Mechanical hard stop for wiper
AssigneeRosemount Aerospace Inc.
InventorsPhani Srinivas Nouduri, Raghavendra Venkataramu
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In accordance with at least one aspect of this disclosure, a system includes a wiper drive shaft configured to drive a wiper arm between a start position and an end sweep position. The wiper drive shaft includes external threads defined therein and at a distal end thereof. An axial length of the external threads along the wiper drive shaft defines the start position and the end sweep position, and a total desired sweep angle between the start position and end sweep position. The wiper drive shaft includes and a first hard stop groove and a second hard stop groove, each defined at a respective first axial offset and a second axial offset from the external threads to define a first hard stop position and second hard stop position.
Claims15
A system, comprising,
- a wiper drive shaft configured to drive a wiper arm between a start position and an end sweep position, the wiper drive shaft including external threads at a distal end thereof, an axial length of the external threads defining the start position and the end sweep position and a total sweep angle between the start position and the end sweep position, wherein the wiper drive shaft includes and a first hard stop groove and a second hard stop groove, each defined at a respective first axial offset and a second axial offset from the external threads to define a first hard stop position and second hard stop position;
- a nut threaded on the wiper drive shaft and configured to travel axially along the wiper drive shaft during rotation of the wiper drive shaft within the nut, wherein the first hard stop position and the second hard stop position define axial bounds of the nut such that the nut travels axial along the wiper drive shaft between the first hard stop position and the second hard stop position;
- and
- an end cap configured to enclose the distal end of the wiper drive shaft, the end cap including internal splines defined on an inner diameter thereof configured to mate with external splines defined on an outer diameter of the nut to prevent rotation of the nut relative to the wiper drive shaft and the end cap.
A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer executable instructions stored therein, the computer executable instructions configured to cause a computer to perform a method, the method comprising:
- controlling movement of a wiper arm based at least in part on a position of a nut along external threads of a wiper drive shaft and between a first mechanical hard stop and a second mechanical hard stop disposed on the wiper drive shaft such that total displacement of the wiper arm is confined to a predetermined sweep zone defined by the first mechanical hard stop and the second mechanical hard stop.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.