The Evolution of Wind Shield Wipers - A Patent History - IPWatchdog.com | Patents & Patent Law". IPWatchdog.com | Patents & Patent Law. 2014-11-09 . Retrieved 2018-10-09.

Do I need new windscreen wipers?

Many jurisdictions have legal requirements that vehicles be equipped with windscreen wipers. Windscreen wipers may be a required safety item in auto safety inspections. Some US states have a "wipers on, lights on" rule for cars. [26] [27] In popular culture [ edit ] At least three inventors patented windscreen cleaning devices at around the same time in 1903; Mary Anderson, Robert Douglass, and John Apjohn. In April 1911, a patent for windscreen wipers was registered by Sloan & Lloyd Barnes, patent agents of Liverpool, England, for Gladstone Adams of Whitley Bay. Overall, if you want to fit OEM quality wipers but without paying the premium dealership prices, the Valeo Silencio set are perfect. They aren’t the cheapest but they are high quality wipers that won’t disappoint. Irish born inventor James Henry Apjohn (1845–1914) patented an "Apparatus for Cleaning Carriage, Motor Car and other Windows" which was stated to use either brushes or wipers and could be either motor driven or hand driven. The brushes or wipers were intended to clean either both up and down or in just one direction on a vertical window. Apjohn's invention had a priority date in the UK of 9 October 1903. [8] In March 1970, French automotive manufacturer Citroën introduced more advanced rain-sensitive intermittent windscreen wipers on its SM model. When the intermittent function was selected, the wiper would make one sweep. If the windscreen was relatively dry, the wiper motor drew high current, which would set the control circuit timer to a long delay for the next wipe. If the motor drew little current, it indicated that the glass was still wet, and would set the timer to minimize the delay.

History [ edit ] Early versions [ edit ] Patent illustration of 'window cleaner' by GEORGE J. CAPEWELL, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT. American inventor Mary Anderson is popularly credited with devising the first operational windscreen wiper in 1903. [3] [4] In Anderson's patent, she called her invention a "window cleaning device" for electric cars and other vehicles. Operated via a lever from inside a vehicle, her version of windscreen wipers closely resembles the windscreen wiper found on many early car models. Anderson had a model of her design manufactured, then filed a patent (US 743,801) on June 18, 1903 that was issued to her by the US Patent Office on November 10, 1903. [5] [6] A "locomotive-cab-window cleaner" on 12 March 1903. [7] Apjohn's 1903 window cleaning apparatus design Considering that wiper blades not only help you see the road ahead more clearly but are also part of your car’s MOT requirements, it’s important that you maintain them to a high standard. Welcome to windscreenwipers.co.uk where we have a wide choice of windscreen wipers to fit almost any vehicle. We offer an extensive range of high quality wipers, at fantastic value for money prices from manufacturers such as Bosch, Michelin, Lucas, Valeo and the Blades brand consisting of both Hybrid and rear screen wipers.

A clear view of the road ahead

For conventional windscreen wipers we offer the Michelin RainForce & Bosch Super Plus ranges, Bosch having the option of a spoiler blade for the drivers' side. The most common type is known as the standard wiper blade, and distinguished by a rubber strip that’s attached underneath the metal holder. Plus, to optimise flexibility, standard wiper blades are designed with four pressure points, allowing them to bend and wipe with ease. Windscreen wiper on a parked car. In this common design, the force from the arm is distributed evenly with a series of linkages known as a whippletree. A common windscreen wiper arm and blade A train windscreen wiper in operation (MRT Jakarta) A simple single-blade setup with a center pivot (Fig. 4) is commonly used on rear windscreens, as well as on the front of some cars. Mercedes-Benz pioneered a system (Fig. 5) called the "Monoblade", based on cantilevers, in which a single arm extends outward to reach the top corners of the windscreen, and pulls in at the ends and middle of the stroke, sweeping out a somewhat "M"-shaped path. This way, a single blade is able to cover more of the windscreen, displacing any residual streaks away from the centre of the windscreen. a>

Below is a list of the best wiper blades that are easy to install and suitable for all budgets. The Best Wiper Blades Some larger cars in the late '70s and early '80s, especially LH driver American cars [ citation needed], had a pantograph wiper on the driver's side, with a conventional pivot on the passenger side. Asymmetric wiper arrangements are usually configured to clear more windscreen area on the driver's side, and so are mostly mirrored for left and right-hand-drive vehicles (for example, Fig. 1 vs. Fig 10). One exception is found on the second generations of the Renault Clio, Twingo and Scénic as well as BMW's E60 5 Series and E63 6 Series, the Peugeot 206 and the Nissan Almera Tino, where the wipers always sweep towards the left. On right-hand-drive models, a linkage allows the right-hand wiper to move outwards towards the corner of the windscreen and clear more area. The Rear Wiper: A Vital Strand of Porsche DNA". wordpress.com. 30 April 2015 . Retrieved 5 April 2018.In 1963, another form of intermittent wiper was invented by Robert Kearns, an engineering professor at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. [3] (United States Patent 3,351,836 – 1964 filing date). Kearns's design was intended to mimic the function of the human eye, which blinks only once every few seconds. In 1963, Kearns built his first intermittent wiper system using off-the-shelf electronic components. The interval between wipes was determined by the rate of current flow into a capacitor; when the charge in the capacitor reached a certain voltage, the capacitor would be discharged, activating one cycle of the wiper motor, and then repeating the process. Kearns showed his wiper design to the Ford Motor Company and proposed that they manufacture the design. Ford executives rejected Kearns' proposal at the time, but later offered a similar design as an option on the company's Mercury line, beginning with the 1969 models. [3] Kearns sued Ford in a multi-year patent dispute that Kearns eventually won in court, [12] inspiring the 2009 feature film Flash of Genius based on a 1993 New Yorker article that covered the legal battle. Most early wipers used a rubber blade attached to a flat metal base. But as aerodynamic and styling concerns introduced curved windshields, these proved insufficient. In 1945, John W. Anderson, founder of Trico rival Anco, filed a patent for a wiper with branched arms to keep the blade pressed uniformly against both curved and flat glass, [16] adaptable to almost any windscreen curvature. [17] As curved windshields became more popular and widespread, following the debut of the 1947 Studebaker Starlight Coupe, [18] these soon became standard equipment. While they have been superseded by "beam-type" wipers with bodies made of flexible material, this type still remains the most popular. Rain-sensing windscreen wipers appeared on various models in the late 20th century, one of the first being the Citroën SM. As of early 2006 [update], rain-sensing wipers are optional or standard on all Cadillacs and most Volkswagens, and are available on many other mainstream manufacturers. Wiper blades are used to clear the windscreen on a vehicle. They can clear water, snow, ice and other debris to ensure a clear windscreen for a driver. Yes you can. Bosch, Michelin and Twenty20 all offer retro-fit U clips that allow you to convert your standard metal framed wiper to the more modern aero style. Are brands such as Bosch worth it?