Abstract:
The present invention is to provide a “vehicle windshield wiper for rain and snow dual purpose”, which comprises a bow elastic strip, some clamping devices, a strip scraper receptacle, a sheath cover, a strip scraper, two end ferrule caps and a truss saddle; Wherein, the sheath cover and two end ferrule caps totally envelope the bow elastic strip, clamping devices and strip scraper receptacle so that the snow and icy particles are blocked and separated out unable to intrude or gather in any space thereof; Thereby, the dual function of rain wiper and snow wiper of present invention eliminates the boring action in swapping between rain wiper and snow wiper during interim of snow and non-snow seasons so that it not only saves the extra expense in buying snow wiper for the consuming vehicle drivers but also totally obsoletes the conventional arm-supported snow wiper so as to eliminate the pollution burden incurred by the mass waste conventional snow wipers; Thus, it really possesses double effect in economic benefit and environmental protection.

Description:
FIELD OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to a “vehicle windshield wiper for rain and snow dual purpose”, which can be universally used under any weather so that not only the swap between rain wiper and snow wiper is avoided but also the bearing area against wind flow is tremendously reduced and results in less fuel consumption due to decrease in output power of the wiper-driving motor so as to achieve double effect in economic benefit and environmental production. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Currently, most of the structure in the windshield snow wiper for the vehicle is adapted from the conventional arm-supported wiper by wrapping a layer of external cover and inserting a strip scraper at the bottom side thereof. As shown in the  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 5 , the conventional arm-supported snow wiper  1  comprises a master wiper support  2 , a first holding support  4 , a second holding support  6 , an elastic strip scraper receptacle  8 , a hollow tubular external cover  9 , a truss saddle  10 , a strip scraper  12  and two end ferrule caps  13 , wherein: Both ends of said master wiper support  2  are jointed with the first holding support  4  respectively by means of the articulation  3 ; The second holding support  6  is jointed with each end of both first holding support  4  respectively by means of the articulation  5 ; And, each other end of both first holding support  4  and the both ends of each second holding support  6  is configured a clamping device  7 , where the elastic strip scraper receptacle  8  is securely clamped; The hollow tubular external cover  9  first sleeves either one of both first holding support  4  up to other first holding support  4  for wrapping all holding arms therein; The truss saddle  10  is fixed on said master wiper support  2  via top center of said external cover  9  by two rivets  11 ; The strip scraper  12  is gripped by said strip scraper receptacle  8  after inserting therein; Two end ferrule caps  13  are used to cap on both ends of said external cover  9  respectively for retaining integral parts firmly as shown in  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 ; The conventional arm-supported snow wiper  1  is jointed with the wiper arm R by means of the wiper jointer  70 , whereby being linked to the motor M via wiper arm linking bar S, for being used on the windshield of the vehicle as shown in  FIG. 5 . When the winter comes, the driver must replace the existing conventional arm-supported wiper W by the conventional arm-supported snow wiper  1  so that the snow and icy particles can not attach and gather in the space of the master wiper support  2 , first holding support  4 , or second holding support  6  by means of the separation and block of the external cover  9  during vehicle movement as shown in  FIG. 3  so as to avoid the integral snow wiper from stiffness, which will result in losing function of scraping snow owing to the wiper scraper blade being unable to closely press against the windshield evenly. If the replacement of the wiper does not take action in time, the conventional arm-supported wiper W will become stiff and losing elasticity due to the attachment and gathering of the snow and icy particles in the master wiper support and the other holding supports and result in seriously affecting the driving safety in consequence of losing function of scraping snow on the windshield. That is the reason all the vehicle drivers in the snow area have to spend extra money to buy snow wiper for replacing the traditional rain wiper during snow season under safety consideration; contrarily, the vendors and manufacturers of the windshield wiper are happy to have increase sale volume and revenue. This unfair marketing status, the consumers are the losers and the vendors and manufacturers are the winners, always exists in the snow area so far. 
         [0003]    As to some snow wipers in prior art such as U.S. patent numbers of U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,108,857 and 6,598,258 and the others, they all falls in the category of foregoing conventional arm-supported snow wiper with adoption of external cover for wrapping the wiper to block the snow and icy particles. For some other snow wipers in prior art such as US patent numbers of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,412,177, 5,603,856, 6,049,939, 5,784,751 and the like are different from the foregoing snow wiper of external cover, they all have additional thermal apparatus contrivance to melt the snow on the wiper by heating energy; Therefore, all such kind of snow wipers will increase the fuel expense due to extra gas consumption by the additional thermal apparatus. Moreover, in order to have such additional thermal apparatus installed in the engine compartment of limited space, not only the initial adaptation cost is considerable but also the routine maintenance fee is much; Hence, it does not appeal the consumers due to high total cost thereof and result in failing in the mainstream market without promotional effect. 
         [0004]    These foregoing conventional arm-supported snow wiper not only have their own different weaknesses, but also have more common drawbacks as below: 
         [0005]    (1). as shown in the  FIGS. 3 and 5 , although the external cover  9  wrapping on the conventional arm-supported snow wiper  1  can separate and block the intrusion of the snow and icy particles, but the long side of which will become a wind flow barrier during vehicle moving against the wind current so that the motor M, which transmits driving power to the wiper via wiper arm R and wiper arm linking bar S, will suffer a counter reaction from said external cover  9 , which will lead to the increase of power output from motor M and indirectly cause the increase automobile fuel and oil costs; Contrarily, as shown in the  FIGS. 4 and 5 , during not winter snow season, using the conventional arm-supported wiper W, the wind flow can pass through the gaps among all arms, which means it bears less counter reaction relatively and the motor M outputs less power relatively as well as vehicle fuel will be more economical; In other words, the conventional arm-supported snow wiper  1  does more than conventional arm-supported wiper W fuel consumption; In particular, the accumulation throughout the winter snow season will be more obvious, whereas, the vehicle consuming drivers are still forced to accept it. 
         [0006]    (2). Based on traffic safety principles, all the vehicle drivers in the snow region must spend the additional cost to buy conventional arm-supported snow wiper every year, which becomes an inevitable outcome under circumstance of no better alternative products; It is the only way to silently accept various annoyance and inconvenience coming from the replacement between the rain wiper and snow wiper. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    The primary object of the present invention is to provide a “vehicle windshield wiper for rain and snow dual purpose”, which comprises a bow elastic strip, some clamping devices, a strip scraper receptacle, a sheath cover, a strip scraper, two end ferrule caps and a truss saddle; By means of the bow elastic strip for replacing the holding supports in the conventional arm-supported snow wiper, then use the sheath cover and two end ferrule caps to totally envelope the bow elastic strip, clamping devices and strip scraper receptacle so that the snow and icy particles are blocked and separated out unable to intrude or gather in any space thereof; Thereby, the dual function of rain wiper and snow wiper of present invention eliminates the boring action in swapping between rain wiper and snow wiper during interim of snow and non-snow seasons so that it not only saves the extra expense in buying snow wiper for the consuming vehicle drivers but also totally obsoletes the conventional arm-supported snow wiper so as to eliminate the pollution burden incurred by the mass waste conventional snow wipers; Thus, it really possesses double effect in economic benefit and environmental protection. 
         [0008]    Another object of the present invention is to provide a “vehicle windshield wiper for rain and snow dual purpose” without holding support so that its total size and weight is smaller and lighter than those of the conventional arm-supported snow wiper; Moreover, its bearing area against the air flow is smaller than that of the conventional arm-supported snow wiper so that the output power of the wiper-driving motor is decreased relatively and results in less gas consumption and fuel expense for the vehicles; Thus, it not only prolong the service life span of the wiper-driving motor but also tremendously reduce the vehicle-driving expense for the vehicle drivers in the snow region. 
         [0009]    The other object of the present invention is to provide a “vehicle windshield wiper for rain and snow dual purpose” with feature of simple structure and easy production. As vehicle windshield snow wiper belongs to industrial consumable article of mass production for supplying to the demand of billions vehicle in the world, adopting and rearranging the existing equipments and facilities, which used to manufacture conventional wipers, to fabricate the wipers of the present invention saves not only the current assets but also the fixed assets in the production cost, which can be reflected in the product price for benefiting consumers to create the two-win result between the consumers and the manufacturers. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0010]      FIG. 1  is the exploded schematic view of the conventional arm-supported snow wiper. 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  is the assembled schematic view of the conventional arm-supported snow wiper. 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  shows a sectional view taken along the direction indicated by line a-a as shown in  FIG. 2 . 
           [0013]      FIG. 4  is the perspective schematic view of the conventional arm-supported wiper. 
           [0014]      FIG. 5  is the schematic view of the conventional arm-supported snow wiper used on the windshield of the vehicle. 
           [0015]      FIG. 6  is the exploded perspective schematic view of the no-holding-support snow wiper. 
           [0016]      FIG. 7  is the assembled perspective schematic view of the no-holding-support snow wiper. 
           [0017]      FIG. 8  shows a sectional view taken along the direction indicated by line c-c as shown in  FIG. 7 . 
           [0018]      FIG. 9  is the exploded perspective schematic view of the present invention. 
           [0019]      FIG. 10  is the assembled perspective schematic view of the present invention. 
           [0020]      FIG. 11  is the perspective schematic view showing the combination of the present invention with the wiper arm. 
           [0021]      FIG. 12  is the flow chart showing the assembly steps according to the present invention. 
           [0022]      FIG. 13  is the section view showing the wiper presses against the windshield according to the present invention. 
           [0023]      FIG. 13A  is the section view showing the wiper brush against the windshield according to the present invention. 
           [0024]      FIG. 14  is the schematic view showing the wiper presses against the windshield according to the present invention. 
           [0025]      FIG. 14A  is the schematic view showing the conventional arm-supported snow wiper presses against the windshield. 
           [0026]      FIG. 15  is the perspective schematic view showing the second exemplary embodiment with the clad cover according to the present invention. 
           [0027]      FIG. 16  is the perspective schematic view showing the second preferred exemplary embodiment according to the present invention. 
           [0028]      FIG. 17  is the perspective schematic view showing the third exemplary embodiment with the clad cover according to the present invention. 
           [0029]      FIG. 18  is the perspective schematic view showing the third preferred exemplary embodiment according to the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0030]    Prior to the description of the concrete embodiment for the present invention, it is declared that the present invention is developed from refining the drawbacks of the conventional arm-supported snow wiper together with the previous product of no-holding-support windshield wiper, which is invented by the same inventor and has being granted the U.S. Pat. No. 7,150,066, Japanese patent No. 3115053 and Taiwan patent No. M27955 respectively. The structure of such wiper is shown as in  FIG. 6  to  FIG. 8 , which comprises: 
         [0031]    a truss saddle  10  is to be fixed at the end of the wiper arm R by means of the wiper jointer  70 ; 
         [0032]    a bow elastic stripe  20 , which being made by metal stripe bow downwards, is securely jointed with the base side of said truss saddle  10  central upper side thereat; Some polygon holes  21  are evenly punched on the surface; Some oblong hollow pressure adjusting vents  22  are perforated between said adjacent polygon holes  21  with adequate aperture size for even stress distribution; 
         [0033]    a stripe cover body  30 , which being made of flexible elastic material by unitary-molding into integral body with a central rectangular hole  31  for accommodating the truss saddle  10  run through, has an elongated ridge on upper portion and a hollow middle portion with a pair of symmetrical elongated flutes  32  juxtaposed inwards at insides along both longitudinal sides as well as a pair of parallel symmetrical baffles  33  configured downwards at the bottom side of the bottom portion with upper connection with said pair of elongated flutes  32  as shown in view b-b of the  FIG. 6 ; 
         [0034]    some detachable clamping devices  40  has a pair of parallel symmetrical bent inwards clamping angles  42  juxtaposed downwards at the bottom portion and a polygon jut  41 , whose shape is similar to that of the polygon hole  21  on the bow elastic strip  20  but with slightly smaller in the aperture, configured on the upper portion; 
         [0035]    a strip scraper  50 , which being made of flexible elastic material by unitary-molding into integral body; has a pair of parallel symmetrical elongated flutes  51  juxtaposed on the upper portion for being securely inserted by said clamping angles  42  of the clamping devices  40  with a pair of parallel symmetrical metal elastic strips  52  splinted along both upper lateral sides thereof and an elongated scraper edge  53  disposed at the bottom portion; And 
         [0036]    a rectangular frame cover  60 , which capping at the bottom rim of the truss saddle  10 ; has a rectangular hole  61  in the center and two symmetrical snap-on noses  62  juxtaposed at the bottom center along both longitudinal lateral sides. 
         [0037]    The structure of the no-holding-support windshield wiper is contrived to employ a bow elastic stripe instead of all the holding arms used in the conventional arm-supported wiper so that whose total size is smaller and whose total weight is lighter than that of the conventional arm-supported wiper relatively; Since being introduced into the market, the no holding arm windshield wiper has being recognized and purchased by many vehicle manufacturers and a lot of consuming vehicle drivers. As to some other advantages those already described in the specifications thereof will not repeat here in redundancy. 
         [0038]    Following is the preferred exemplary concrete embodiment in coordination with the accompanying drawings to describe the present invention; please referring to  FIG. 9  to  FIG. 11 , the present invention of “vehicle windshield wiper for dual rain and snow purpose” comprises: 
         [0039]    a bow elastic strip  100 , which being made of elastic metal strip in shape of bow downwards, has a pair of lengthwise symmetrical rivet bores  101  punched in the center thereof and a plurality of round holes  102  punched and distributed in even space manner endwise as well as some oblong hollow pressure adjusting vents  103  perforated thereon; 
         [0040]    some detachable clamping devices  200 , which corresponding to said round holes  102  on the bow elastic strip  100 , has a hollow round jut  202  with aperture being slightly smaller than that of the round hole  102  configured in the center of the top side  201  and a pair of parallel symmetrical bent inwards clamping angles  203  juxtaposed downwards at the bottom portion; 
         [0041]    a strip scraper receptacle  300 , which being made of flexible plastics by unitary-molding into integral body with shape of flat hollow bar, has a central parallel elongated gap  301  run through both ends thoroughly and a pair of parallel symmetrical bent inwards hooked jut strips  302  juxtaposed along both longitudinal lateral sides of the elongated gap  301  as well as a snap-on hole  303  is respectively punched at each end thereof; 
         [0042]    a sheath cover  400 , which being made of flexible elastic material by unitary-molding into integral body with shape of tubular hollow bar, has a flat surface formed on the upper portion with a long central attachment  401  plus two short end attachments  402  and a pair of parallel symmetrical elongated flutes  403  juxtaposed insides of both internal longitudinal lateral sides for being inserted by the bow elastic strip  100  as well as an elongated groove  404  run through both ends thereof thoroughly as shown in view d-d of the  FIG. 9 ; 
         [0043]    a strip scraper  500 , which being made of flexible elastic material by unitary-molding into integral body, has a pair of parallel symmetrical elongated groove  501  juxtaposed outwards along both longitudinal lateral sides for being inserted by the pair of said hooked jut strips  302  on the strip scraper receptacle  300  and a pair of parallel symmetrical elongated jut strips  502  juxtaposed above thereof with connection each other on the upper portion as well as an elongated scraper blade  503  in upside down ridge configured at the bottom portion; 
         [0044]    two end ferrule caps  600 , which being hollow cuboid in form of front open end  601  and back close end  602 , has the sectional shape of the open end  601  been similar to but with size slightly bigger than that of the sheath cover  400  and a horizontal elastic snap-on nose  603  facing said open end  601  configured inside wall of said close end  602  as shown in view e-e of the  FIG. 9 ; And 
         [0045]    a truss saddle  700 , which being used to fix on the end of the wiper arm R via a wiper jointer  800  as shown in  FIG. 11 , has flat bottom to closely affix on the long central attachment  401  of the sheath cover  400  and firmly riveted together with the bow elastic strip  100  by means of two rivets  11  running via the long central attachment  401  and through two rivet bores  101  in the bow elastic strip  100 . 
         [0046]    Please further refer to  FIG. 9  to  FIG. 12 , the assembly steps of the present invention are as below: 
         [0047]    (a) insert and pass through the hollow round jut  202  of the clamping devices  200  into the round hole  102  of the bow elastic strip  100  as shown in view-B of the  FIG. 12 ; 
         [0048]    (b) align the strip scraper receptacle  300  with elongated gap  301  facing downwards for directing the clamping angle  203  of the clamping devices  200 , then orderly insert into clamping angles  203  up to end as shown in view-C of the  FIG. 12 ; 
         [0049]    (c) simultaneously align two elongated flutes  403  of the sheath cover  400  with both longitudinal lateral sides of the bow elastic strip  100  and align lower elongated groove  404  with the elongated gap  301  of the strip scraper receptacle  300  respectively, then sleeve the sheath cover  400  forwards to envelope assembly of bow elastic strip  100 , clamping devices  200  and strip scraper receptacle  300  up to the end; At this moment, the elongated groove  404  of the sheath cover  400  is deformed by insetting the strip scraper receptacle  300  so that whose opening downwards is blocked and limited by the elongated gap  301  as shown in view-D of the  FIG. 12 ; 
         [0050]    (d) closely affix the truss saddle  700  on the long central attachment  401  of the sheath cover  400  and firmly rivet together with the bow elastic strip  100  by means of two rivets  11  running via the long central attachment  401  and through two rivet bores  101  in the bow elastic strip  100  as shown in view-E of the  FIG. 12 ; 
         [0051]    (e) simultaneously align two elongated grooves  501  and elongated jut strips  502  with the clamping angle  203  of the clamping devices  200  and deformed elongated groove  404  respectively, then apply force on the strip scraper  500  and pull its leading end lengthwise up to end so that entire elongated jut strips  502  are encompassed in the deformed elongated groove  404  and entire strip scraper  500  is inserted into the strip scraper receptacle  300  as shown in the  FIG. 10  and view-F of the  FIG. 12 ; 
         [0052]    (f) finally, align and cap two open end  601  of the end ferrule cap  600  with each short end attachment  402  of the sheath cover  400  until the snap-on nose  603  in the end ferrule cap  600  firmly snap on the snap-on hole  303  of the strip scraper receptacle  300  and have buckling sound heard to confirm the finish of the assembling process as shown in the  FIG. 10  and view-G of the  FIG. 12 . 
         [0053]    As shown in the  FIG. 13  and  FIG. 13A , besides of the original function in scraping and wiping the rain drops on the windshield G, the present invention also has additional function in blocking and separating the intrusion of the snow and icy particles into any space of the bow elastic strip  100 , clamping devices  200  and strip scraper receptacle  300  by means of the sheath cover  400  and end ferrule caps  600 ; thus, the elastic press of the bow elastic strip  100  can be kept well without stiff aging such that maintain the normal function in scraping and wiping the rain drops and snow particles on the windshield G of the vehicle. Moreover, the object model of the present invention has been experimental tested under simulated snow and rain weather by installing it on the real vehicle, the test result shows that it can achieve the expected functional requirement in scraping and wiping the rain drops on the windshield even under harsh circumstance. Therefore, for all vehicle drivers in the snow region, the swapping action between the traditional rain wiper and additional snow wiper can be saved in the future. 
         [0054]    Please further refer to the  FIG. 14  and  FIG. 14A , owing to the bow elastic stripe  100  being the supporting skeleton of the entire wiper for the present invention in contrast with master wiper support  2 , first holding support  4  and second holding support  6  for the conventional arm-supported snow wiper  1 , there is not only significant difference in the total size and weight as described above but also double difference in the bearing area against the wind flow during vehicle movement; Let: the bearing area of the conventional arm-supported snow wiper  1  is “A” (as shown in  FIG. 14A ), then, the bearing area of the present invention will be “(½)A” (as shown in  FIG. 14 ). According to the pressure formula: P=F/A, namely F=P×A; Where, P is the pressure and F is the resultant force suffered from the wind flow in kg unit. The calculating result will be: For conventional arm-supported snow wiper  1 , Fg=P×A kg (as shown in view g-g of the  FIG. 14A ); For the present invention, Fh=P×0.5 A kg (as shown in view h-h of the  FIG. 14 ); Obviously, Fg&gt;Fh, namely, the resultant force suffered from the wind flow of the conventional arm-supported snow wiper  1  is greater than that of the present invention. Moreover, the normal swing frequency of the wiper on the windshield is approximate 40-50 times per minute, namely, 2400˜3000 times per hour, the product of resultant force Fg and Fh multiply the 2400˜3000 times per hour will reflect the power output required by the motor to drive the corresponding wiper; the longer of the wiper operation, the more difference of the accumulated power consumption between these two different wipers, the more significant in the difference of fuel consumption in the vehicle. Furthermore, inferring the comparative calculation performed above to whole world, the difference of the accumulated power consumption between these two different wipers will become astonishing; Therefore, from the foregoing rough calculation, it is learnt that the contribution of the present invention in economic and environmental protection point is obvious compare to the conventional arm-supported snow wiper  1 . 
         [0055]    As shown in the  FIG. 15  and  FIG. 16 , each outer profile of both side upper portions on the sheath cover  400  beside the long central attachment  401  can be configured into tapered curved ridge  405  respectively for having the effect in guiding air flow. 
         [0056]    As further shown in the  FIG. 17  and  FIG. 18 , one outer profile of both side upper portions on the sheath cover  400  beside the long central attachment  401  can be configured into tapered curved ridge  406  for having the effect in guiding air flow too. 
         [0057]    In conclusion, basing on  20  years of the design and manufacturing experience in the windshield wiper, the inventor of the present invention realizes that better inventive product will create two-win game for both of the consumers and the manufacturers and the product of simple structure and fair price will appeal and benefit much more consumers. For the present invention, it can totally obsolete the conventional arm-supported snow wiper to avoid the environment pollution from creating mass wasted snow wipers in the future, it let all the vehicle drivers in the snow region save the extra unnecessary expense for buying additional snow wiper, it indirectly decreases the fuel consumption for the vehicle, it prolong the service life span of the wiper-driving motor, most significantly, it can be manufactured by mass production using existing equipment and facility without sacrifice in prerequisite function and quality so that the lowering of the production cost can feedback to the consumers; Hence, it totally conforms to the high criterion of environment protection, economic effect and mass production; Thus, it not only possesses innovative improvement, but also has significant contribution in the industrial application as well as conforms to the essential requirements of the invention patentability.