| Title of Invention | CONNECTING ELEMENT |
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| Abstract | ABSTRACT CONNECTING ELEMENT The subject matter relates to a connecting element 22 for hingedly connecting a wiper blade 10 to a wiper arm. The connecting element 22 is includes a plastic securing part 26 and a metal bearing part 24. The securing part 26 is adapted to laterally enclose the sprung blade 20 with its guide rails 30 and has front walls 40 at its ends that project outward beyond the contours of the guide rails 30. The spring clip 34 extends in a plane parallel to the sprung blade 20. The bearing part 24 is fitted between the front walls 40 and has lateral guide angle brackets 50. The guide angle brackets 50 are formed onto a bottom 48 of the bearing part 24 and have lugs 54. The lugs 54 can be bent inwards by a neutral axis 56 that extends in parallel to a normal axis 64. Each of the bent leg 58 engages with the guide rails 30 of the securing part 26 from below. |
| Full Text | Technical field The subject matter relates to a connecting element according to the preamble of the claim 1. Background A connecting element for connecting a wiper blade to a wiper arm in a hinged manner is known from DE 198 60 644 Al. The connecting element of the DE 198 60 644 Al is fitted to the wiper blade having a wiper strip with two lateral longitudinal grooves. In such connecting elements, two sprung blades are inserted as supporting elements, which laterally extend beyond the wiper strip. The plastic connecting element has two guide rails with a U-shaped cross-section, wherein the open side of the guide rails are facing each other. The guide rails, which are interlinked by a spring clip, are pushed on to the projected parts of the sprung blades and are locked with sprung blades at their end position. This purpose is served by recesses present in the sprung blades, acting together with the locking elements, wherein the locking elements are arranged on the flexible tongues of the guide rails. The connecting element comprises bearing elements in the form of bearing pins, which are arranged on the outer sides of the guiding rails. For mounting the connecting element, the guide rails can be elastically pressed together to a certain extent on account of the elasticity of the spring clips, so that the bearing pins can be inserted in the corresponding bearing bores of an end piece of the wiper arm. The end piece is made of metal, such as sheet metal. The mounting of the connecting element on the wiper arm is followed by the mounting on the wiper blade. In the operating position, the side walls of the wiper arms lock the flexible tongue to the locking element, so that an unintentional disengaging or shifting of the connecting element is avoided. The spring clip extends at right angles to the longitudinal direction of the guide rails and consequently creates a clearance, so as to enable, if required, pushing of the connecting element on to a spoiler section of the wiper blade. Thus, there is a need for a connecting element that overcomes the aboe mentioned drawbacks. Summary The subject matter described herein is directed to a connecting element for hingedly connecting a wiper arm to a wiper blade. The wiper blade to be connected to the wiper arm has a wiper strip and at least one sprung blade. The sprung blade is enclosed by the guide rails of the connecting element. The guide rails are interlinked by at least one spring clip. The guide rails and the spring clip are produced from a plastic material. The connecting element comprises a plastic securing part and a metal bearing part. The securing part can laterally enclose the sprung blade with its guide rails. The spring clip extends in a plane parallel to the sprung blade. The bearing part covers the securing part and has lateral guide angle brackets. The lateral guide angle brackets are formed onto a bottom of the bearing part. The lateral guide angle brackets have lugs, which can be bent inwards by a neutral axis that extends in parallel to a normal axis. A bent leg engages with the guide rails of the securing part from below. These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present subject matter will become better understood with reference to the following description and appended claims. This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. Brief description of drawings The novel features of the subject matter are set forth in the appended claims hereto. The subject matter itself, however, as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives, and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein the same numbers are used throughout the drawings to reference like features, and wherein: Figure 1 shows a perspective top view of a connecting element on a wiper blade. Figure 2 shows a perspective view of a wiper strip with sprung blades inserted. Figure 3 shows a perspective view of a securing part. Figure 4 shows a view of a securing part in the direction of an arrow IV in figure 3. Figure 5 shows a section corresponding to the line V-V in figure 4. Figure 6 shows a perspective view of mounted securing element. Figure 7 shows a perspective view of a bearing part. Detailed description According to the present subject matter, the connecting element comprises a plastic securing part and a metal bearing part. The securing part can laterally enclose the sprung blade or sprung blades with its guide rails. For lateral guiding, the bearing part comprises lateral guide angle brackets at its ends. The brackets are formed onto a bottom of the bearing part. They form a large support base when torque is developing around a normal axis, with which a good lateral guidance of the wiper blade is ensured. The guide angle brackets have lugs on their sides facing away from the front walls. The lugs can be bent inwards by a neutral axis that extends parallel to a normal axis, such that one bent leg each engages, from below, with the guide rails of the securing part. Thus, the connecting element is secured by the bearing part in the direction of the normal axis. At the same time, the bearing part is made of abrasion-proof, impact-resistant metal, such as sheet metal and isolated from the spring steel sprung blades by the plastic securing part, so that vibrations are dampened and corrosion is avoided. The connecting element of the present subject matter gives rise to a precise, stable and abrasion-proof hinged connection between the wiper arm and the wiper blade with an excellent lateral guidance of the wiper blade. In one advantageous embodiment, the securing part comprises front walls on its ends. The front walls project outward, particularly beyond the contours of the guide rails. The spring clip extends in a plane parallel to the sprung blades. Therefore, the bearing part, which covers the securing part, can be evenly held and fitted between the front walls of the securing part, while it is secured to the guide rails of the securing part in the longitudinal direction by the locking element. In place of securing through such form-closure locking element, even a force-closure unit can be designed for an embodiment used to a lesser extent, e.g. small rear wipers. According to one embodiment of the present subject matter, each of the front walls build a gap, bridged by a respective spring clip each. Thus, the open side of the spring clip faces the end of the securing part, while the closed bend of the spring clip lies between the guide rails. The bearing element is advantageously formed of sheet metal, in which the side walls are bent upwards in their longitudinal direction in the middle area, which support at least one bearing element, such as a bearing bush or a bearing pin or other suitable bearing elements as known from the prior art. Other advantages result from the following description of the drawing. An exemplary embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the drawings. The drawings, description and the claims comprise numerous features in combination. The expert in the art would expediently examine the features individually and combine them into additional practical combinations. Figure 1 shows a perspective top view of a connecting element on a wiper blade. Figure 2 shows a perspective view of a wiper strip with sprung blades inserted. Figure 3 shows a perspective view of a securing part. Figure 4 shows a view of a securing part in the direction of an arrow IV in figure 3. Figure 5 shows a section corresponding to the line V-V in figure 4. Figure 6 shows a perspective view of mounted securing element. Figure 7 shows a perspective view of a bearing part. A connecting element 22 is mounted on a wiper blade 10. The connecting element 22 has a metal bearing part 24, preferably of sheet metal, and a plastic securing part 26. The wiper blade 10 covers a wiper strip 12 with a wiper lip 14, a head strip 16 and a rear strip 18. Between the rear strip 18 and the head strip 16, sprung blades 20 are inserted into the two longitudinal grooves. The sprung blades project a little beyond the grooves. In the event when the wiper blade 10 has only one sprung blade 20 in a central longitudinal channel, the longitudinal channel is laterally open in the area of the connecting element 22 so that, the sprung blade 20 is free to a certain extent on both sides such that the securing part 26 can be fitted on it. The securing part 26 (figure 3 to figure 5) has two guide rails 30. The guide rails 30 have guide grooves 32 that engage with the sprung blades 20 in mounted condition. The open sides of the guide grooves 32 face one another. The guide grooves 32 are bounded by a lower groove flank 36, which is fitted to the underside of the sprung blades 20. The guide rails 30 are interlinked through a spring clip 34. The guide rails 30 lie in a plane parallel to the sprung blades 20, so as to produce a flat structure. Front walls 40 are provided on the ends of the guide rails 30, which build a gap 42 on each end. The gap 42 is bridged by the spring clip 34. The front walls 40 project outward beyond the contours of the guiding clips and form mounting surfaces 44, which ensure axial fixing of the bearing part 24 fitted-in. The guide rails 30 feature guide grooves 32 and locking elements 38. In mounted condition, these engage with the corresponding recesses 28 of the sprung blades 20 and thus, ensure the axial position of the securing part 26 relative to the sprung blades 20. When mounted, the guide rails 30 are elastically pulled apart from one another at right angles to the wiper blade 10 in the direction of the arrow 46 and fitted to the sprung blades 20, so that these engage in the guide grooves 32 and latch the locking element 38 of the guide rails 30 in the recesses 28 of the sprung blades 20. The bearing part 24 is fitted between the mounting surfaces 44 of the front walls 40 in order to lock the securing part 26. In the process, the bearing part 24 is laterally guided through the guide angle bracket 50 on to the guide rails 30 of the securing part 26. As the guide angle brackets 50 are formed onto a bottom 48 at the end of the bearing part 24, a large support base will be formed for the bending torque around the normal axis 64 resulting in very good lateral guidance of the wiper blade 10. Lugs 54 are formed in the longitudinal direction on the side walls 52 of the guide angle bracket 50 facing each other. The lugs 54 can be bent inwards by a neutral axis 56 during mounting. In the process, a bent leg 58 of the lug 54 engages with the guide rails 30 of the securing part 26 from below, so that the bearing part 24 is secured in the direction of the normal axis 64. In addition, the securing part 26 is blocked by the bearing part 24, so that it cannot disengage from the sprung blades 20 or shift over it. The bearing part 24, which is preferably produced from sheet metal, has two upward-bent side walls 60, which bear a bearing bush 62 as a bearing element for a bearing pin, which bearing pin is connected to a wiper arm. In place of the bearing bush 62, the bearing part 24 can feature other bearing elements such as bearing studs, bearing pins, bearing rolls or similar devices, as known from the prior art. Although the subject matter has been described with reference to specific embodiments, this description is not meant to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications of the disclosed embodiments, as well as alternate embodiments of the subject matter, will become apparent to persons skilled in the art upon reference to the description of the subject matter. It is therefore contemplated that such modifications can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the present subject matter as defined. We claim: 1. A connecting element 22 for hingedly connecting a wiper arm to a wiper blade 10, said wiper blade 10 having a wiper strip 12 and at least one sprung blade 20, which is enclosed by the guide rails 30 of said connecting element 22, wherein said guide rails 30 are interlinked by at least one spring clip 34, wherein said guide rails 30 and said spring clip 34 are produced from a plastic material, characterised in that, said connecting element 22 comprises a plastic securing part 26 and a metal bearing part 24, wherein said securing part 26 can laterally enclose said sprung blade 20 with its guide rails 30, wherein said spring clip 34 extends in a plane parallel to said sprung blade 20, wherein said bearing part 24 covers said securing part 26 and has lateral guide angle brackets 50, said lateral guide angle brackets 50 are formed onto a bottom 48 of the bearing part 24, wherein said lateral guide angle brackets 50 have lugs 54, said lugs 54 can be bent inwards by a neutral axis 56 that extends in parallel to a normal axis 64, wherein a bent leg 58 engages with said guide rails 30 of said securing part 26 from below. 2. The connecting element 22 as claimed in claim 1, wherein said sprung blade 20 and said securing part 26 are secured together by a locking element 38, whrein said locking element 38 engages with a recess 28, wherein said securing part 26 has front walls 40 at its ends that project outward beyond the contours of said guide rails 30, and wherein said bearing part is fitted between said front walls 40. 3. The connecting element 22 as claimed in claim 2, wherein each of said front walls 40 build a gap 42, wherein said gap 42 is bridged by a spring clip 34 respectively. i 4. The connecting element 22 as claimed in one of the claims 1 to 3, wherein said bearing part 24 is formed of sheet metal, wherein said side walls 60 are bent in their longitudinal direction in the middle area, which carry at least one bearing element 62. i |
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| Patent Number | 272471 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Indian Patent Application Number | 3952/CHENP/2008 | ||||||||||||||||||
| PG Journal Number | 15/2016 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Publication Date | 08-Apr-2016 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Grant Date | 04-Apr-2016 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date of Filing | 28-Jul-2008 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Name of Patentee | ROBERT BOSCH GmbH | ||||||||||||||||||
| Applicant Address | POSTFACH 30 02 20 , STUTTGART, | ||||||||||||||||||
Inventors:
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| PCT International Classification Number | B60S 1/38 | ||||||||||||||||||
| PCT International Application Number | PCT/EP2006/068210 | ||||||||||||||||||
| PCT International Filing date | 2006-11-08 | ||||||||||||||||||
PCT Conventions:
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