received by the International Bureau on 22 January 2014 (22.01.2014)

1. A process for testing windscreen wiper blade end caps, in which a rubber element is fitted onto flexors by sliding the flexors from both sides into slots in the rubber element, then sliding the connector up to the middle of the wiper blade on the flexors so that the flexors and the rubber element are held together by the connector, then the connector is affixed to the flexors and, if applicable, spoilers specified for the type of windscreen wiper in question are slid up to the connector in order to reduce air resistance, after which the end caps are, during the installation phase, pushed toward the windscreen wiper blade from both sides via slide- in plate until the fitting tab on the bottom of each end cap slides into the receptacle on the end of the corresponding flexor, thus capping off the wiper blades and fixing them in place, characterised in that end cap conformity is tested during the installation process using a test device that includes, among other things, a securing bridge (1) connected to or forming an integral part of a slide-in plate (6), a force-regulating unit (3), an axis of rotation (5), and a connected, test assembly head (4), such that at the end of the installatio phase, the test assembly heads (4) catch on the end caps and, during what is termed the return phase, with the backward motion of the slide-in plate (6), attempt, at an appropriate pre-set force controlled by the force-regulating unit (3), to remove the installed caps from their position as affixed to the windscreen wiper blades, such that if the assembl y heads (4) spring up, the end caps remain in place undamaged, then they have been adequately fitted and secured, but if they have been improperly secured, then they can be removed by the test assembly head (4) during what is termed the return phase, and, once the end caps have been removed and the windscreen wiper blade inspected, further repair work and testing may take place.

2. The process according to Claim 1, characterised in that the return force of the test assembly head (4) is set experimentally as a function of end cap size and clamping strength.

3. The process according to Claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the return force of the test assembly head (4) is set for the given end cap by a force-regulating unit (3), such that when an end cap as been properly fitted and secured, the test assembly head (4), which moves on the axis of rotation (5), can return to its initial position by jumping over the end cap, leaving it undamaged and in its place, whereas if the end

AMENDED SHEET (ARTICLE 19) cap has not been properly secured, the end cap is pulled off by the test assembly head (4) of the test device and returned to its initial position with the aid of the slide-in plate (6).

4. A test device applied to the process according to Claim 1 , having a slide- in plate (6) with a guiding tongue (61) used to slide end caps into place, characterised in that it has a test unit that includes a securing bridge (1), force-regulating unit (3), an axis of rotation (5), and a connecting, moving test assembly head (4), such that either the securing bridge ( 1 ) is affixed with a securing element (7) to the slide-in plate (6) in a manner that permits an immovable joint, or the securing bridge (1) and slide- in plate (6) are fashioned as a single structural unit, and in that it also may include an accident- preventing cover (2), mounted onto the securing bridge (1) with at least one cover- securing element (8).

5. The test device according to Claim 4, characterised in that the force-regulating unit (3) has a threaded force adjustment bolt (31), a tension-producing element (32), and a set nut (33) and locking nut (34) that fit over the threaded force adjustment bolt.

6. The test device according to Claim 4 or 5, characterised in that the tension- producing element (32) is a spring.

AMENDED SHEET (ARTICLE 19)

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