Depressed park mechanism for a windshield wiper system
AssigneeTrico Products Corporation
InventorGeorge Hojnacki
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A windshield wiper system incorporates a depressed park mechanism that stores a wiper blade in a depressed, park position. Actuation of the motor in one direction moves the blade out of its park position and into an operative position where it reciprocates through a predetermined wipe pattern. De-actuation of the wipe system then repositions the blade in its depressed park position by simply reversing rotation of the motor and altering the effective length of the drive link assembly.
Claims20
A windshield wiper system on a vehicle body including a wiper blade assembly oscillated across a windshield by a drive motor, the windshield wiper system comprising:
- a drive shaft adapted to be selectively rotated about an axis of rotation in clockwise and counter-clockwise directions by the drive motor;
- an actuator lever engaging the drive shaft for rotation therewith;
- a first link connected to the actuator lever by a pivot for a limited range of relative movement thereto between first and second positions, the link including a slot receiving the drive shaft therethrough;
- a connecting arm having first and second ends pivotally secured to the first link adjacent the first end and to the wiper blade assembly at the second end, the first position of the link relative to the actuator lever being spaced from the second position to define a wipe position and a park position of the wiper blade assembly;
- and
- a first stop member adjustably mounted on the first link for relative movement thereto, the first stop member being engageable with the actuator lever and having a member for adjusting its position to thereby alter the extent of movement of the link relative to the actuator lever.
A windshield wiper system including a wiper blade assembly, a drive arm connected to said wiper blade assembly, and a post supporting said arm for oscillating motion across a windshield, the windshield wiper system comprising:
- a reversible drive motor having a drive shaft;
- an actuator lever fixed to said drive shaft;
- a drive link at least partially overlying said actuator lever and a pivot connecting said actuator lever to said drive link providing for a predetermined range of relative movement of said actuator lever relative to said drive link between first and second positions, said drive link including an arcuate slot having its center of curvature on said pivot and receiving the drive shaft therethrough;
- a hook arm pivotally mounted on said drive link adapted to engage the actuator lever for selectively locking the actuator lever and drive link against relative movement;
- and
- a connecting arm defining first and second ends pivotally secured at one of its ends to said drive link and having a connection to said wiper drive arm, the first position of the link relative to the actuator lever being spaced from the second position to define a wipe position and a park position of the wiper blade assembly.
A windshield wiper system having a blade oscillating through a wipe pattern in response to drive motion imparted by a motor through a connecting arm that connects the blade to the motor, the windshield wiper system comprising:
- a drive link secured to the connecting arm;
- a connection member;
- an actuating lever coupled with a driven shaft of the motor for rotation therewith and pivotally mounted to the drive link through the connection member for selective relative movement between (i) a park position and (ii) a run position, the relative position between the actuating lever and the drive link dependent on directional rotation of the motor so that the blade operates through a predetermined wipe area when the actuating lever and drive link are in the run position and the blade moves to a position outside of the predetermined wipe area when the actuating lever and drive link are in the park position;
- first and second stop members mounted on the drive link and defining limits of relative movement between the actuator lever and the drive link, at least one of the stop members is adjustably movable relative to the link such that the extent of movement of the link on the actuating lever can be altered.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.