Wiperassemblywitharmheadlockingmember.docx

1、WiperassemblywitharmheadlockingmemberWiper assembly with arm head locking memberBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThis application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2003-88421, filed on Dec. 6, 2003, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herei

2、n in its entirety by reference.1. Field of the InventionThe present invention relates to a wafer assembly, and more particularly, to a wiper assembly designed to simply combine or separate a shaft with or from an arm head.2. Description of the Related ArtA wafer assembly is a part of a system for cl

3、eaning the surface of a window of a vehicle. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a conventional wiper assembly 100 includes a shaft 110, an arm head 120, and an arm 130 in order to clean a window 200 of a vehicle. The shaft 110 is connected to a driving motor 102 via a linkage 104 and rotated by the driving

4、 motor 102. The arm head 120 has a shaft hole 122, into which the shaft 110 is inserted, and rotates with a rotation of the shaft 110. One end of the arm 130 is combined with the arm head 120 by a rotating shaft 132 and pivotable about the rotating shaft 132, and the other end is combined with a wip

5、er blade 134 which wipes the window 200.A coupling spring 136 is installed between the arm head 120 and the arm 130. The coupling spring 136 contributes to closely adhering the wiper blade 134 to the window 200. More specifically, the coupling spring 136 is installed such that when a user pivots the

6、 arm 130 about the rotating shaft 132 so as to be distant from the window 200 and folds the arm 130 to make an angle equal to or greater than a predetermined angle, the folded state can be maintained. When the arm 130 making an approximately straight line with the arm head 120 is folded so as to be

7、distant from the window 200, and the folded state is maintained as described above, a user can conduct operations, such as wiping of the window 200 or replacement of the wiper blade 134 with a new one.The arm head 120, to which the arm 130 is coupled, is combined with the shaft 110, which is connect

8、ed to the driving motor 102 via the linkage 104 and rotates with a rotation of the driving motor 102. The combination of the arm head 120 with the shaft 110 must be strong because a high rotating force of the driving motor 102 must be delivered to the arm head 120. At the same time, a method of comb

9、ining or separating the arm head 120 with or from the shaft 110 must be simple.The conventional wiper assembly 100 uses a locking member 140 to combine or separate the arm head 120 with or from the shaft 110. The locking member 140 rotatably fits onto a first protrusion 124 formed in the arm head 12

10、0 and is elastically biased toward the shaft 110 by a coil spring 160 installed between the locking member 140 and the arm head 120. One end of the coil spring 160 is fixed into a spring notch 142 of the locking member 140, and the other end is fixed to the arm head 120. A cover 150 is installed on

11、a side of the locking member 140 opposite to the arm head 120 and fixed to a pair of second protrusions 126, protruding from the arm head 120, and the first protrusion 124 using screws 152. A stopper 144 is formed on one end of the locking member 140.In the conventional wiper assembly 100 having suc

12、h a structure, the shaft 110 is inserted into the shaft hole 122 of the arm head 120 using the following method. First, a shaft head 112 approaches the shaft hole 122. Next, the locking member 140 that blocks the shaft hole 122 is rotated about the first protrusion 124 while resisting the elasticity

13、 of the coil spring 160 so that the locking member 140 is removed from the entrance of the shaft hole 122. While the state of the locking member 140 unblocking the shaft hole 122 is being kept, the shaft head 112 is inserted into the shaft hole 122. Finally, when the power applied to the locking mem

14、ber 140 is removed, the locking member 140 rotates back toward the shaft 110 because of a restoring force of the coil spring 160, and one end of the locking member 140 is placed under the shaft head 112 such that the shaft 110 is not separated from the shaft hole 122. On the other hand, the shaft 11

15、0 can be separated from the arm head 120 by performing the above-described assembling steps in an opposite order. More specifically, the locking member 140 is rotated to be distant from the shaft 110 by resisting the elasticity of the coil spring 160. At this time, the shaft 110 is separated from th

16、e shaft hole 122.Since the shaft 110 in the conventional wiper assembly 100 is inserted into the shaft hole 122 of the arm head 120 while an operator is maintaining the state of the locking member 140 being rotated, the operator must use both hands. Also, since a strongly elastic coil spring should

17、be used to keep a strong combination between the shaft 110 and the arm head 120, rotating the locking member 140 itself will be hard. Furthermore, average consumers other than skilled workers may not combine or separate the shaft 110 with or from the arm head 120.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present

18、invention provides a wiper assembly designed to simply combine or separate a shaft with or from an arm head.According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wiper assembly including a shaft, an arm head, an arm, a locking member, and a locking member moving unit. The shaft is con

19、nected to a driving motor via a linkage and rotated by the driving motor. The arm head includes a shaft hole into which the shaft is inserted. The arm has one end combined with the arm head by a rotating shaft and rotatable about the rotating shaft and the other end combined with a wiper blade which

20、 wipes a window of a vehicle. The locking member is supported by the arm head and movable between a locking location where the locking member is locked in the shaft so that the shaft cannot be separated from the shaft hole of the arm head and an unlocking location where the locking member is unlocke

21、d from the shaft so that the shaft can be separated from the shaft hole of the arm head. The locking member moving unit moves in gear with a rotation of the arm so as to move the locking member between the locking location and the unlocking location.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSThe above and oth

22、er features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings in which:FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating the state of a conventional wiper assembly being used;FIG. 2 is an exploded per

23、spective view illustrating a combination of an arm head with a shaft of FIG. 1;FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a wiper assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention when viewed from the bottom of the wiper assembly;FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the wiper assembly

24、 of FIG. 3 viewed from the top;FIG. 5 is a bottom view of a part of the wiper assembly of FIG. 3;FIGS. 6A through 6E are cross-sectional views illustrating a method of assembling an arm head with a shaft in the wiper assembly of FIG. 3;FIGS. 7A through 7D are cross-sectional views illustrating a met

25、hod of separating a shaft from an arm head in the wiper assembly of FIG. 3;FIG. 8 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a wiper assembly according to another embodiment of the present invention; andFIGS. 9A through 9E are cross-sectional views illustrating a method of combining or separating a shaf

26、t with or from an arm head in a wiper assembly according to still another embodiment of the present invention.DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTIONFIGS. 3 and 4 are exploded perspective views of a wiper assembly 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention when viewed from the bottom and to

27、p, respectively. Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the wiper assembly 1 includes a shaft 10, an arm head 20, a locking member 40, a locking member moving unit, and a cover 60.The shaft 10 is connected to a driving motor (not shown) using a linkage (not shown) so as to be rotated and includes a notch 12, a

28、n aslant guide 14, and a pair of key grooves 16. The driving motor and the linkage are the same as those of the conventional wiper assembly of FIG. 1.The notch 12 is formed in a shaft head 11, which is formed on the upper surface of the shaft 10 and has a diameter greater than that of the shaft 10.

29、The aslant guide 14 is formed above the notch 12. In other words, the line of the aslant guide 14 and the notch 12 is parallel to the axial line of the shaft 10. As shown in FIG. 4, the aslant guide 14 is inclined toward the center of the shaft 10. The key grooves 16 are formed on the shaft head 11

30、along the length direction of the shaft 10. The outer lateral surface of the shaft head 11 of the shaft 10 is knurled.Although the shaft head 11 is formed on the shaft 10 in the embodiment of FIGS. 3 and 4, the notch 12, the shaft head 11, which is wider than the shaft 10, may not be formed on the s

31、haft 10, and thus the aslant guide 14, and the key groove 16 may be formed directly on the upper part of the shaft 10.The arm head 20 includes a shaft hole 22, a pair of keys 24, and guide pins 26. The shaft hole 22 is installed so that the shaft head 11 of the shaft 10 is inserted thereinto. The ke

32、ys 24 are formed on the inner surface of the shaft hole 22 and each have a shape such that the keys 24 can fit in the key grooves 16 of the shaft 10. The inner surface of the shaft hole 22 of the arm head 20 is knurled such as to match with the knurled surface of the shaft head 11 as illustrated in

33、FIG. 5. Hence, the shaft 10 and the arm head 20 can be strongly combined, and a rotating torque of the shaft 10 is delivered to the arm head 20 without loss.Referring to FIG. 3, the guide pins 26 protrude downward from the arm head 20. The number of guide pins 26 is four.One end of the arm 30 is combined with the