Patent ID: 7832046
Filing Date: 2010-11-16
Classification: B60S

Abstract:
1. A coupling apparatus coupling a wiper arm to a wiper blade, the coupling apparatus comprising: a blade coupling part provided to the wiper blade, and including front and rear plates with an opening defined at upper portions of the front and rear plates, and a support shaft positioned between the front and rear plates; and a wiper arm coupling part integrally formed with one end of the wiper arm, and including a slant insertion mechanism to cause the wiper arm to be slantly inserted onto the support shaft and to hold the support shaft so as not to be separated from the slant insertion mechanism by changing an inclination of the wiper arm after the wiper arm is inserted onto the support shaft, the slant insertion mechanism including a longitudinally slanted groove open at a lower portion of the wiper arm coupling part and having opposite oblique surfaces extending with respect to a bottom surface thereof, each being formed to be slanted from the lower portion of one side to an upper portion of another side of the coupling part, and an arcuate surface connecting the opposite oblique surfaces with each other so as to be brought into close contact with an outer surface of the support shaft, wherein the support shaft has a rectilinear surface formed on opposite sides of the support shaft, wherein each oblique surface of the slant insertion mechanism has a jaw inwardly protruding from a central region of the oblique surface and having a curved surface at an end of the jaw toward the arcuate surface of the slanted groove such that an arcuate end formed at either side of the rectilinear surface of the support shaft is latched to a corresponding jaw, wherein the front and rear plates have front and rear protrusions respectively formed on inner surfaces thereof so as to be positioned on an imaginary arc centered on the support shaft, and wherein the wiper arm coupling part has arcuate grooves respectively formed in front and rear surfaces of the wiper arm coupling part so as to be positioned on an imaginary arc centered on the arcuate surface of the slanted groove such that the front and rear protrusions are inserted into the arcuate grooves, respectively.