End cap for retaining wiping element of wiper assembly

1. A wiper assembly comprising:

a wiping element elongated in a longitudinal direction, adapted to contact a surface to be wiped, and having opposing longitudinal end portions and opposing lateral sides with a pair of notches extending into each of said lateral sides adjacent to each of said end portions, the notches are formed on laterally outermost edges of the opposing lateral sides, the notches are laterally outermost from a lateral center of the wiping element and face in opposite lateral directions, and the lateral directions are perpendicular to the longitudinal direction;

a support member having longitudinal ends and acting to support said wiping element, and notches extending therein near the longitudinal ends;

an airfoil operatively mounted to said support member; and

end caps operatively mounted to said support member at longitudinal ends of said airfoil, said end caps each having a pair of tabs adapted to be disposed in said pair of notches of said respective end portions of said wiping element to retain said wiping element from longitudinal movement relative to said end caps, and said end caps each having a pair of locking arms to be disposed in the notches of the support member to secure the end caps to the support member.

2. A wiper assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said end caps each include a body adapted to be disposed over said respective end portions of said wiping element and said body including said pair of tabs.

3. A wiper assembly as set forth in claim 2 wherein said body includes a top wall, a pair of side walls, an end wall, and a bottom wall forming a cavity to receive said respective end portion of said wiping element, said bottom wall having a slot extending longitudinally therein to receive said respective end portion of said wiping element.

4. A wiper assembly as set forth in claim 3 wherein said tabs are disposed along said slot.

5. A wiper assembly as set forth in claim 4 wherein said tabs extend inwardly into said slot to form a space between said tabs.

6. A wiper assembly as set forth in claim 5 wherein said wiping a element comprises an upper portion, a lower portion, and a hinge portion partitioning said upper portion and said lower portion.

7. A wiper assembly as set forth in claim 6 wherein said upper portion includes opposed grooves extending laterally therein and longitudinally therealong between ends of the upper portion.

8. A wiper assembly as set forth in claim 7 wherein said upper portion includes said opposing lateral notches extending therein.

9. The wiper assembly of claim 7 , wherein the support member is a pair of splines disposed in the grooves, one of the notches of the support member extending into each side of the splines such that the notches of the support member oppose each other.

10. The wiper assembly of claim 9 , wherein the end caps each have a pair of opposed flanges extending inwardly from the side walls, and a pair of apertures spaced laterally and extending through the bottom wall and a pair of locking arms extending from the flanges into the apertures, and wherein the locking arms are to be disposed in the notches of the splines to secure the end cap to the support member.