Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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The present invention relates to windshield wipers such as used on
motor vehicles and more particularly pertains to a protective boot which
may be fittingly secured over a windshield wiper so as to prevent the accumu-
lation of snow and other materials within the flexural portion of the wiper.
One of the more critical problems confronting developer6 of
windshield wipers utilizable to clean windshields of motor vehicles has
been how to keep the wiper blades at all times in a close, conforming
relationship with the windshields being cleaned. In this respect,
windshield wiper blades tend to wear out quickly, as well as to become
embrittled with age. These wear and embrittlement problems usually
result in the wiper blades losing their effectiveness. Specifically,
the wiper blades lose much of their flexibility so that only portions
of the blades make contact with a windshield during a wiping operation.
This of course results in the blades losing their ability to clean the
windshields and the driver of a vehicle is then faced with problems of
streaking and dirt accumulation on his windshield which severely affect
his visibility.
In an attempt to overcome these problems of wear and embrittle-
ment, developers have designed a number of different types of windshield
wipers, many of which use spring like flexural members attached to the
wiper blades so that some of the wear and embrittlement may be oEfset
through a biasing force provided by these flexural members. However,
the use of these flexural members on wiper blades has created new
problems, especially in climates where a lot of snow is experienced,
since snow and other materials may accumulate about the flexural members
and completely destroy their effectiveness. In this regard, accumulating
snow often turns to ice which may cause the flexural members to temporarily
warp out of shape thereby pulling portions of a wiper blade completely away
from a windshield. Effectively then, the use of these flexurable members
in snow climates has only presented new problems associated with attempts
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to keep wiper blades at all times in contact with windshields, while at the
same time doing little to eliminate the problems of wear and embrittlement.
More or less accepting the problems of wear, embrittlement and
material accumulation in the flexural portions of windshield wipers as
being unsolvable, inventors have instead attempted to improve upon the
construction of wiper blades per se so as to overcome these problems. In
other words, the belief has been that the solution to these problems must
lie in the development of better blades rather than in the structural
configuration of the windshield wiper itself. However, the best attempts
10 in improving wiper blade corlstruction have been primarily directed towards
the development of attachments designed to be positionable over the wiper
blades completely covering the same and serving to effectively replace the
wiping funct;on thereof. For example, U.S. patent No. 2,141,023, issued
to M. Ryan on December 10, 1938, illustrates a sleeve constructed of an
absorbent material and serving to completely cover a windshield wiper.
The sleeve is designed to be soaked with antifreeze solution which is an
effective means for melting and removing adhering particles of frozen
moisture on a windshield. Effectively then, the Ryan sleeve serves as a
substitute for a conventional wiper blade since the blade is no longer in
20 contact with a windshield when the sleeve is in position. Similarly, U.S.
patent No. 3,021,548, issued to B. Stoller on February 20, 1962, illustrates
another sleeve which completely covers a windshield wiper including its
blade and which is designed to clean a windshield which is dry. As such,
this sleeve is also used as a substitute for a wiper blade since the blade
itself will no longer contact a windshield.
As can be appreciated, the use of these above described sleeve-
like attachments has not been well accepted since the same are apparently not
commercially available. In that the sleeves effectively
act as no more than a substitute windshield wiper blade, the general
3~ movement of the industry has been towards the design of windshield
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~ipers which have quickly removable, replaceable wiper blades~
~asically then, the industry's solu-tion to the problems of wear,
~mbrittlement and material accumulation .in the flexural members
has been simply to frequently replace the wiper blades.
However~ through the use of the present invention, the
problems associated with wear, embri-ttlement and material
~ccumulation are substantially reduced.
The general purpose of the present invention, which
will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to
~rovide a windshield wiper cover or boot that eliminates many
of the problems which interfere with the effectiveness of
windshield wiper blades. To attain this~ the present
invention provides a windshield wiper assembly protection
~eans~ the protection means comprising a cover being of only
one pi~ce of material and devoid of other components and
~eing el.ongated along a longitudinal dimension having a
section generally of an inverted curved shaped broad channel
and the cover being foreshortened along a transverse dimension
having a section generally of an inverted curved shaped
narrow ~hannel, the cover having at a domed pcrtion thereof
an aperture for communicating therethrough an extended portion
of a blade retaining structure to just protrude and pass
~hrough in close proximi.ty thereof while having distal there-
~xom a frea edge forming a skirt and extendiny substantiall~
around the entire length of the cover for sleeving over and
~irectly contacting an entire windshield wiper assembly
~istal from a windshield wiper blade element so as.to permit
a length of the wiper blade element to extend from the cover
itself so as to come into contact with a windshield, an
interior surface of the cover along its longitudinal dimension
conformably interfitting and engagingly contacting generally
the entire length of a fairly rigid support arm of the wind-
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shield wiper assembly for the wiper blade element, the cover
serving to effectively protect the structural components of
the wlndshield wiper assembly from the outside environment
while not interfering with a contact between a windshield
surface and a windshield wiper blade forming a por-tion of
the windshield wiper assembly.
It is therefore an object of the present invention
to provide protection means for a windshield wiper.
It is another object of the present invention to
provide a cover for a windshield wiper which is effective
in preventing the accumulation of snow and other ~aterials
about the flexural portion of the windshield wiper.
It is a further object of the present invention to
provide a cover for a windshield wiper which is effectiv~e
in reducing the wear on the windshield wiper blade associated
therewith.
Still another object of the present invention is to
provide a cover for a windshield wiper which substantially
reduces the aging and
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attendant embrittlement of a wiper blade associated therewith.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a
cover for a windshield wiper which may be economically and easily manu-
factured.
Figure 1 is a perspective view of the windshield wiper boot
forming the present invention fittingly secured over a windshield wiper
operably attached to a motor vehicle.
Figure 2 is a longitudinal cross sectional view of the present
invention ta~en along the line 2-2 of Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a transverse cross sectional view of the present
invention taken along the line 3-3 of Figure 1.
Figure 4 is a perspective view of the boot forming the present
invention as it appears when not fitted over a windshield wiper.
ReEerence is now made to the drawings and, in particular, to
Figure 1 wherein there is illustrated in detail a motor vehicle 10 having
a windshield 12 over which is slidably movable a windshield wiper 14. The
wiper 14 includes a conventional activating member 16 having a blade arm
18 fixedly secured thereto, such blade arm then supporting a wiper blade
retaining structure 20 replaceably removable therefrom. Also illustrated
in Figure 1 is a windshield wiper boot 22, which forms the structure of
the present invention, and a wiper blade 24 extending thereErom and
contacting the windshield 12.
With reference to Figure 2 of the drawings, it can be seen that
the wiper blade retaining structure 20 is pivotally attached to the blade arm
18 at a connection point 26. In this respect, the connection point 26
serves both as a means for permitting the retaining structure 20 to
conformingly move over a windshield 12 and as a means for removing the
retaining structure from the blade arm l~ to thereby replace the same once
a wiper blade 24 becomes worn and embrittled. The design of the connection
point 26 is of a conventional construction which forms no part of the
present invention and i9 therefore not illustrated in detail.
The wiper blade retaining structure 20 includes a first fairly
rigid arm 28 which is centrally attached at the connection point 26 to
the blade arm 18 and has a pair of distal ends 29, 30, which are each
respectively pivotally attached to flexural spring members 32, 34O In
this respect, the end 29 is pivotally attac'ned at a connection point 36 to
the flexural spring member 32, while the end 30 is pivotally attached at
connection point 38 to the flexural spring member 34. As is apparent with
reference to the drawing, the flexural spring member 32 is centrally
pivotally attached to the end 29 and connection point 3~ and has a pair
of distal ends 40, 42, each of which are respectively attached to the wiper
blade 24. Similarly, the flexural spring member 34 is centrally pivotally
attached at the pivot connection point 38 to the end 30 and has a pair of
distal ends 44, 46 attached to the wiper blade 24. Also clearly illustrated
in Figure 2 is the fact that the flexural spring members 32, 34 are of an
arc-like shape which effectively permits a resilient movement thereof in
response to a changing shape of the windshield 12, while at the same time
a biasing force is provided by the flexural spring members against the
wiper blade 24 to effectively hold the same in a close conforming contact
with the surface of the windshield. Of course, this described structural
configuration of the windshield wiper 14 is conventional in nature forming
no part of the present invention and has been described solely to further
amplify the aforementioned problems present in the prior art.
Turning now to the construction of the pre~ent invention, it can
be seen that the windshield wiper cover or boot 22 is of a molded flexible
construction which conforms with and fits over the wiper blade retaining
structure 20. Referring to both Figure 2 and 4 at the same time, it can
be seen that the boot 22 is effectively a longitudinally-shaped sleeve
having a pair of apertures 48, 50. In this respect, the aperture ~8 is
positioned on one side of the boot 22 and is just large enough to allow an
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extended portion 52 of the blade retaining structure 20 to protrude there-
through. Similarly, the aperture 50 is longitudinally shaped, extending
substantially over the entire length of the boot 22, and serves to permit
the entire length of the wiper blade 24 to extend therefrom 90 as to come
into contact with a windshield 12.
Figure 3 fur~her illustrates the boot 22 fi~ingly positioned over
a windshield wiper 14 and is specific to the fact that the boot effectively
covers the entire wiper blade retaining structure 20 other than the wiper
blade 24. As can be appreciated then, most of the structural configuration
of the windshield wiper 14, specifically the wiper blade retaining structure
20, is protected from the outside environment by the boot 22 thereby pre-
venting the accumulation of sno~ and other materials around the flexural
spring members 32, 34 which might otherwise limit their ability to Elexurally
conform to the shape of the windshield 12. Similarly, the boot 22 serves
to prevent an overheating of the retaining structure 20 when e~posed to
sunshine thereby reducing somewhat the amount of embrittlement of the
wiper blade 24 due to sun aging.
To use the present invention, it is envisioned that the wind
shield wiper boot 22 could be constructed of molded rubber in different
shapes and sizes so as to be conformingly fittable over the various
windshield wipers now in commercial use. Further, the wiper boot 22 is
easily conformably fittable over a windshield wiper 14 simply by removing
the wiper from the blade arm 18 in a conventional manner and then placing
the boot over the wiper blade retaining structure 20. The windshield
wiper 14 may then be reattached to the blade arm 18 at the connection
point 26. Upon a discarding of the wiper blade retaining structure 20,
the wiper boot 22 may be easily removed therefrom and repositioned over a
replacement wiper blade retaining structure before attachment of the same
to the blade arm 18. With respect to the above description, it should be
realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the
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invention are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the
art, and all equivalen~ relationships to those illustrated in the drawings
and described in the ~pecification are intended to be encompassed 'oy the
present invention.
