WINDSCREEN WIPER DEVICE
A windscreen wiper device, particularly for automobiles, 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 is of the flat blade type and includes at least one groove, in which groove a longitudinal strip of the carrier element is disposed, wherein the windscreen wiper device further comprises a mounting head for transferring a reciprocal movement to the wiper blade, with the special feature that the windscreen wiper device further comprises a connecting device for detachably connecting the wiper blade directly to the mounting head, wherein the connecting device is positioned near one end of the wiper blade, and wherein the connecting device, at the location of its attachment to the mounting head, is located in its entirety inside the mounting head.
1 . A windscreen wiper device, particularly for automobiles, 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 is of the flat blade type and includes at least one groove, in which groove a longitudinal strip of the carrier element is disposed, wherein said windscreen wiper device further comprises a mounting head for transferring a reciprocal movement to said wiper blade, said windscreen wiper device further comprises a connecting device for detachably connecting said wiper blade directly to said mounting head, wherein said connecting device is positioned near one end of said wiper blade, and wherein said connecting device, at the location of its attachment to said mounting head, is located in its entirety inside said mounting head.
2 . A windscreen wiper device according to claim 1 , wherein said mounting head, at the location of its attachment to said connecting device, comprises engaging members engaging around longitudinal sides and around a bottom of said connecting device, so that said connecting device is mounted in a channel formed by said engaging members.
3 . A windscreen wiper device according to claim 1 , wherein said mounting head has an at least substantially U-shaped cross-section at the location of its attachment to said connecting device, wherein said engaging members comprise legs of said U-shaped cross-section, and wherein each leg at the free end thereof comprises inwardly bended edges engaging around said bottom of said connecting device.
4 . A windscreen wiper device according to claim 1 , wherein said mounting head has an at least substantially O-shaped cross-section at the location of its attachment to said connecting device, wherein said engaging members comprise sides of said O-shaped cross-section.
5 . A windscreen wiper device according to claim 1 , wherein said strip and said connecting device are slidably connected by means of a snap connection.
6 . A windscreen wiper device according to claim 5 , wherein said snap connecting comprises at least one protrusion extending laterally from a longitudinal edge of said strip, said protrusion being located between stops on the connecting device.
7 . A windscreen wiper device according to claim 5 , wherein said snap connecting comprises at least two stops extending laterally from a longitudinal edge of said strip, said stops being located on opposite sides of a protrusion on the connecting device.
8 . A windscreen wiper device according to claim 6 , wherein said protrusion and/or said stops of said strip extend laterally from the interior or exterior edge of said strip.
9 . A windscreen wiper device according to claim 1 , wherein said windscreen wiper device further comprises a connecting piece positioned near the other end of said wiper blade and connected to one end of said longitudinal strip.
10 . A windscreen wiper device according to claim 1 , wherein said longitudinal strip is biassed in such a way that its curvature near the connecting device is larger than its curvature near the other end of said wiper blade.
11 . A windscreen wiper device according to claim 1 , wherein the interconnection between the mounting head and the wiper blade does not allow any pivotal movement.
12 . A windscreen wiper device according to claim 1 , wherein said mounting head is fixed for rotation to a shaft, and wherein said shaft is rotatable alternately in a clockwise and in a counter-clockwise sense carrying said mounting head into rotation.
13 . A windscreen wiper device according to claim 1 , wherein said mounting head is fixed for translation to a carriage, and wherein said carriage can be translated alternately in a one linear direction and in another counter linear direction carrying said mounting head into translation.
14 . A windscreen wiper device according to claim 1 , wherein said connecting device comprises at least one resilient tongue engaging in a correspondingly shaped hole provided in said mounting head, and wherein said resilient tongue is movable between a outward position retaining said wiper blade onto said mounting head and an inward position releasing said wiper blade from said mounting head.
15 . A windscreen wiper device according to claim 14 , wherein said hole is provided in a base of the U-shaped or O-shaped cross-section of said mounting head.