Patent Publication Number: US-2016221537-A1

Title: Wiper system for motor vehicles

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     The present application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2015-0016472 filed Feb. 3, 2015, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein for all purposes by this reference. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a wiper system for vehicles, and particularly, to a wiper system for vehicles which can increase a wiping area by deploying a pivot position of a wiper arm adjacent to a lower end of a windshield glass and has an enhanced structure for pivotably mounting the wiper arm. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     In general, a wiper system that wipes a windshield glass is provided on the windshield glass of a vehicle to secure a view covered by rain or snow and the wiper system is generally installed at each of a driver&#39;s seat and a passenger&#39;s seat and a wiper blade is mounted on a wiper arm driven by a motor to wipe the windshield in an arc shape. 
     The wiper arm is generally mounted between a vehicle hood and the windshield glass to pivot, and as a result, a shape, a layout, and a structure of the wiper system have been enhanced to increase the wiping area as well as enhancing an exterior of the vehicle. 
     With an effort to enhance the structure of the wiper system, prior art discloses a wiper arm having a shape suitable for an outer shape and a lower connector of a vehicle windshield by allowing a wiper arm joint and a wiper rod of the wiper system to have the arc shape. 
     Further, prior art discloses a wiper system including a link member  2  that receives drive force of a wiper motor  1  to reciprocate, a link lever  3  that is connected to the link member to pivot and a pivot shaft  4  with a serration portion fixed to the link lever  3 , a lever member  5  fixed to the other end of the pivot shaft, and a wiper arm support shaft  6  fixed to a lever portion to pivot from a shaft core of the pivot shaft, as schematically illustrated in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 . 
     However, in a passenger&#39;s seat wiper arm mounting structure of the wiper system of the previously described prior art, the pivot shaft  4  is fixed, and as a result, the lever member  5  on which the wiper arm is mounted, the pivot shaft  4  in which the serration portion is formed at both ends, and the link member  2  to which the drive force of the motor is transferred are coupled. Therefore, the structure is complicated and manufacturing cost increases. 
     Further, the support shaft  6  on which the wiper arm is mounted is fixed in a rivet method in the lever member  5  and as a usage period elapses, the pivot shaft becomes loose. 
     The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY 
     Various aspects of the present invention are directed to providing a wiper system for vehicles that integrates a link member and a lever for driving a passenger&#39;s seat wiper arm into one component and enhances a fastening structure of a support shaft for mounting an arm on an end of the one component so as to solve the problem associated with a structure for pivotably mounting a vehicle wiper arm in the related art. 
     According to various aspects of the present invention, a wiper system for motor vehicles may include a crank arm configured to be rotated by a wiper driving motor, a first link member connected to a first end of the crank arm to be linked with the crank arm, a third link member connected through a first hinge to be linked with the first link member and a second link member of which a first end is connected to the third link member through a second hinge, a lever member in which a first end is pivotably connected to a third hinge provided at a second end of the second link member and a driver&#39;s seat wiper arm mounting support shaft is pivotably provided at a second end, and a support shaft for mounting a passenger&#39;s seat wiper arm provided at a first end of the third link member of which one end is connected to the first hinge, in which the third link member may be integrally formed to include an upper end portion connected with the first link member linked with the crank arm through the first hinge, a middle portion connected to a first bracket through a fourth hinge as a pivot center shaft, and a lower end portion to which the passenger&#39;s seat wiper arm support shaft is fixed. 
     In cleaning operations of a driver&#39;s seat wiper and a passenger&#39;s seat wiper that clean a curved portion of a windshield glass formed by a curved surface, the upper end portion, the middle portion, and the lower end portion may be configured to be bent at predetermined different heights in order to adjust a height of a movement plane so that the upper end portion, the middle portion, and the lower end portion of the third link member move on a plane on which the crank arm and the upper end portion of the third link member are at least close and the middle portion that pivots around the hinge moves on a plane at least close to the lever member so as to prevent an excessive angle displacement at the first and third hinges of the second link member and the third link member. 
     In the third link member, the support shaft on which a passenger&#39;s seat arm is pivotably mounted so as to increase a rotary moment around the first hinge provided on a top may be provided at a location that extends from the fourth hinge of the middle portion. 
     In the support shaft, a fixation end portion penetrates the third link member, a support portion of which a diameter is enlarged may be formed at a position spaced inside from the fixation end portion by a thickness of the third link member, and the support portion may be configured to be deployed on a top of the third link member and the fixation end portion penetrating the third link member may be fixed to the third link member in a rivet fixation scheme. 
     In the third link member, the upper end portion at which the first hinge is provided, the middle portion at which the fourth hinge as a rotational center shaft is provided, and the lower end portion with the support shaft on which the passenger&#39;s driver wiper arm is mounted may be configured to be sequentially bent with heights being increased. 
     The third link member may be bent so that the middle portion at which the fourth hinge is provided is positioned below the upper end portion at which the first hinge is provided and the lower end portion at which the support shaft is provided is configured to be deployed at a highest location. 
     The first and second link members including and the lever member may be configured to be deployed in a cowl box below a windshield glass, while the driver&#39;s seat and passenger&#39;s seat wiper arm mounting shafts are deployed to be close to a lower side of a bottom of the windshield glass. 
     In a wiper system for vehicles according to the present invention, a link member and a lever are integrally formed to form one third link member to save components and enhance operational reliability, an upper end portion, an intermediate portion, and a lower end portion of the third link member are integrally bent with difference heights to increase support stiffness without significant deformation on hinge shafts, the third link member allows a support shaft for mounting a passenger&#39;s seat wiper arm on an end that extends from a hinge to expose only support shafts for driver&#39;s seat and passenger&#39;s seat wider arms to be exposed, and other components can be deployed below a windshield glass, thereby simplifying an exterior while increasing a wiper brushing area. 
     It is understood that the term “vehicle” or “vehicular” or other similar terms as used herein is inclusive of motor vehicles in general such as passenger automobiles including sports utility vehicles (SUV), buses, trucks, various commercial vehicles, watercraft including a variety of boats and ships, aircraft, and the like, and includes hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, hydrogen-powered vehicles and other alternative fuel vehicles (e.g., fuel derived from resources other than petroleum). As referred to herein, a hybrid vehicle is a vehicle that has two or more sources of power, for example, both gasoline-powered and electric-powered vehicles. 
     The methods and apparatuses of the present invention have other features and advantages which will be apparent from or are set forth in more detail in the accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein, and the following Detailed Description, which together serve to explain certain principles of the present invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view illustrating a schematic structure of a wiper system in the related art. 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view of a support shaft, a lever member, and a link member for mounting a wiper arm of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic plan view of an exemplary wiper system according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a partial perspective view illustrating a bent structure of a third link member according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view of the support shaft fixed to the third link member according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 6  is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating a state in which the exemplary wiper system of  FIG. 3  is installed below a wind glass. 
         FIG. 7  is a schematic operation explanatory diagram illustrating an operation of the exemplary wiper system according to the present invention. 
     
    
    
     It should be understood that the appended drawings are not necessarily to scale, presenting a somewhat simplified representation of various features illustrative of the basic principles of the invention. The specific design features of the present invention as disclosed herein, including, for example, specific dimensions, orientations, locations, and shapes will be determined in part by the particular intended application and use environment. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Reference will now be made in detail to various embodiments of the present invention(s), examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described below. While the invention(s) will be described in conjunction with exemplary embodiments, it will be understood that the present description is not intended to limit the invention(s) to those exemplary embodiments. On the contrary, the invention(s) is/are intended to cover not only the exemplary embodiments, but also various alternatives, modifications, equivalents and other embodiments, which may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. 
     In  FIG. 3 , a wiper system of the present invention includes a wiper driving motor  10 , a crank arm  11  that rotates with one end connected to an output shaft of the driving motor, a first link member  12  connected to the other end of the crank arm  11  to swing in a predetermined angle range by rotational movement of the crank arm  11 , a second link member  13  that swings in a horizontal direction in the drawing in link with the swing of the first link member, a lever member  15  in which one end is connected to a third hinge  17  provided on a free end of the second link member and a driver&#39;s seat wiper arm mounting support shaft  18  is mounted on the other end to be connected to pivot the driver&#39;s seat wiper arm mounting support shaft in link with the first link member  12 , and a third link member  20  in which the first link member  12  is connected to the top through a first hinge  16  and the second link member  13  is connected on the bottom through a second hinge  14  and a support shaft  19  for mounting a passenger&#39;s seat wiper arm linked with the first link member  12  is provided. 
     The third link member  20  pivots around a fourth hinge  22  with an upper end portion  24  being pivotably connected to the first hinge  16  and the fourth hinge  22  being provided as a pivot center shaft of the third link member  20  at a middle portion  25  therebelow. A lower end portion  26  of the third link member  20  extends from the fourth hinge  22  and the support shaft  19  on which the passenger&#39;s seat arm is pivotably mounted is fixed to the lower end portion  26 . 
     According to the present invention, a fixation position of the support shaft  19  in the third link member  20  further extends downward from the fourth hinge  22  in  FIG. 3 , and as a result, a rotary moment from the first hinge  16  increases as compared with the case in which the support shaft is fixed to the fourth hinge  22 , thereby improving a cleaning capability of a passenger&#39;s wiper. 
     In the third link member  20 , the upper end portion  24  connected with the second hinges  16  of the first link member  12  and the second link member  13 , the middle portion  25  connected with the fourth hinge  22  connected with a connection bar  21 , and the lower end portion  26  with the support shaft  19  on which the passenger&#39;s seat wiper arm is mounted are formed as one component in which three portions are integrally molded, when the wiper system is viewed from the side and further, as illustrated in  FIG. 4 , the upper end portion  24 , the middle portion  25 , and the lower end portion  26  are bent at predetermined different heights. The upper end portion  24  at which the first hinge  16  is provided is positioned at a lowest location, the middle portion  25  at which the fourth hinge  22  is provided is positioned thereabove, and the lower end portion  26  at which the support shaft  19  is provided is positioned at a highest location. 
     The support shafts  18  and  19  that support the driver&#39;s seat wiper arm and the passenger&#39;s seat wiper arm that need to clean another curved portion of a windshield glass formed by a curved surface in overall, respectively are not deployed parallel to each other in actuality. Nevertheless, the upper end portion  24 , the middle portion  25 , and the lower end portion  26  of the third link member  20  are bent at predetermined different heights in order to adjust the heights of movement planes of the link members so that the crank arm  11  and the upper end portion  24  of the third link member  20  move on the same plane as possible or at least a closed plane and further, the lever member  15  for pivoting the driver&#39;s seat wiper arm support shaft  18  and the middle portion  25  of the third link member  20  that pivots around the hinge  22  to pivot the passenger&#39;s seat wiper arm support shaft  19  moves on the same plane as possible or at least the closed plane, so as to prevent an excessive angle displacement at the first and third hinges  16  and  17  of the first link member and the second link member linked together with the crank arm  11  driven by the motor. 
     Further, the third link member  20  has the bent structure as described above and stiffness thus increases to thereby provide sufficient support force with respect to the passenger&#39;s seat wiper arm support shaft  19 . 
     The upper end portion  24 , the middle portion  25 , and the lower end portion  26  of the third link member  20  are designated based on locations viewed in  FIG. 3  and actually, the upper end portion  24 , the middle portion  25 , and the lower end portion  26  may have a bent shape with the heights being increased in the order of the upper end portion, the middle portion, and the lower end portion as illustrated in  FIG. 4 . 
     However, the bent shape is not absolute and although not illustrated, the middle portion  25  at which the fourth hinge  22  is provided is positioned below the upper end portion  24  at which the hinge  16  is provided and the lower end portion  26  at which the support shaft  19  is provided is deployed at the highest location, and as a result, the upper end portion  24 , the middle portion  25 , and the lower end portion  26  of the third link member  20  may be bent unlike  FIG. 4  so as to prevent the upper end portion  24 , the middle portion  25 , and the lower end portion  26  of the third link member  20  from interfering with each other. 
     In the support shaft  19 , a fixation end portion  33  penetrates the lower end portion  26  of the third link member  20 , a support portion  34  of which a diameter is enlarged is formed at a position spaced inside from the fixation end portion by the thickness of the third link member  20 , and the support portion  34  is deployed on the top of the third link member  20  and the fixation end portion  33  penetrating the third link member  20  is fixed to the third link member  20  by hitting in a general rivet fixation scheme. As such, by the support shaft  19  being strongly fixed to the third link member  20 , it is possible to solve a problem of a wiper system in the related art, in which since a support shaft may swing due to a gap generated between the support shaft and a hole of a link member with a usage period that elapses, a wiper arm swings while operation, and as a result, a cleaning effect deteriorates. 
     The wiper system of the present invention is fixed to a cowl box of a vehicle body. That is, each of an end portion  31  of a bracket  30  to which the support shaft  18  on which the driver&#39;s seat wiper arm is mounted is pivotably connected, an end portion  36  of a bracket  35  connected with the connection bar  21  at the middle portion of the third link member  20  and to which the hinge  22  is pivotably connected, and an end portion  38  of a bracket  37  connected to the driving motor  10  is fixed into the cowl box and to a lower side of the windshield glass. One end of the connection bar  21  is connected to the bracket  30  for the driver&#39;s seat arm support shaft  18  and the other end is connected to the bracket  35  penetrated by the fourth hinge  22  of the third link member  20 . 
     That is, as illustrated in  FIG. 6 , most components of the driving motor positioned at the upper end portion  24  and the side of the middle portion  25  of the third link member  20 , that is, all of the first and second link members  12  and  13  and the lever member  15  including the fourth hinge  22  are deployed in a cowl panel  45  at the lower side of the windshield glass, while only the driver&#39;s seat and passenger&#39;s seat wiper arm mounting shafts  18  and  19  are deployed to be close to a lower side of the bottom of the windshield glass, and as a result, a cleaning area of the windshield glass by a wiper is increased and a front exterior of the vehicle is improved to be simpler. In the drawing, undescribed reference numeral  40  represents a head of the passenger&#39;s seat wiper arm mounted on the support shaft  19  and reference numeral  42  represents a cowl top cover. 
     The wiper system of the present invention having the structure is driven as below. 
     In  FIG. 7 , as the crank arm  11  rotates at 180° at an opposite side to the location illustrated in  FIG. 3 , the first link member  12  moves rearward with a distance corresponding to a rotational radius of the crank arm  11 , and as a result, the first hinge  16  connected with an end portion of the first link member  12  on the top of the upper end portion of the third link member  20  rotates clockwise around the fourth hinge  22  of the third link member  20 . Therefore, while the second link member connected through the second hinge  14  on the bottom of the upper end portion of the third link member moves to the left in the drawing, as the lever member  15  pivots clockwise, the support shaft  18  of the driver&#39;s seat wiper arm rotates clockwise, thereby achieving a cleaning operation of a driver&#39;s seat wiper. In this case, the third link member  20  connected to the first hinge  16  also rotates around the fourth hinge  22  and the passenger&#39;s seat wiper arm support shaft  19  of an end portion thereof pivots, and as a result, a passenger&#39;s wiper performs the cleaning operation while rotating clockwise. 
     Then, when the crank arm  11  rotates at 180° to 360°, the first link member  12  moves in an opposite direction to the aforementioned direction to move forward to an initial location again and as the first hinge  16  pivots counterclockwise around the fourth hinge  22 , the second link member  13  connected to the second hinge  14  at the upper end portion of the third link member  20  moves to the left in the drawing and the lever member  15  connected thereto and the support shaft  18  of the driver&#39;s wiper arm rotates counterclockwise to an initial position and further, as the third link member  20  connected to the first hinge  16  rotates counterclockwise around the fourth hinge  22 , while the passenger&#39;s seat wiper arm support shaft  19  fixed to the end portion of the third link member  20  rotates counterclockwise, the passenger&#39;s seat wiper also rotates to an original location. As a result, one cleaning operation of the driver&#39;s seat and passenger&#39;s seat wipers is completed and the process is repeated, and as a result, a wiper of the vehicle operates. 
     According to the present invention, in the third link member  20 , the passenger&#39;s driver wiper arm support shaft  19  is provided at the lower end portion  26  that extends to a lower side of the hinge  22  of a pivot center below the first hinge  16  connected with the first link member and a distance from the first hinge  16  increases as compared with the passenger&#39;s seat wiper arm support shaft is formed at the fourth hinge  22  and rotated by a separate lever member in the related art and a rotary moment of the third link is thus further increased, and as a result, the cleaning capability of the passenger&#39;s seat wiper is further increased to easily remove snow or foreign substances laid on window glass and further, the third link member  20  has the bent structure, and as a result, stiffness is increased. Therefore, a problem such as deformation of the link member in the related art does not occur. 
     Further, the wiper system of the present invention is generally deployed at the lower side of the window glass, the driver&#39;s seat wiper arm support shaft  18  and the passenger&#39;s seat wiper arm support shaft  19  are deployed to be close to a lower end of the window glass to minimize a part exposed to the outside, thereby clearly arranging the front exterior of the vehicle and the fourth hinge  22  of the third link member  20  that pivots the passenger&#39;s seat wiper arm support shaft  19  is deployed at the lower end of the glass or to be maximally close thereto to extend the wiping area of the window glass by the passenger&#39;s seat wiper arm, thereby providing a wider and cleaner view and improving the exterior of the wiper arm. 
     The wiper system of the present invention can be applied to increase the cleaning capability of the wiper and improve the exterior without significantly changing the existing structure. 
     For convenience in explanation and accurate definition in the appended claims, the terms “upper” or “lower”, “inner” or “outer” and etc. are used to describe features of the exemplary embodiments with reference to the positions of such features as displayed in the figures. 
     The foregoing descriptions of specific exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings. The exemplary embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain certain principles of the invention and their practical application, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to make and utilize various exemplary embodiments of the present invention, as well as various alternatives and modifications thereof. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the Claims appended hereto and their equivalents.