivot shaft 74 and the rivet 62 becomes longer than the state where the wiper blade 40 is located at the upper turning position (the state shown in FIG. 7). Thus, the wiper blade 40 returns to the lower turning position.

As described above, in the present wiper apparatus 10, the wiping range when the wiper blade 40 is rotated upward and the wiping range when the wiper blade 40 is downwardly rotated are different, and both wiping ranges are vertically displaced. By rotating, a wide wiping area can be obtained, and visibility in rainy weather or the like can be improved.

Further, since a complicated structure such as gears is not required, and the link mechanism itself is basically the same as a so-called pantograph type wiper device, it can be realized at low cost.

In the present embodiment, the base end side of the stay 50 in the longitudinal direction has a U-shaped cross section to suppress the vibration of the wiper blade 40. The end side may be formed in the same narrow plate shape as the sub arm main body 66 without having the U-shaped cross section.

In this embodiment, when the wiper blade 40 rotates downward, the wiper blade 40 wipes the lower side than the wiping range at the time of upward rotation. For example, the pivot as the support shaft is used. A shaft 74 is provided on the side of the pivot shaft 18 in the direction of the arrow X, and the stopper 3
6 comes into contact with the end of the guide groove 30 on the arm head 14 side, and the rivet 72, which is a connecting portion between the arm head 70 and the sub arm body 66, is connected to the main arm 12 with respect to a line connecting the pivot shaft 74 and the rivet 62. The dimensions of the main arm body 20, the slide arm 32, the stay 50, the sub arm body 66, and the like are set so as to be located on the opposite side to the wiping pattern reverse to that of the present embodiment, that is, the wiper blade 40 is lowered. When rotating, the upper side of the wiping range at the time of upward rotation may be wiped.

Further, in the present embodiment, the pivot shafts 18 and 74 are provided on the lower end side of the windshield glass 16, but the pivot shafts 18 and 74 are provided on the upper end side, the left end side, the right end side and the like of the windshield glass 16. 74
May be provided, and even in this case, the same effect can be obtained.

[0045]

As described above, with the wiper device of the present invention, a wide wiping area can be obtained, and visibility in rainy weather or the like can be improved. Further, since a complicated structure such as gears is not required, and the link mechanism itself is basically the same as a so-called pantograph-type wiper device, it can be realized at low cost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a wiper device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5-5 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of the wiper device according to one embodiment of the present invention, showing a state at a lower turning position and a wiping range at the time of upward rotation.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a wiper device according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing a state at an upper turning position and a wiping range at the time of downward rotation.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Wiper apparatus 12 Main arm 16 Windshield glass (wiping surface) 18 Pivot shaft (drive shaft) 40 Wiper blade 64 Sub arm 66 Sub arm main body (tip side arm part) 70 Arm head (base end side arm part) 74 Pivot shaft ( Support shaft)

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A wiper blade for reciprocatingly rotating on a surface to be wiped and wiping the surface to be wiped in conjunction with reciprocating rotation of a drive shaft, and one end connected to the drive shaft and the other end to the wiper blade. Connected to the wiper blade to transmit the reciprocating rotation of the drive shaft to the wiper blade, and one end is connected to a support shaft having a shaft center different from the drive shaft, the main arm being capable of extending and contracting in the longitudinal direction. A wiper device, the other end of which is connected to the wiper blade, which rotates around the support shaft in conjunction with the rotation of the main arm, and which contracts the extended main arm by the rotation. . 2. The sub arm, which is connected to the support shaft provided on the side opposite to the initial stop position of the wiper blade via the drive shaft, connects the main arm in an extended state when the wiper blade moves backward. The wiper device according to claim 1, wherein the wiper device is contracted by being pulled. 3. A sub-arm, one end of which is rotatably connected around the support shaft, and one end of which is rotatably connected to the other end of the base arm. The wiper device according to claim 1, further comprising: a distal end arm portion whose other end is rotatably connected to the wiper blade. 4. The wiper blade is connected to the main arm in the vicinity of an intermediate portion in the longitudinal direction of the wiper blade, and is rotatably connected to the sub arm at one end of the wiper blade. The wiper device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a vibration restricting unit that restricts vibration of the wiper blade in a width direction. 5. The wiper device according to claim 4, wherein the vibration limiting means includes a pair of side walls facing the wiper blade on both sides in the width direction of the wiper blade.