The present invention relates to a windscreen wiper device of the flat blade type comprising an elastic, elongated carrier element, as well as an elongated wiper blade of a flexible material, which can be placed in abutment with a windscreen to be wiped, which wiper blade includes at least one longitudinal slit, in which slit at least one longitudinal strip of the carrier element is disposed, which windscreen wiper device comprises a connecting device for a rod-like extension of an oscillating arm, wherein the rod-like extension can be pivotally connected to said connecting device about a pivot axis near one end thereof, wherein said connecting device comprises a first part and a second part, wherein said rod-like extension of said oscillating arm can be pivotally connected to said first part about said pivot axis, with the interposition of said second part, wherein said first part is connected to said wiper blade and said second part is pivotally connected to said first part, wherein said second part comprises a channel arranged to receive said free end of said rod-like extension. Said longitudinal strip is also called a “flexor”, while said connecting device is also indicated as a “connector”. The slit may be open or closed. Preferably, said second part is also detachably connected to said first part.

Preferably, said wiper blade comprises a spoiler at a side thereof facing away from the windscreen to be wiped. The spoiler is also called an "air deflector” and is preferably made in one piece with said wiper blade through extrusion. Said longitudinal slit is preferably a central longitudinal slit accommodating said longitudinal strip. Said connecting device is preferably fixedly connected to the longitudinal strip(s) particularly through a welding, brazing (“soldering”), gluing or clamping operation or with the help of a pin inserted through said connecting device and said longitudinal strip(s). In the alternative or in addition thereto, said connecting device is clamped onto the flexible material of the wiper blade, particularly in case the latter is equipped with a central longitudinal slit for the carrier element. In the alternative or in addition thereto, said connecting device comprises a groove for accommodating said wiper blade and/or said longitudinal strip(s), wherein said groove comprises retention means for retaining said connecting device in place.

In use, said oscillating arm is connected to a mounting head mounted on a drive shaft, wherein said oscillating arm at one end thereof is pivotally connected to the mounting head by means of a pivot pin and at another end thereof is connected to said wiper blade placed in abutment with said windscreen to be wiped. In use, the shaft rotates alternately in a clockwise and in a counter clockwise sense carrying the mounting head into rotation also, which in turn draws the oscillating arm into rotation and by means of said connecting device moves the wiper blade. Said oscillating arm can thus oscillate to-and-from between first and second reversal positions. It is noted that the present invention is not restricted to automobiles, but also refers to rail coaches and other (fast) vehicles.

A windscreen wiper device is generally known. This prior art windscreen wiper device is designed as a so-called "flat blade" or "yokeless blade", wherein no use is made of several yokes pivotally connected to each other, but wherein the wiper blade is biased by the carrier element, as a result of which it exhibits a specific curvature. A disadvantage of the known windscreen wiper device is that it is often used in combination with a nozzle fixedly mounted on (or below) a bonnet of a car for spraying a washing liquid onto the car’ s windscreen to be wiped. In practice it has become apparent that the windscreen cannot effectively be cleaned by a combination of the oscillating arm and the nozzle, as the nozzle emits the washing fluid thereon at a large distance relative to the windscreen, so that a relatively large amount of the washing fluid does not effectively reach a wiping pattern on the windscreen to be wiped. Further, it has become apparent that in the prior art a large amount of liquid (consumption) is required in an attempt to clean the windscreen to be wiped. Further, if the washing fluid is spread onto the car’ s body instead of onto the windscreen to be wiped, it may damage the car. Indeed, ethanol, methanol and other components of the washing fluid are believed to have a corrosive effect on paint, rubber, car wax and plastics, for example. In order to overcome this disadvantage, it has been proposed to mount the nozzle onto the oscillating arm, so that the use (and replacement) of a simple and inexpensive wiper blade is also assured. However, mounting the nozzle onto the oscillating arm has the disadvantage that aerodynamic properties of the interconnection between the wiper blade and the rod-like extension are negatively influenced.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved windscreen wiper device, wherein these disadvantages are obviated, in the sense that at minimum costs - without using complex machinery and additional tools - an aerodynamic, but reliable and controllable interconnection between the wiper blade and the rod-like extension is realized, also in the event that a nozzle is mounted on the oscillating arm. More in particular, an object of the present invention is to propose an improved windscreen wiper device, wherein the oscillating arm and the nozzle are well integrated in the design of the arm, and wherein the aerodynamic performances of the arm are improved.

In order to accomplish that objective, a windscreen wiper device of the type referred to in the introduction is characterized according to the invention in that said windscreen wiper device comprises a housing for said rod-like extension and for a flexible conduit arranged for spraying washing liquid towards a windscreen to be wiped, wherein said housing comprises a first channel to receive said rod-like extension and a second channel to receive said flexible conduit, said first channel of said housing in mounted position being co-axial with said channel of said second part, said first and said second channels of said housing extending parallel to each other and in longitudinal direction of said wiper blade, said rod-like extension in mounted position extending beyond said first channel of said housing. Hence, as the second part is reinforced over its entire length by the rod-like extension, a rigid and low (i.e. aerodynamic) interconnection between the wiper blade and the rod-like extension is made possible. Said channels of said second part and of said housing preferably have a closed circumference. Said flexible conduit is preferably equipped with a nozzle to effectively spray washing liquid onto a windscreen to be wiped. More preferably, several flexible conduits are mounted inside said second channel of said housing, each flexible conduit being equipped with a corresponding nozzle.

Preferably, said channel of said second part and said first channel of said housing each have a length and a width, and wherein a plane extending in a direction of the width of each channel and a plane extending through said longitudinal strip along a width thereof at the location of the connecting device enclose an angle a, wherein preferably 15°<a<60°. In other words, in a transverse or cross-section of the windscreen wiper device, a centre line of the cross-sectional plane of each channel encloses the angle a with a symmetry axis of said longitudinal groove. Because of the angle a less pressure by the oscillating arm on the wiper blade is necessary to maintain high velocity wiping performances.

Preferably, said first part and said second part are provided with mutually cooperating pivot means for pivotally connecting said second part to said first part. Particularly, said second part is connected to said first part by pivotally engaging protuberances of said first part, at the location of said pivot axis, in recesses provided in said second part. Said protuberances are particularly mutually spaced far apart, so as to reduce angular play and to reduce wear.

In the framework of the present invention said oscillating arm is equipped with said rod-like extension preferably having a substantially rectangular cross-section, wherein said extension is to be inserted in the channels of the connecting device and of the housing, and wherein said extension has a twisted orientation relative to the oscillating arm preferably having a U-shaped cross-section. Such a twisted arm extension has proven to considerably improve an air flow, to considerably reduce a height of the windscreen wiper device, whereas its design is attractive from a commercial perspective. Said channels preferably having a rectangular cross-section as well, have a possible twisted orientation corresponding to the twisted orientation of the arm extension in order to accommodate said arm extension during use. In other words, a bottom of each channel does not extend parallel to a windscreen to be wiped (when the oscillating arm in one of said reversal positions is in a central region of the windscreen to be wiped and disregarding any small curvature thereof in that region), but said bottom and said windscreen to be wiped enclose said angle a in that region.

It is noted that the present invention is not restricted to the use of only one longitudinal strip forming the elastic carrier element that is particularly located in a central longitudinal slit or groove of the wiper blade. Instead, said carrier element may also comprise two longitudinal strips, wherein said strips are disposed in opposite longitudinal slits/grooves of the wiper blade. Said slit(s)/groove(s) may be closed at one outer end.

In a preferred embodiment of a windscreen wiper device in accordance with the invention said second channel of said housing extends beyond said first channel of said housing. Particularly, said channel of said second part is arranged to receive said free end of said rod-like extension upon sliding said housing onto said second part.

In another preferred embodiment of a windscreen wiper device according to the invention said first and said second channels of said housing in mounted position are located on opposite sides of a spoiler of said wiper blade. Particularly,

In another preferred embodiment of a windscreen wiper device in accordance with the invention said windscreen wiper device comprises at least one protrusion provided on the first part engaging the rod-like extension in order to retain said windscreen wiper device onto the rod-like extension. Preferably, said protrusion engages into a correspondingly shaped hole with an open circumference provided on a longitudinal side of the rod-like extension. Any movement of the wiper blade relative to the rod-like extension, either towards the rod-like extension or away from sad rod-like extension, is blocked by said protrusion abutting against opposite stop surfaces of said hole provided in said rod-like extension.

In another preferred embodiment of a windscreen wiper device according to the invention, by pivoting said first part relative to said rod-like extension, said protrusion is disengaged from said hole, so that the wiper blade can be released from said rod-like extension. In other words, in such a pivoted position the protrusion is no longer accommodated between said stop surfaces and cannot cooperate therewith any longer.

In another preferred embodiment of a windscreen wiper device in accordance with the invention said housing and said second part are arranged to be interconnected by sliding said rod-like extension inside said channel of said second part. Particularly, said second part and said housing abut each other after said rod-like extension inside said channel of said second part.

In another preferred embodiment of a windscreen wiper device according to the invention said first and second channels of said housing have a closed circumference.

In another preferred embodiment of a windscreen wiper device in accordance with the invention said second channel of said housing has a side wall having at least one hole having an open circumference arranged to receive a protrusion of a frame supporting said flexible conduit.

In another preferred embodiment of a windscreen wiper device according to the invention an opposite side wall of said second channel of said housing comprises at least one resilient tongue arranged to snap behind a wall of said frame.

The present invention also relates to a housing for a windscreen wiper device in accordance with the invention, said housing comprising a first channel to receive a rod-like extension of an oscillating arm and comprising a second channel to receive a flexible conduit arranged for spraying washing liquid towards a windscreen to be wiped, said first and said second channels of said housing extending parallel to each other and in longitudinal direction of a wiper blade.

The invention will now be explained in more detail with reference to figures illustrated in a drawing, wherein: figure 1 shows in perspective a windscreen wiper device according to a preferred variant of the invention, together with an oscillating arm connected to a mounting head (figure la) and without said oscillating arm and said mounting head (figure lb); figure 2 shows in perspective successive steps (figures 2a through 2d) of mounting a housing for the rod-like extension of figure 1 and for a flexible conduit onto said rod-like extension; figure 3 are perspective views from below of the housing of figure 2 showing successive steps (figures 3a through 3d) of mounting the flexible conduit in a channel of the housing; figure 4 shows in perspective the windscreen wiper device of figure 1 from a side and from below (figure 4a) and from below (figure 4b). Figures 1 and 4 refer to a windscreen wiper device 1 of the flat blade type in accordance with the invention, built up of a wiper blade 2, in the longitudinal sides of which opposing longitudinal slits 3 are formed, and of longitudinal strips 4 (“flexors”) made of spring band steel, which are fitted in said longitudinal slits 3. Said strips 4 form a flexible carrier element for the rubber wiper blade 2, as it were, which is thus biased in a curved position (the curvature in operative position being that of a windscreen to be wiped). As shown in figures 1 through 8, the windscreen wiper device 1 is furthermore built up of a connecting device 5 of plastic material for a rod-like extension 6 of a windscreen wiper arm 7. Said connecting device 5 comprises a first part 8 and a second part 9 acting as a joint part, wherein said rod-like extension 6 can be pivotally connected to said first part 8 about said pivot axis, with the interposition of said second part 9. With reference to figure 4 , said first part 8 comprises inwardly extending legs 10 integral therewith engaging around longitudinal sides of the wiper blade 2, at the location of said grooves 3, as a result of which the first part 8 is firmly attached to the unit consisting of the wiper blade 2 and the strips 4. Said first part 8 comprises two cylindrical protuberances (not shown) extending outwardly. These protuberances pivotally engage, at the location of said pivot axis, in identically shaped recesses (not shown) provided in opposite walls of the second part 9. Hence, said second part 9 is connected to said first part 8 through a snapping/clipping operation. As shown in figures 1 , 2 and 4, said oscillating arm 7 is connected to a mounting head 11 mounted on a drive shaft 12. In use, the shaft 12 rotates alternately in a clockwise and in a counter-clockwise sense carrying the mounting head 11 into rotation also, which in turn draws the oscillating arm 7 into rotation and by means of said connecting device 5 moves the wiper blade 2. Said oscillating arm 7 can thus oscillate to-and-from between first and second reversal positions. As shown, said oscillating arm 7 at one end thereof is pivotally connected to the mounting head 11 by means of a pivot pin 13. Besides said rod-like extension 6 said oscillating arm 7 also includes an arm member 14 having a U-shaped cross- section.

Said second part 9 comprises a channel (not shown) arranged to receive (in a linear movement) said rod-like extension 6 of said oscillating arm 7. With reference to figure 2 said windscreen wiper device 1 comprises (as a single constructional element) a housing 15 for said rod-like extension 6 and for a flexible conduit or pipe 16 arranged for spraying washing liquid towards a windscreen to be wiped. Said housing 15 comprises a first channel 17 to receive said rod-like extension 6 and a second channel 18 to receive said flexible conduit 16 (see figure 3). Said first channel 17 of said housing 15 in mounted position is co-axial with said channel of said second part 9, said first and said second channels 17,18 of said housing 15 extending parallel to each other and in longitudinal direction of said wiper blade 2. In mounted position said rod-like extension 6 extends beyond said first channel 17 of said housing 15, i.e. sticks out, so that said second part 9 and said housing 15 abut each other after said rod-like extension 6 inside said channel of said second part 9 (see figure la). As depicted in figure la, for example, aid first and said second channels 17,18 of said housing 15 in mounted position are located on opposite sides of a spoiler 19 of said wiper blade 2. Said second channel 18 of said housing 15 extends beyond said first channel 17 of said housing 15, i.e. is longer, wherein reference is made to figure 3. Said second channel 18 of said housing 15 has a side wall 20 having two holes 21,22 with an open circumference arranged to receive corresponding protrusions 23,24 of a frame 25 supporting said flexible conduit 16 in order to snap said frame 25 inside said second channel 18 (figure 3). An opposite side wall 26 of said second channel 18 of said housing 15 comprises two resilient tongues 27,28 arranged to snap behind a wall of said frame 25 (see figure 3).

Any movement of said wiper blade 2 relative to said rod-like extension 6 in a longitudinal direction towards said rod-like extension 6 is blocked by protrusions (not shown) of said first part 5 engaging into recesses 29,30 at opposite longitudinal sides of said rod-like extension 6. For dismounting the connecting device 5 from the rod-like extension 6, the second part 9 (and thus the free end of the rod-like extension 6 connected thereto), is pivoted relative to the first part 8. While carrying out the pivot movement, the protrusions of said first part do are released from said recesses 29,30 of said rod-like extension 6, so that the second part 9 and the first part 8 attached thereto can be released from the rod-like extension 6. As far as mounting is concerned, while carrying out the pivot movement, the protrusions of the first part 8 enter the recesses 29,30, so that the second part 9 and the first part 8 attached thereto is retained onto the rod-like extension 26 (working position).

The flexible conduit or pipe 16 is equipped with a nozzle 31 arranged to spray cleaning liquid (one through a hole 32 in an end wall of said second channel 18 of said housing 15) onto a windscreen to be wiped. The nozzle is preferably located in use facing away from a downward reversal position of the oscillating arm 7. In the prior art a windscreen wiper device is often used in combination with a nozzle fixedly mounted on (or below) a bonnet of a car for spraying a washing liquid onto the car’ s windscreen to be wiped. In practice it has become apparent that the windscreen cannot effectively be cleaned by a combination of the oscillating arm and the nozzle, as the nozzle emits the washing fluid thereon at a large distance relative to the windscreen, so that a relatively large amount of the washing fluid does not effectively reach a wiping pattern on the windscreen to be wiped. Further, it has become apparent that in the prior art a large amount of liquid (consumption) is required in an attempt to clean the windscreen to be wiped. Further, if the washing fluid is spread onto the car’ s body instead of onto the windscreen to be wiped, it may dirty the car. Indeed, ethanol, methanol and other components of the washing fluid are able to leave marks/spots on the car body and plastics, for example. By now mounting the nozzle onto the housing 17 a windscreen to be wiped can be effectively cleaned, without making parts of a car dirty, wherein less washing liquid is required to clean the windscreen to be wiped. The invention is not restricted to the preferred embodiments shown in the figures, but extends also to other preferred variants within the scope of the appended claims.