United States Patent [191
`Arai et 211.
`
`[11] Patent Number:
`[45] Date of Patent:
`
`4,807,326
`Feb. 28, 1989
`
`[73] Assignee:
`
`[54] BACKING MEMBER IN WIPERBLADE OF
`WINDSHIELD WIPER
`[75] Inventors: Masaru Arai; Itsuro Saita, both of
`Yono,v Japan
`Nippon Wiperblade Co., Ltd.,
`Saitama, Japan
`[21] Appl. No.: 157,267
`[22] Filed:
`Feb. 18, 1988
`[30]
`Foreign Application Priority Data
`Feb. 20, 1987 [JP]
`Japan ........................... .. 62-22798[U]
`
`[51] Int. Cl.4 .............................................. .. B605 1/04
`[52] US. Cl. ................................. .. 15050.42
`[58] Field of Search ....................... .. l5/250.32—250.42
`[56]
`References Cited
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`2,701,382 2/1955 Oishei ............................. .. 15/250.42
`
`
`
`2,767,419 10/1956 Horton 3,872,537 3/1975 Bianchi ........................... .. l5/250.42
`
`FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`Primary Examiner-Peter Feldman
`Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Wenderoth, Lind & Ponack
`[s7]
`ABSTRACI‘
`A backing member of a wiperblade of a windshield
`wiper and comprising two elongated body elements
`extending parallel at a spaced apart relationship and
`extending substantially along the entire length of a
`blade rubber to which the backing member is mounted,
`a plurality of bridge portions being spaced apart in the
`longitudinal direction of the backing member and con
`necting the body elements, the space between the body
`elements being adapted to receive a neck portion of the
`blade rubber, the bridge portions extending in the side
`wise direction and above the body elements so as to
`de?ne a space above the body elements for receiving a
`head portion of the blade rubber, and two longitudi
`nally spaced apart pivot connections for connecting
`with a yoke member of the wiper. At least one of the
`pivot connections is adapted to permit relative longitu
`dinal displacement of corresponding pivot connection
`of the yoke member. The curvature and the rigidity of
`the backing member are changed in the longitudinal
`direction.
`
`1124116 6/1956 France ............................ .. l5/250.42
`
`7 Claims, 2 Drawing Sheets
`
`Costco Exhibit 1004, p. 1
`
`

`
`US. Patent Feb. 28, 1989
`
`Sheet 1 of2
`
`4,807,326
`
`‘FIG. 7
`
`FIG. 2
`
`Costco Exhibit 1004, p. 2
`
`

`
`US. Patent Feb. 28, 1989
`
`Sheet 2 0f 2
`
`4,807,326
`
`FIG. 5
`
`3A
`
`,
`
`FIG. 6
`
`3A
`
`wk”
`
`3A
`
`5/
`
`FIG. 7
`‘+3
`
`HIGH PRESSURE
`
`MEDIUM PRESSURE
`
`F l G. 8 LOW PRESSURE
`
`T
`
`MEDIUM PRESSURE
`
`HIGH PRESSURE
`
`LOW PRESSURE
`
`Costco Exhibit 1004, p. 3
`
`

`
`1
`
`4,807,326
`
`BACKING MEMBER IN WIPERBLADE OF
`WINDSHIELD WIPER
`
`FIELD OF THE INVENTION
`The present invention relates to a windshield wiper
`and, particularly to a backing member in a wiperblade
`of the windshield wiper.
`
`10
`
`20
`
`DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART
`, It is important that a blade rubber contacts with the
`surface of a windshield being wiped under a uniform
`pressure distribution along the length thereof or in the
`longitudinal direction for enabling satisfactory wiping
`effects. Usually, one or more resilient metal strips are
`disposed on the upper surface of the blade rubber so
`that a pressing force transmitted from a yoke member is
`dispersed in the longitudinal direction and is transmitted
`to the tip or the lower end of the blade rubber. It is also
`known to form the yoke member of a plurality of pivot
`ally connected yoke elements so that the force is trans
`mitted to the wiperblade through plural locations.
`When the force is transmitted from the yoke member to
`the wiperblade through a small number of locations, it is
`25
`difficult to obtain uniform pressure distribution. And
`the yoke member including a multiple number of mutu
`ally pivotally connected yoke elements is complicated
`in construction and is expensive.
`The present invention has been made in view of the
`circumstances aforementioned, and aims to provide a
`backing member for enabling uniform pressure distribu
`tion along the length of the blade rubber.
`
`2
`connected to the body elements, whereby the backing
`member can easily formed by die forming process.
`According to the invention, the backing member can
`easily be formed to have desired rigidity against bend
`ing, thus, it is not required to connect the wiperblade to
`the yoke member through three or more points for
`obtaining uniform pressure distribution, thus, it is simple
`in the construction and cheap in the cost.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`Further objects and effects of the invention will be
`come apparent from the following detailed description
`taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which:
`FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a wiperblade hav
`ing a backing member according to present invention;
`FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view showing portions
`of a blade rubber and the backing member of FIG. 1;
`FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view showing portions
`pivotally connecting the backing member of FIG. 1
`with a yoke member;
`FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the backing mem
`ber of the invention and a blade rubber;
`FIG. 5 is a side view of the backing member under no
`load condition;
`FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 but showing a
`modi?ed backing member;
`FIG. 7 is a graph showing change in the pressure
`distribution at the tip end of the blade rubber according
`to the invention, and
`FIG. 8 is a graph similar to FIG. 7 but showing a
`prior art backing member.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`A backing member according to the invention com
`prises two elongated body elements extending substan
`tially along the entire length of a blade rubber to which
`the backing member is mounted and extending parallel
`40
`at a spaced apart relationship, a plurality of bridge por
`tions being spaced apart in the longitudinal direction of
`the backing member and connecting the body elements,
`the space between the body elements being adapted to
`receive a neck portion of the blade rubber, the bridge
`45
`portions extending in the sidewise direction and above
`the body elements so as to de?ne a space above the
`body elements for receiving a head portion of the blade
`rubber, two longitudinally spaced apart pivot connec
`tions for connecting with a yoke member of a wiper, at
`least one of the pivot connections being adapted to
`permit relative longitudinal displacement of corre
`sponding pivot connection of the yoke member, and the
`curvature of the lower surfaces of the body elements
`and the rigidity of the backing member being changed
`in the longitudinal direction.
`Preferably, the rigidity is high at the pivot connec
`tions and is low at the longitudinally central portion and
`at opposite end portions.
`The curvature is preferably small at opposite end
`portions and is large at the central portion. Further, the
`curvature at the longitudinally central portion may be
`opposite sense or downwardly convex.
`The backing member may be used together with
`metal strips, otherwise, metal strips may be embedded
`in the backing member of synthetic resin material.
`Preferably, cutout portions are formed in the body
`elements at locations where the bridge portions are
`
`35
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`55
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`65
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`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED
`EMBODIMENTS
`Referring particularly to FIGS. 1-3, shown at nu
`meral 1 is a blade rubber, at 2 is a yoke member con
`nected to a wiper arm (only a part is shown) and, at 3 is
`a backing member according to the invention. The
`blade rubber 1 comprises a tip end or a wiping end 1A,
`a neck portion 1B and a head portion 1C. The yoke
`member 2 is connected to the backing member 3
`through pivot connections 2A and 2B. The backing
`member 3 comprises two elongated body elements 4
`and 5 extending substantially along the entire length of
`the blade rubber 1 to which the backing member 3 is
`mounted. The backing member 3 and the blade rubber 1
`are the major components of a wiperblade. The body
`elements 4 and 5 de?ne a space 7 therebetween, and the
`space 7 is adapted to receive the neck portion 1B of the
`blade rubber 1. A plurality of bridge portions 6, 6. . .
`being spaced apart in the longitudinal direction of teh
`backing member 3 act to connect the body elements 4
`and 5 to each other. The bridge portions extend in the
`sidewise direction and above the body elements 4 and 5
`so as to de?ne a space above the body elements for
`receiving the head portion 1C of the blade rubber 1.
`There are provided on the backing member 3 two longi
`tudinally spaced apart pivot connections 8 and 9 for
`connecting with the yoke member 2. As shown in FIG.
`1, the pivot connection 8 corresponds to the pivot con
`nection 2A of the yoke member and the pivot connec
`tion 9 corresponds to the pivot connection 2B of the
`yoke member 2. At least one of the pivot connections 8
`and 9 is formed to permit a relative longitudinal dis
`placement of corresponding pivot connection of the
`yoke member 2. In the embodiment, the pivot connec
`tion 8 is formed of elongated openings. Shown at 10 is a
`
`Costco Exhibit 1004, p. 4
`
`

`
`3
`4
`pivot pin, howeover, the pivot pin may be substituted
`pressure change in the longitudinal direction is small,
`by other suitable means.
`and pressure change at opposite end portions when the
`pressing force is changed is also small. Thus, the blade
`As shown in FIG. 2, cutouts 11 are formed in the
`body elements 4 and 5 at locations corresponding to the
`rubber contacts with the surface of the windshield
`bridge portions 6, whereby the backing member 3 can
`within a suitable range of inclination angle. Therefore,
`easily be formed by die forming process and of syn
`the wiping property is good, and since a wide range of
`thetic resin material. Further, there is provided means
`pressing force can be applied, it is possible to decrease
`for restricting relative longitudinal displacement be
`the types of the wiperblade.
`tween the backing member 3 and the blade rubber 1.
`What is claimed is:
`Such means may include a clip mounted on the backing
`1. A backing member in a wiperblade of a windshield
`member 3 preferably at one longitudinal end for clamp
`wiper, said backing member comprises two elongated
`ing the blade rubber. Otherwise, it is possible to form
`body elements extending parallel at a spaced apart rela
`tionship and extending substantially along the entire
`the space 7 to zero at one or both longitudinal ends of
`the backing member 3, and the blade rubber is inserted
`length of a blade rubber to which the backing member
`is mounted, a plurality of bridge portions being spaced
`through one of the cutouts 11 adjacent to one end.
`Preferably, the backing member 3 is formed to have
`apart in the longitudinal direction of the backing mem
`the cross-sectional con?guration as shown in a backing
`ber and connecting the body elements, the space be
`member 3’ of FIG. 4, so as to have a suitable rigidity
`tween the body elements being adapted to receive a
`against bending or against bending along a plane per
`neck portion of the blade rubber, the bridge portions
`pendicular to the sheet of FIG. 4, whereby the force
`extending in the sidewise direction and above the body
`transmitted from the yoke member can uniformly dis
`elements so as to de?ne a space above the body ele
`persed along the length of the blade rubber.
`ments for receiving a head portion of the blade rubber,
`The wiperblade shown in FIG. 4 has metal strips 12
`and two longitudinally spaced apart pivot connections
`and 13 inserted between the backing member 3' and the
`for connecting with a yoke member of the wiper, at
`blade rubber 1' to augment the resiliency. The resilient
`least one of the pivot connections being adapted to
`metal strip may be embedded integrally in the backing
`permit relative longitudinal displacement of corre
`member.
`sponding pivot connection of the yoke member, and the
`FIG. 5 shows a side view of the backing member 3 at
`curvature of the lower surfaces of the body elements
`and the rigidity of the backing member being changed
`no load condition. The curvature is gradually decreased
`at longitudinally opposite end portions 3A and 3A, and
`in the longitudinal direction.
`the rigidity against bending is large at and adjacent to
`2. A backing member as set forth in claim 1, wherein
`the pivot connections 8' and 9', and is small at opposite
`the rigidity is high at the pivot connections and is low at
`end portions 3A and 3A and at the central portion 38.
`the longitudinally central portion and at opposite end
`portions.
`Thus, the pressure distribution along the length of the
`blade rubber is uniform, and the wiperblade can follow
`3. A backing member as set forth in claim 1, wherein
`a curved windshield.
`the curvature is small at opposite end portions and is
`large at the central portion.
`FIG. 6 shows a modi?ed form, wherein the curvature
`at the longitudinally central portion is of opposite sense
`4-. A backing member as set forth in claim 1, wherein
`the curvature at the longitudinally central portion is
`or convex in the downward direction. The curvature is small at zones D adjacent to opposite end portions 3A,
`downwardly convex.
`40
`medium at zones E adjacent to pivot connections 8 and
`5. A backing member as set forth in claim 1, wherein
`9, and large at zones F and F adjacent to the central
`metal strips are embedded in the backing member of
`portion 3B. The embodiment enables to obtain rela
`synthetic resin material.
`tively uniform pressure distribution with respect to a
`6. A backing member as set forth in claim 1, wherein
`wide range between a low pressure and a high pressure
`cutout portions are formed in the body elements at locations where the bridge portions are connected to
`and, further, it is possible to prevent excessive decreases
`of the pressure at the central portion.
`FIGS. 7 and 8 show the change in the pressure distri
`bution at the tip end or the wiping end 1A of the blade
`rubber 1 when the pressing force applied on the wiper
`blade from the yoke member is changed. FIG. 7 shows
`the result according to the invention, and FIG. 8 shows
`prior art wiperblade. According to the invention, the
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`35
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`55
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`65
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`4,807,326
`
`the body elements, whereby the backing member can
`easily formed by die forming process.
`7. A backing member as set forth in claim 1, wherein
`means for restricting relative displacement of the blade
`rubber is provided on one longitudinal end portion of
`the backing member.
`# ‘I
`
`i 1k
`
`‘I
`
`Costco Exhibit 1004, p. 5