Abstract:
The present invention provides a wiper blade, by balacing the opposite characteristics between the ease of operation and the cleaning force, the overall shape of the wiper blade is inclined laterally with elasticity in accordance with the moving direction of the blade mounting means for ease of operation , and the contact portion of the wiper blade for performing the cleaning is capable of maintaining an angle close to a right angle with respect to the cleaning surface, so that the wiper blade is also excellent in cleaning force.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This is a continuation-in-part of PCT/KR2015/005634 filed Jun. 5, 2015, which claims priority from Korean Patent Application No. 10-2014-0183026 filed Dec. 18, 2014 and Korean Patent Application No. 10-2015-0052142 filed Apr. 14, 2015, and further claims priority from Korean Patent Application No. 10-2016-0075623 filed Jun. 17, 2016 and U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/427,142 filed Nov. 28, 2016. The contents of each of the prior filed priority applications are incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates generally to the wiper blade, by banacing the opposite characteristics between the ease of operation and the cleaning force, the overall shape of the wiper blade is inclined laterally with elasticity in accordance with the moving direction of the blade mounting means for ease of operation , and the contact portion of the wiper blade for performing the cleaning is capable of maintaining an angle close to a right angle with respect to the cleaning surface, so that the wiper blade is also excellent in cleaning force. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    Generally as shown in  FIG. 1 , wiper blade  1  is mounted at blate mounting means  10  and operated to clean pollution P′ at the cleaning surface S. 
         [0004]    In the operation of the wiper blade, in order to move and operate smoothly in accordance with the movement of the blade mounting means  10 , it is efficient that the wiper blade has a shape such that the wiper blade inclined laterally with elasticity in accordance with the moving direction of the blade mounting means. 
         [0005]    On the contrary to this, when the cleaning force of the wiper blade is taken into consideration, the cleaning force is excellent as the wiper blade maintains an angle close to the cleaning surface S at right angles. When the blade mounting means  10  has a relatively small angle θ 1  (typically 5 to 30 degrees) with respect to the cleaning surface S by elasticity along the moving direction of the blade mounting means  10  as shown in  FIG. 1 , the wiper blade comes into surface contact with the cleaning surface S, therefor the cleaning force is deteriorated and the residual contamination P ′remains. 
         [0006]    Most of the existing inventions do not match the opposite characteristics between the ease of operation and the cleaning force. The prior art “Blade for automobile wiper (Korean Utility Model KR20-1998-021842A)” only discloses two blades projecting downward from the blade and connected to the windshield so as to perform direct wiping. 
         [0007]    Another prior art patent, “Wiper Blade (Korean Registered Patent KR10-0488972B)” only discloses an insertion groove formed in a longitudinal direction on the upper end of both side faces of the upper end of the wiper blade, and contacts the window of the vehicle at the lower end of the insertion groove. And the auxiliary wings are formed integrally downward on both sides of the wing at the lower portion of the wiper blade in the vehicle wiper blade in which the wings for removing are integrally formed. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    Accordingly, in order to overcome the problems of the prior art, is an object of the present invention to provide an wiper blade, by banacing the opposite characteristics between the ease of operation and the cleaning force, the overall shape of the wiper blade is inclined laterally with elasticity in accordance with the moving direction of the blade mounting means for ease of operation , and the contact portion of the wiper blade for performing the cleaning is in line contact with the cleaning surface S, while angle to the mounting part is maintained by means of 4 link sturucture provided by the angle maintaing bendable part, so that the wiper blade is also excellent in cleaning force. 
         [0009]    In acoordance with an aspect of the present invention, the above object can be accomplished by providing an wiper blade made of elastic material, which comprise: a mounting part which is mounted at a blade mounting mean; a angle maintaing bendable part continuously formed from the mounting part and have one or more longitudinal internal cavity; and a contacting edge continuously formed from the angle maintaing bendable part and line contact to a cleaning surface to clean the pollution while angle to the mounting part is maintained by means of 4 link sturucture provided by the angle maintaing bendable part. 
         [0010]    Further, in at least one embodiment, the internal cavity has rectangular shape and has rounded subsidences at each corners of the rectangular shape. 
         [0011]    Further, in at least one embodiment, the outer surface of the contacting edge has the coating layer. 
         [0012]    Further, in at least one embodiment, the contacting edge is composed of low friction silicone rubber. 
         [0013]    Further, in at least one embodiment, the wiper blade further comprising: a porous sorption member installed to lower part of the contacting edge, and the porous sorption member temporarily absorb the pollution and then discharge the pollution again by pressing. 
         [0014]    According to the present invention, the opposite characteristics between the ease of operation and the cleaning force can be harmonized, the overall shape of the wiper blade is inclined laterally with elasticity in accordance with the moving direction of the blade mounting means for ease of operation , and the contact portion of the wiper blade for performing the cleaning is in line contact with the cleaning surface S, while angle to the mounting part is maintained by means of  4  link sturucture provided by the angle maintaing bendable part, so that the wiper blade is also excellent in cleaning force. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0015]      FIG. 1  is a schematic view showing the problem of prior wiper blade. 
           [0016]      FIG. 2  is a sectional view of a first embodiment of present invention. 
           [0017]      FIG. 3  is the perspective view of the first embodiment of present invention. 
           [0018]      FIG. 4  is a sectional view of a sencond embodiment of present invention. 
           [0019]      FIG. 5  is a schematic view showing the operation of the first embodiment of present invention. 
           [0020]      FIG. 6  is a sectional view of a third embodiment of present invention. 
           [0021]      FIG. 7  is a sectional view of a fourth embodiment of present invention. 
           [0022]      FIG. 8  is a schematic view showing the operation of the fourth embodiment of present invention. 
       
    
    
       [0023]    The reference numbers and characters for the drawings and the following description are provided below:
   S: cleaning surface   P: pollution     10 : blade mounting mean     100 : wiper blade     110 : mounting part     111 : clamping member     120 : angle maintaing bendable part     121 : internal cavity     122 : rounded subsidence     130 : contacting edge     131 : coating layer     140 : bending neck     141 : surporting protrusion     142 : surporting arm     160 : porous sorption member   
 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0039]    According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, a wiper blade  100  is made of an elastic material and comprises a mounting part  110 , an angle maintaining bendable part  120  and a contacting edge  130  as shown in  FIG. 2 . The elastic material constituting the wiper blade  100  may be made of rubber (NR, CR, NCR, EPDM) or a silicone material. 
         [0040]    As shown in  FIG. 2 , the mounting part  110  is mounted to the blade mounting means  10  and may be manufactured in various forms according to the structure and shape of the blade mounting means  10 . 
         [0041]    As shown in  FIG. 2 , the angle maintaing bendable part  120  is continuously formed from the mounting part  110 , and has one or more longitudinal internal cavity  121 . 
         [0042]    According to the internal cavity  121 , the angle maintaing bendable part  120  has a structure similar to a 4-bar linkage structure that connects the mounting part  110  and the contacting edge  130 . Therefor, having adequate strength due to elasticity, the relative angle of the mounting part  110  and the contacting edge  130  is limited and relatively well maintained as shown in  FIG. 5 . And the overall shape of the wiper blade  100  is inclined laterally with elasticity in accordance with the moving direction of the blade mounting means  10 . 
         [0043]    In order to the angle maintaing bendable part  120  has a structure similar to a 4-bar linkage structure, it is preferable that the the internal cavity  121  has a rectangular shape as shown in  FIG. 2 . In order to the angle maintaing bendable part  120  has a structure more similar to a 4-bar linkage structure, it is preferable that the internal cavity  121  further has rounded subsidences  122  at each corners of the rectangular shape as shown in  FIG. 4 . According to the rounded subsidences  122  which has been formed at the portion corresponding to the connection between the links in the four-bar linkage structure, the portion corresponding to the connection between the links becomes more freely rotatable, therefor the angle maintaing bendable part  120  have an operating characteristic that is more similar to the 4-bar linkage structure. 
         [0044]    Meanwhile, in order to make a structure similar to a four-bar link with an elastic material, the angle maintaing bendable part  120  may have suitable hardeness for both elasticity and to perform a function of a link arm. So, both side portions of that the internal cavity  121  are not excessively bent or pressed and contracted while having appropriate structural rigidity. To achieve that characteristics, the thickness t of both side portions of the internal cavity  121  may be in the range of 0.2 to 1.2 mm and the angle maintaing bendable part  120  may have the shore hardness A type of 40 to 90. 
         [0045]    If the thickness t of the both side portions of the internal cavity  121  is thinner than said range of thickness or the hardness of the of the both side portions of the internal cavity  121  is smaller than said hardness, the structural strength of both side portions of the internal cavity  121  is weakened and excessively bent or pressed to contract, So that the contact angle of the contacting edge  130  becomes small as in the case of the prior art. On the contrary to this, if the thickness t of both side portions of the internal cavity  121  is thicker than said range of thickness or the hardness of the of the both side portions of the internal cavity  121  is larger than said hardness, the structural strength of both side portions of the internal cavity  121  becomes stronger than necessary, the operation of the connecting portions between the links can not be smoothly implemented. 
         [0046]    The structural strength of both side portions of the internal cavity  121 , which functions as two link arms connecting the upper side and the lower side, has a significant influence on the length in the vertical direction (that is, the vertical height of the internal cavity  121 ). If the vertical height of the internal cavity  121  becomes larger than necessary and the ratio of the height of the internal cavity  121  to the thickness t of both side portions of the internal cavity  121  becomes large, the structural strength of both side portions of the internal cavity  121  is relatively weakened, so that the wiper blade  100  is excessively bent or pressed to be contracted, so that the contact angle of the contacting edge  130  is reduced, as in the prior conventional wiper blade. On the contrary to this, if the vertical height of the internal cavity  121  is smaller than necessary and the ratio of the height of the internal cavity  121  to the thickness t of both side portions of the internal cavity  121  becomes small, the structural strengths of both side portions of the internal cavity  121  are strengthened more than necessary, there is a high possibility that the operation of the connection portion between the links in the four-linkage structure can not be smoothly implemented. Therefore, when the thickness t of both side portions of the internal cavity  121  is in the range of 0.2 to 1.2 mm, the height of the internal cavity  121  preferably ranges from 2.0 to 6.0 mm. 
         [0047]    According to another embodiment of the present invention, the angle maintaing bendable part  120  may have a plurality of the internal cavity  121  as shown in  FIG. 6 . 
         [0048]    By plurality of the internal cavity  121 , the angle maintaing bendable part  120  has a structure similar to mulitiple 4-bar linkage structure. Therefor having adequate strength due to elasticity, the relative angle of the mounting part  110  and the contacting edge  130  is limited better and relatively well maintained and the overall shape of the wiper blade  100  is inclined laterally with elasticity in accordance with the moving direction of the blade mounting means  10 . 
         [0049]    The contacting edge  130  is continuously formed from the angle maintaing bendable part  120  as shown in  FIG. 2 , and line contact to a cleaning surface (S) to clean the pollution (P) as shown in  FIG. 5 . As discrived above, while angle to the mounting part ( 110 ) is maintained by means of 4-bar linkage sturucture provided by the angle maintaing bendable part ( 120 ), the contacting edge  130  can make a line contact with the cleaning surface S with a relatively large angle θ 2 . Therefore, the contact area where the contacting edge  130  contacts the cleaning surface S is kept small, so that the frictional force due to the operation is reduced, and the pressing force against the cleaning surface (S) becomes rather strong thus the cleaning force for wiping the pollution P become excellent. Meanwhile, the cross section of the contacting edge  130  can be a shape of part of a polygon or a shape of double or triple blades. 
         [0050]    As shown in  FIG. 6 , the outer surface of the contacting edge  130  may have the coating layer  131  to increase the strength while reducing friction. As the material of the coating layer  131 , it is possible to select one of various synthetic resins or silicone. In one embodiment, it is preferable that the coating layer  131  is made of a silicone material or a Teflon material having a low frictional force. The coating layer  131  may be formed by bonding a high-strength film. 
         [0051]    As shown in  FIG. 2 , unlike the mounting part  110  and the angle maintaing bendable part  120 , the contacting edge  130  may made of a low friction silicone material. In this case, it is preferable that the wiper blade  100  is manufactured such that the wiper blade  100  is extrusion-molded and then cutt. Moreover, the mounting part  110  and the angle maintaing bendable part  120  are extrusion-molded simultaneously with the contacting edge  130  which consist of another characteristic silicone material. 
         [0052]    It is preferable that the wiper blade  100  is inclined at a predetermined angle in accordance with the operation of the reciprocating wiper so that the wiper can operate more smoothly. For this purpose, a bending neck  140  may be formed between the mounting part  110  and the angle maintaing bendable  120  as shown in  FIG. 4 . Moreover, the predetermined angle may be in a range of about 5 to 30 degrees so that the angle θ 2  at which the contacting edge  130  contacts the cleaning surface S can be maintained at a relatively large angle. In the pursuit of this purpose a supporting arm  142  is further formed at the lower end of the mounting part  110  and a supporting protrusion  141  is further formed at the upper end of the angle maintaing bendable  120  as shown in  FIG. 4 . 
         [0053]    Therefore, as shown in  FIG. 8 , when the bending neck  140  is bent at the predetermined angle according to the operation of the wiper, the surporting protrusion  141  is contacted with the supporting arm  142  and prevent more bending, thus the angle θ 2  at which the contacting edge  130  contacts the cleaning surface S is limited to be maintained at a relatively large angle, while the wiper blade  100  is being inclined by a predetermined angle corresponding to the operating direction. 
         [0054]    As shown in  FIG. 7 , the porous sorption member  160  installed to lower part of the contacting edge  130 , and the porous sorption member  160  is made of porous sorption material, temporarily absorb the remaining pollution P which can not be removed by th contacting edge  130 , and then discharge the pollution (P) again by pressing when the direction of operation is changing. 
         [0055]    The porous sorption member  160  may be formed in various sizes and shapes depending on its operating characteristics. When the porous sorption member  160  is emphasized to maintain the state where the porous sorption member  160  is firmly mounted on the contact part  130 , the porous sorption member  160  is inserted to lower part of the contacting edge  130  by a predetermined depth (d) as shown in  FIG. 7 . The predetermined depth d may be less than half the vertical height of the porous sorption member  160  in order to ensure a sufficient compression effect so that the pollution absorbed by the porous sorption member  160  can be efficiently discharged again by compression. 
         [0056]    When the porous sorption member  160  focuses on the operating characteristic in order to enhance the effect of absorbing the residual pollution, the porous sorption member  160  has narrow width and a long length.