Patent ID: 8720035

Claim:
A method of assembling a wiper arm assembly, comprising the steps of: providing a mounting head having one of an axle or a hub, said hub comprising an open pocket for receipt of said axle for rotation therein, said mounting head having one end configured for attachment to a vehicle and an opposite end having opposite sidewalls with each of said sidewalls having a flat first locking surface extending therefrom in spaced relation from one another; providing a wiper arm having the other of the axle or hub and having opposite sidewalls with a flat second locking surface extending laterally outwardly from each of said sidewalls, said flat second locking surfaces extending away from one another in spaced relation from one another; attaching a spring to said mounting head and said wiper arm; rotating said mounting head and said wiper arm relative to one another from a disassembled position toward a shipping position and causing said spring to initially increase in preload and said axle to be received in said hub; and bringing said mounting head and said wiper arm into the shipping position by snapping said flat locking surfaces on said mounting head and said wiper arm into engagement with one another under a force imparted by said spring during said rotating step, and preventing said mounting head and said wiper arm from rotating back toward said disassembled position in a purely rotational movement via the engagement of said flat locking surfaces with one another.