Vehicle wiper device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11820334-B2
Application number	US-202217974150-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 26, 2022
Priority date	May 1, 2020
Publication date	Nov 21, 2023
Grant date	Nov 21, 2023

Abstract

In a vehicle wiper apparatus, rotation of an output shaft of a wiper motor is converted to reciprocal rotation of a pivot shaft, and a wiper member, attached to the pivot shaft, reciprocally rotates between closed and open positions. A nozzle, provided in the wiper member, sprays a cleaning fluid towards a front side in an advancing direction of the wiper member on at least one of forward and return paths of the reciprocal rotation. A washer pump supplies the cleaning fluid to the nozzle. A round-trip time of the wiper member is detected based on a detection result of a detecting unit that detects at least a state in which the wiper member is positioned in the closed position. The washer pump is controlled based on a detected round-trip time, and is operated during rotation of the wiper member on at least one of the forward and return paths.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle wiper apparatus comprising:
a wiper motor of which operation is controlled by a control apparatus that is mounted to a vehicle and that is operated to rotate an output shaft in one direction;
a conversion mechanism that converts the rotation in one direction of the output shaft to reciprocal rotation of a pivot shaft;
a wiper member that is attached to the pivot shaft and reciprocally rotates between a closed position and an open position;
a nozzle that is provided in the wiper member and is configured to spray a cleaning fluid towards a front side in an advancing direction of the wiper member on at least one of a forward path and a return path of the reciprocal rotation;
a washer pump that is operated to supply the cleaning fluid to the nozzle; and
a detecting unit that is configured to detect at least a state in which the wiper member is positioned in the closed position, wherein:
a round-trip time of the wiper member is detected by the control apparatus based on a detection result of the detecting unit;
an operation time and a pause time of the washer pump are set based on the round-trip time of the wiper member;
the washer pump is controlled by the control apparatus, based on the operation time and the pause time of the washer pump set based on the round-trip time of the wiper member detected by the control apparatus; and
the washer pump is operated during rotation of the wiper member on at least one of the forward path and the return path.

2. The vehicle wiper apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein:
the rotation of the wiper member on at least one of the forward path and the return path is an open operation in which the wiper member rotates from the closed position to the open position.

3. The vehicle wiper apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein:
the detecting unit includes
a cam plate that is provided in the wiper motor and rotates in one direction during operation of the wiper motor, and
a contact portion of which an electrical connection state in relation to the cam plate is switched by rotation of the cam plate.

4. The vehicle wiper apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein:
the nozzle includes
a first nozzle that is configured to spray the cleaning fluid towards the front side in the advancing direction of the wiper member during the open operation and
a second nozzle that is configured to spray the cleaning fluid towards the front side in the advancing direction of the wiper member during a close operation in which the wiper member rotates from the open position to the closed position;

the washer pump supplies the cleaning fluid to the first nozzle by rotating forward and supplies the cleaning fluid to the second nozzle by rotating in reverse;
the control apparatus switches between the forward rotation and the reverse rotation of the washer pump; and
the control apparatus switches between the open operation and the close operation.

5. The vehicle wiper apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein:
the washer pump is paused before the wiper member that performs the open operation reaches the open position.

6. The vehicle wiper apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein:
the washer pump is paused before the wiper member that performs the open operation reaches the open position.

7. The vehicle wiper apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein:
the washer pump is paused or stopped before the wiper member that performs the close operation reaches the closed position.

8. The vehicle wiper apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein:
the detecting unit is configured to detect a state in which the wiper member is positioned in the open position.

9. The vehicle wiper apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein:
the washer pump is paused or stopped before the wiper member that performs the close operation reaches the closed position.

10. The vehicle wiper apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein:
the operation time and the pause time of the washer pump are corrected by the control apparatus, based on variations in the round-trip time.

11. The vehicle wiper apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein:
the operation time and the pause time of the washer pump are corrected by the control apparatus, based on variations in the round-trip time.

12. The vehicle wiper apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein:
the detecting unit is configured to detect a state in which the wiper member is positioned in the open position.

13. The vehicle wiper apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein:
the operation time and the pause time of the washer pump are separately controlled by the control apparatus for the open operation and the close operation.

14. The vehicle wiper apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein:
the detecting unit includes
a cam plate that is provided in the wiper motor and rotates in one direction during operation of the wiper motor, and
a contact portion of which an electrical connection state in relation to the cam plate is switched by rotation of the cam plate.

15. The vehicle wiper apparatus according to claim 14 , wherein:
the wiper motor includes a gear that integrally rotates with the output shaft; and
the cam plate is directly or indirectly attached to the gear and integrally rotates in the one direction.

16. The vehicle wiper apparatus according to claim 14 , wherein:
the contact portion includes
a first terminal that is electrically connected to the cam plate at all times;
a second terminal that is electrically connected to the cam plate in a state in which the wiper member is positioned in the closed position, and
a third terminal that is electrically connected to the cam plate in a state in which the wiper member is positioned in the open position.

17. The vehicle wiper apparatus according to claim 14 , wherein:
the contact portion includes a pair of terminals that are electrically connected to the cam plate in a state in which the wiper member is positioned in the closed position.

18. The vehicle wiper apparatus according to claim 15 , wherein:
the contact portion includes
a first terminal that is electrically connected to the cam plate at all times;
a second terminal that is electrically connected to the cam plate in a state in which the wiper member is positioned in the closed position, and
a third terminal that is electrically connected to the cam plate in a state in which the wiper member is positioned in the open position.

19. The vehicle wiper apparatus according to claim 15 , wherein:
the contact portion includes a pair of terminals that are electrically connected to the cam plate in a state in which the wiper member is positioned in the closed position.

Assignees

• Denso Corp

Inventors

• Matsumoto Yuuji
• Odagiri Mitsuo

Classifications

• B60S1/08 Primary

  electrically driven {(conjoint control of windscreen wiper motor and liquid supply of windscreen washer B60S1/482; conjoint control of windscreen wiper motor and means for cleaning parts o parts other than windscreens or front windows B60S1/56, B60S1/58, B60S1/606)} · CPC title

• B60S1/46

  using liquid; Windscreen washers · CPC title

• B60S1/481

  the operation of at least part of the liquid supply being controlled by electric means (electrical washing liquid warming-up means B60S1/488) · CPC title

• B60S1/483

  using a supply pump driven by the windscreen-wiper motor · CPC title

• B60S1/482 Primary

  combined with the operation of windscreen wipers · CPC title