Windshield wiper system with sector gear
AssigneeGoodrich Corporation
InventorsAshok Kumar Thirunarayana, Adishesha Chinknyakanhalli Sivaramasastry, Subhra Kanti Das
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A windshield wiper system (WWS) is provided. The WWS includes a wiper blade movable across a maximum sweep angle, a sector gear, a wiper arm coupled at opposite ends thereof to the wiper blade and the sector gear and a bi-directional motor. The bi-directional motor includes a motor shaft and a pinion gear disposed on the motor shaft to engage with the sector gear. The bi-directional motor is operable to drive rotations of the pinion and sector gears in opposite directions via the motor shaft to thereby drive opposite movements of the wiper blade via the wiper arm, respectively, without risking loss of engagement between the pinion and sector gears.
Claims20
A windshield wiper system (WWS), comprising:
- a wiper blade movable across a maximum sweep angle;
- a sector gear;
- a wiper arm coupled at opposite ends thereof to the wiper blade and the sector gear;
- and
- a bi-directional motor including a motor shaft and a pinion gear disposed on the motor shaft to engage with the sector gear,
- the bi-directional motor being operable to drive rotations of the pinion and sector gears in opposite directions via the motor shaft to thereby drive opposite movements of the wiper blade via the wiper arm, respectively, without risking loss of engagement between the pinion and sector gears.
A windshield wiper system (WWS) in which a wiper blade is movable across a maximum sweep angle of a windshield, the WWS comprising:
- a sector gear;
- a bi-directional motor including a pinion gear disposed to engage with the sector gear,
- the bi-directional motor being operable to drive rotations of the pinion and sector gears in opposite directions to thereby drive opposite movements of the wiper blade, respectively, without risking loss of engagement between the pinion and sector gears;
- and
- a closed-loop control system to control operations of the bi-directional motor based on estimated sector gear positions.
A method of operating a windshield wiper system (WWS) in which a wiper blade is movable across a maximum sweep angle of a windshield, the method comprising:
- engaging a pinion gear of a bi-directional motor with a sector gear, the sector gear having been designed based on the maximum sweep angle;
- sensing a rotational condition of the bi-directional motor;
- and
- controlling the bi-directional motor to drive rotations of the pinion and sector gears in opposite directions in accordance with the sensed rotational condition to thereby drive opposite movements of the wiper blade, respectively, without risking loss of engagement between the pinion and sector gears.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.