Abstract:
A wiper assembly for use in vehicles is provided, including a shaft which is connected to a driving motor via a linkage and rotated by the driving motor, an arm head including a shaft hole into which the shaft is inserted, an arm having one end combined with the arm head by a rotating shaft and rotatable about the rotating shaft and the other end combined with a wiper blade which wipes a window of a vehicle, a locking member which is supported by the arm head and movable between a locking location where the locking member is locked in the shaft so that the shaft cannot be separated from the shaft hole of the arm head and an unlocking location where the locking member is unlocked from the shaft so that the shaft can be separated from the shaft hole of the arm head, and a locking member moving unit which moves in gear with a rotation of the arm so as to move the locking member between the locking location and the unlocking location. Accordingly, the shaft and the arm head of the wiper assembly can be simply combined with each other and separated from each other.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2003-88421, filed on Dec. 6, 2003, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.  
         [0002]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0003]     The present invention relates to a wafer assembly, and more particularly, to a wiper assembly designed to simply combine or separate a shaft with or from an arm head.  
         [0004]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0005]     A wafer assembly is a part of a system for cleaning the surface of a window of a vehicle. Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a conventional wiper assembly  100  includes a shaft  110 , an arm head  120 , and an arm  130  in order to clean a window  200  of a vehicle. The shaft  110  is connected to a driving motor  102  via a linkage  104  and rotated by the driving motor  102 . The arm head  120  has a shaft hole  122 , into which the shaft  110  is inserted, and rotates with a rotation of the shaft  110 . One end of the arm  130  is combined with the arm head  120  by a rotating shaft  132  and pivotable about the rotating shaft  132 , and the other end is combined with a wiper blade  134  which wipes the window  200 .  
         [0006]     A coupling spring  136  is installed between the arm head  120  and the arm  130 . The coupling spring  136  contributes to closely adhering the wiper blade  134  to the window  200 . More specifically, the coupling spring  136  is installed such that when a user pivots the arm  130  about the rotating shaft  132  so as to be distant from the window  200  and folds the arm  130  to make an angle equal to or greater than a predetermined angle, the folded state can be maintained. When the arm  130  making an approximately straight line with the arm head  120  is folded so as to be distant from the window  200 , and the folded state is maintained as described above, a user can conduct operations, such as wiping of the window  200  or replacement of the wiper blade  134  with a new one.  
         [0007]     The arm head  120 , to which the arm  130  is coupled, is combined with the shaft  110 , which is connected to the driving motor  102  via the linkage  104  and rotates with a rotation of the driving motor  102 . The combination of the arm head  120  with the shaft  110  must be strong because a high rotating force of the driving motor  102  must be delivered to the arm head  120 . At the same time, a method of combining or separating the arm head  120  with or from the shaft  110  must be simple.  
         [0008]     The conventional wiper assembly  100  uses a locking member  140  to combine or separate the arm head  120  with or from the shaft  110 . The locking member  140  rotatably fits onto a first protrusion  124  formed in the arm head  120  and is elastically biased toward the shaft  110  by a coil spring  160  installed between the locking member  140  and the arm head  120 . One end of the coil spring  160  is fixed into a spring notch  142  of the locking member  140 , and the other end is fixed to the arm head  120 . A cover  150  is installed on a side of the locking member  140  opposite to the arm head  120  and fixed to a pair of second protrusions  126 , protruding from the arm head  120 , and the first protrusion  124  using screws  152 . A stopper  144  is formed on one end of the locking member  140 .  
         [0009]     In the conventional wiper assembly  100  having such a structure, the shaft  110  is inserted into the shaft hole  122  of the arm head  120  using the following method. First, a shaft head  112  approaches the shaft hole  122 . Next, the locking member  140  that blocks the shaft hole  122  is rotated about the first protrusion  124  while resisting the elasticity of the coil spring  160  so that the locking member  140  is removed from the entrance of the shaft hole  122 . While the state of the locking member  140  unblocking the shaft hole  122  is being kept, the shaft head  112  is inserted into the shaft hole  122 . Finally, when the power applied to the locking member  140  is removed, the locking member  140  rotates back toward the shaft  110  because of a restoring force of the coil spring  160 , and one end of the locking member  140  is placed under the shaft head  112  such that the shaft  110  is not separated from the shaft hole  122 . On the other hand, the shaft  110  can be separated from the arm head  120  by performing the above-described assembling steps in an opposite order. More specifically, the locking member  140  is rotated to be distant from the shaft  110  by resisting the elasticity of the coil spring  160 . At this time, the shaft  110  is separated from the shaft hole  122 .  
         [0010]     Since the shaft  110  in the conventional wiper assembly  100  is inserted into the shaft hole  122  of the arm head  120  while an operator is maintaining the state of the locking member  140  being rotated, the operator must use both hands. Also, since a strongly elastic coil spring should be used to keep a strong combination between the shaft  110  and the arm head  120 , rotating the locking member  140  itself will be hard. Furthermore, average consumers other than skilled workers may not combine or separate the shaft  110  with or from the arm head  120 .  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0011]     The present invention provides a wiper assembly designed to simply combine or separate a shaft with or from an arm head.  
         [0012]     According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wiper assembly including a shaft, an arm head, an arm, a locking member, and a locking member moving unit. The shaft is connected to a driving motor via a linkage and rotated by the driving motor. The arm head includes a shaft hole into which the shaft is inserted. The arm has one end combined with the arm head by a rotating shaft and rotatable about the rotating shaft and the other end combined with a wiper blade which wipes a window of a vehicle. The locking member is supported by the arm head and movable between a locking location where the locking member is locked in the shaft so that the shaft cannot be separated from the shaft hole of the arm head and an unlocking location where the locking member is unlocked from the shaft so that the shaft can be separated from the shaft hole of the arm head. The locking member moving unit moves in gear with a rotation of the arm so as to move the locking member between the locking location and the unlocking location. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0013]     The above and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings in which:  
         [0014]      FIG. 1  is a schematic view illustrating the state of a conventional wiper assembly being used;  
         [0015]      FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view illustrating a combination of an arm head with a shaft of  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0016]      FIG. 3  is an exploded perspective view of a wiper assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention when viewed from the bottom of the wiper assembly;  
         [0017]      FIG. 4  is an exploded perspective view of the wiper assembly of  FIG. 3  viewed from the top;  
         [0018]      FIG. 5  is a bottom view of a part of the wiper assembly of  FIG. 3 ;  
         [0019]      FIGS. 6A through 6E  are cross-sectional views illustrating a method of assembling an arm head with a shaft in the wiper assembly of  FIG. 3 ;  
         [0020]      FIGS. 7A through 7E  are cross-sectional views illustrating a method of separating a shaft from an arm head in the wiper assembly of  FIG. 3 ;  
         [0021]      FIG. 8  is a schematic cross-sectional view of a wiper assembly according to another embodiment of the present invention; and  
         [0022]      FIGS. 9A through 9E  are cross-sectional views illustrating a method of combining or separating a shaft with or from an arm head in a wiper assembly according to still another embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0023]      FIGS. 3 and 4  are exploded perspective views of a wiper assembly  1  according to an embodiment of the present invention when viewed from the bottom and top, respectively. Referring to  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the wiper assembly  1  includes a shaft  10 , an arm head  20 , a locking member  40 , a locking member moving unit, and a cover  60 .  
         [0024]     The shaft  10  is connected to a driving motor (not shown) using a linkage (not shown) so as to be rotated and includes a notch  12 , an aslant guide  14 , and a pair of key grooves  16 . The driving motor and the linkage are the same as those of the conventional wiper assembly of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0025]     The notch  12  is formed in a shaft head  11 , which is formed on the upper surface of the shaft  10  and has a diameter greater than that of the shaft  10 . The aslant guide  14  is formed above the notch  12 . In other words, the line of the aslant guide  14  and the notch  12  is parallel to the axial line of the shaft  10 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , the aslant guide  14  is inclined toward the center of the shaft  10 . The key grooves  16  are formed on the shaft head  11  along the length direction of the shaft  10 . The outer lateral surface of the shaft head  11  of the shaft  10  is knurled.  
         [0026]     Although the shaft head  11  is formed on the shaft  10  in the embodiment of  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the notch  12 , the shaft head  11 , which is wider than the shaft  10 , may not be formed on the shaft  10 , and thus the aslant guide  14 , and the key groove  16  may be formed directly on the upper part of the shaft  10 .  
         [0027]     The arm head  20  includes a shaft hole  22 , a pair of keys  24 , and guide pins  26 . The shaft hole  22  is installed so that the shaft head  11  of the shaft  10  is inserted thereinto. The keys  24  are formed on the inner surface of the shaft hole  22  and each have a shape such that the keys  24  can fit in the key grooves  16  of the shaft  10 . The inner surface of the shaft hole  22  of the arm head  20  is knurled such as to match with the knurled surface of the shaft head  11  as illustrated in  FIG. 5 . Hence, the shaft  10  and the arm head  20  can be strongly combined, and a rotating torque of the shaft  10  is delivered to the arm head  20  without loss.  
         [0028]     Referring to  FIG. 3 , the guide pins  26  protrude downward from the arm head  20 . The number of guide pins  26  is four.  
         [0029]     One end of the arm  30  is combined with the arm head  20  using a rotating shaft  32 , and the other end is combined with a wiper blade (not shown). A coupling spring  36  is installed so that the wiper blade can press down on a window of a vehicle.  
         [0030]     A pair of pulling portions  54 , which each have a hook shape, are formed on both sides of the arm  30 .  
         [0031]     The locking member  40  includes a stopper  42 , four slots  44 , and protrusions  52  and is installed in the arm head  20  such as to be able to slide between a locking location and an unlocking location.  
         [0032]     The stopper  42  has a shape that can be caught by the notch  12  of the shaft head  11  of the shaft  10  so that the shaft  10  cannot be separated from the shaft hole  22  of the arm head  20 . One end of the stopper  42  is curved downward at an angle very similar to the inclination of the aslant guide  14  of the shaft  10 .  
         [0033]     The four slots  44  extend long in the direction where the locking member  40  slides and individually correspond to the guide pins  26  on the bottom of the arm head  20 . The slots  44  fit onto the guide pins  26  to guide sliding of the locking member  40 .  
         [0034]     When the arm  30  is pivoted while being folded, the protrusions  52  are caught by the pulling portions  54  of the arm  30  and move together with them.  
         [0035]     Referring to  FIG. 6A , the locking location is the location of the locking member  40  where separation of the shaft  10  from the shaft hole  22  of the arm head  20  can be prevented by the stopper  42  locking in the notch  12  of the shaft  10 .  
         [0036]     Referring to  FIG. 7A , the unlocking location is the location of the locking member  40  where the shaft  10  can be separated from the shaft hole  22  of the arm head  20  by unlocking the stopper  42  from the notch  12  of the shaft  10 .  
         [0037]     As shown in  FIG. 4 , the locking member  40  includes a support  46 , which protrudes upward.  
         [0038]     The locking member moving unit moves the locking member  40  from the locking location to the unlocking location and the vice versa by moving with a rotation of the arm  30 . In the embodiment of  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the locking member moving unit includes the protrusions  52 , the pulling portions  54 , and a spring  56 .  
         [0039]     As described above, the protrusions  52  are formed on the locking member  40 , and the pulling portions  54  are formed on the arm  30 .  
         [0040]     In the embodiment of  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the spring  56  is formed by folding an elastic member in a wave shape and biases the locking member  40  to have the locking location. Referring to  FIGS. 6A through 6E  and  7 A through  7 D, the spring  56  is installed within the arm head  20  while one end of the spring  56  is being supported by an internal wall of the arm head  20  and the other is being supported by the support  46  of the locking member  40 .  
         [0041]     The cover  60  is placed opposite to the arm head  20  based on the locking member  40  and fixed to the guide pins  26  by being screwed up into a hole of each of the guide pins  26  using screws  62 . Consequently, the cover  60  is fixed to the bottom of the arm head  20  while having the locking member  40  sandwiched therebetween. Thereby, the cover  60  supports the locking member  40  and prevents the spring  56  installed within the arm head  20  from being detached down from arm head  20 .  
         [0042]     The combination and separation between the shaft  10  and the arm head  20  of the wiper assembly  1  of  FIGS. 3 and 4  and effects thereof will now be described with reference to  FIGS. 6A through 7D .  
         [0043]     First, as shown in  FIG. 6A , the shaft  10  is located under the shaft hole  22  of the arm head  20 . At this time, the locking member  40  is placed at the locking position by an elastic force of the spring  56 .  
         [0044]     Next, as shown in  FIG. 6B , the shaft  10  approaches the entrance of the shaft hole  22  of the arm head  20  such that the aslant guide  14  is right below the stopper  42  of the locking member  40 . Since the shaft  10  has the two key grooves  16  and the shaft hole  22  has the two keys  24 , the stopper  42  can easily align with the aslant guide  14  by interlocking the keys  24  into the key grooves  16 .  
         [0045]     As shown in  FIG. 6C , when the shaft head  11  of the shaft  10  is pushed into the shaft hole  22  of the arm head, the stopper  42  of the locking member  40  is pushed behind while sliding the aslant surface of the aslant guide  14 . At this time, the spring  56  is pressed by the support  46  of the locking member  40 . As the shaft  10  continues to enter the shaft hole  22 , the locking member  40  slides to the unlocking location.  
         [0046]      FIG. 6D  illustrates the shaft hole  22  into which the shaft head  11  is nearly inserted. The stopper  42  is located on the outer circumference of the shaft head  11  after sliding the aslant guide  14 , and the locking member  40  is positioned in the unlocking location.  
         [0047]     Finally,  FIG. 6E  illustrates the shaft hole  22  into which the shaft head  11  is completely inserted. The locking member  40  is restored to the locking location by a restoring force of the compressed spring  56 . In other words, as the shaft head  11  fits completely into the shaft hole  22 , the stopper  42  of the locking member  40  enters the notch  12  of the shaft  10 , so that the locking member  40  is restored to the locking location by a restoring force of the spring  56  compressed by the support  46  of the locking member  40 .  
         [0048]      FIGS. 7A through 7D  are cross-sectional views illustrating a method of separating the shaft  10  from the arm head  20  in the wiper assembly  1  of  FIGS. 3 and 4 . First, referring to  FIG. 7A , the separation starts from the combination state shown in  FIG. 6E . When the arm  30  starts pivoting around the rotating shaft  32  such as to be distant from the window of a vehicle and reaches a predetermined angle, the pulling portions  54  of the arm  30  come in contact with the protrusions  52  of the locking member  40 .  
         [0049]     Referring to  FIG. 7B , when the arm  30  moves further from the contact state of  FIG. 7A , the pulling portions  54  of the arm  30  pulls the protrusions  52  back such that the locking  40  is positioned in the unlocking location.  
         [0050]     Hence, as shown in  FIG. 7C , the shaft  10  is easily separated from the arm head  20 .  FIG. 7D  shows the original unfolded state of the arm  30 .  
         [0051]     As described above, even an average user can combine the arm head  20  with the shaft  10  by simply pressing down the arm head  20  combined with the arm  30  on the shaft  10  using one hand. Also, he or she can easily separate the arm head  20  from the shaft  10  by simply folding the arm  30  using one hand and then lifting the arm head  20  from the shaft  10 . Thus, the wiper assembly  1  of  FIGS. 3 and 4  is operated much easier than a conventional wiper assembly requiring a user to use both hands to perform the separation or combination between a shaft and an arm head.  
         [0052]     Although the arm head  20  is combined with the shaft  10  without folding the arm  30  in the above-described embodiment, this embodiment does not limit the present invention. In other words, even when the arm  30  is folded so that the locking member  40  enters in the unlocking state, the arm head  20  may be combined with the shaft  10 , and then the arm  30  may be pivoted back toward the window of a vehicle.  
         [0053]     In the wiper assembly  1 , the shaft  10  and the shaft hole  2  are knurled, so they can be firmly combined with each other. Also, a rotating torque of the shaft  10  is transmitted to the arm head  20  without loss.  
         [0054]      FIG. 8  shows a wiper assembly  1   a  according to another embodiment of the present invention, which is different from the wiper assembly  1  in the shape of the spring  56  and the shapes of the support  46  and stopper  42  of the locking member  40 . In the wiper assembly  1   a , a coil spring is used as the spring  56 , and the location of the support  46  is different from that of the wiper assembly  1 . A spring support  28  for supporting one end of the coil spring  56  is further installed in the arm head  20 .  
         [0055]     The stopper  42  of  FIG. 8  is simply straight in contrast with the curved shaped of the stopper  42  of  FIGS. 3 and 4 .  
         [0056]     The combination and separation between the shaft  10  and the arm head  20  of the wiper assembly  1   a  and effects resulting from the combination and separation are almost the same as those of the wiper assembly  1 .  
         [0057]     Although the above-described two embodiments include the notch  12 , the stopper  42 , and the aslant guide  14 , they do not limit the present invention but may be changed as long as providing the same effects as those of the above embodiments.  
         [0058]      FIGS. 9A through 9E  show a wiper assembly  1   b  according to still another embodiment of the present invention. The wiper assembly  1   b  is different from the wiper assemblies  1  and  1   a  in a locking member moving unit. That is to say, the locking member moving unit of the wiper assembly  1   b  includes protrusions  52 , pulling portions  54 , and a pushing portion  58  instead of the spring  56 .  
         [0059]     The protrusions  52  are included in the locking member  40 , and their shape is the same as that of the embodiments of  FIGS. 3 and 8 . The pulling portions  54  are the same as those of the embodiment of  FIGS. 3 and 4 .  
         [0060]     The pushing portion  58  is formed on the arm  30 . When the arm  30  is pivoted around the rotating shaft  32  so as to be closer to the window of a vehicle, it pushes the protrusions  52  of the locking member  40 . Hence, the locking member  40  is positioned at the locking location. In other words, in contrast with the wiper assemblies  1  and  1   a  where the locking member  40  is placed in the locking location by the spring  56 , the locking member  40  of the wiper assembly  1   b  is placed in the locking location by the pushing portion  58  that pushes the protrusions  52  as the arm  30  pivots.  
         [0061]     The combination of the shaft  10  and the arm head  20  of the wiper assembly  1   b  will now be described with reference to  FIGS. 9A through 9E . Referring to  FIG. 9A , the locking member  40  is placed in the locking location before the shaft  10  is combined with the arm head  20 .  
         [0062]     As shown in  FIG. 9B , when the arm  30  is pivoted such as to be distant from the window of a vehicle before the shaft  10  is inserted into the shaft hole  22  of the arm head  20 , the pulling portions  54  of the arm  30  are caught by the protrusions  52  of the locking member  40 . When the arm  30  is further pivoted, the locking member  40  is placed in the unlocking location.  
         [0063]     Thereafter, as shown in  FIG. 9C , the shaft  10  is inserted into the shaft hole  22  of the arm head  20 .  
         [0064]     In  FIG. 9D , the arm  30  is rotated to be closer to the window of a vehicle after the shaft  10  is inserted into the shaft hole  22 . At this time, the locking member  40  not biased in contrast with the embodiments of  FIGS. 3 and 8  is in the same location as in  FIG. 9C . However, when the arm  30  is pivoted by a predetermined angle or greater, the locking member  40  is pushed by the pushing portion  54  of the arm  30  and slide into the locking location.  
         [0065]     In  FIG. 9E , the arm  30  is completely pivoted toward the window of a vehicle as in the original state of  FIG. 9A , the shaft  10  is completely combined with the shaft hole  22 . At this time, the motion of the locking member  40  sliding into the locking location is restricted by the pushing portion  58  of the arm  30  so that the locking member  40  is not detached from the notch  12  of the shaft  10 .  
         [0066]     Although a method of separating the arm head  20  from the shaft  10  is not shown in the drawings, it is executed by simply performing the steps of  FIGS. 9A through 9E  in an opposite order.  
         [0067]     Since the wiper assembly  1   b  can sufficiently obtain the effects of the wiper assemblies  1  and  1   a , the effects of the wiper assembly  1   b  will not be described herein.  
         [0068]     As described above, combination and separation between a shaft and an arm head of a wiper assembly of the present invention can be simply performed.  
         [0069]     While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims.