One of the earliest recorded patents for the windscreen wiper is by George J. Capewell of Hartford Connecticut, which was filed on August 6, 1896. 10 things you might not know about windscreen wipers:
Casewell’s invention was for "Windows of slow-moving craft; but it is more particularly adapted and intended for windows of rapidly-moving vehicles, such as high-speed locomotives and cars, with which it is necessary that the observer or driver should have a clear view of the path or track."
His patent illustration shows a circular window, although the patent notes "it is not essential that the Glass be circular in form."
Mills Munitions, Birmingham claimed to have been the first to patent windscreen wipers in England. Another early design for windscreen wipers are credited to a Polish concert pianist called Józef Hofmann.
The first design for windscreen wipers which worked in the way we are familiar with today appeared in 1903, invented by an American woman named Mary Anderson. In her patent she describes a "window cleaning device" for electric cars and other vehicles.
In 1962, engineering professor Robert Kearns demonstrated an intermittent windshield wiper to car designers at Ford Motor Company. Kearns said his invention was inspired by human eyelids blinking. He found it hard to drive in bad weather with one-speed wipers thanks to an Eye injury when a stray Champagne cork struck him in the eye. His invention gave drivers several speed options to match the severity of the weather outdoors.
Wiper blades are made of natural rubber, EPDM rubber (or ethylene propylene rubber) or a combination of both. Natural rubber performs better in cold weather but EPDM rubber resists thermal ageing, UV, ozone and tearing. Some manufacturers coat them with graphite.
In American English, the windscreen wiper is known as a wind shield wiper.
A wiper generally consists of a metal arm; one end pivots, and the other end has a long rubber blade attached to it. The arm is usually powered by an electric motor.
In a 1999 television commercial Synchronicity for the Volkswagen Jetta, windscreen wipers were synchronized with events seen through the car windows, accompanied by the song "Jung at Heart".
If your windscreen wiper makes scraping noises or leaves streaks on the windscreen, or the blades look frayed or cracked, it means the blades need replacing. In any case they should be replaced once or twice a year.
The first in a new series! It has invading aliens, gladiator-style contests, rivalry and romance.
The six richest people in Britain decide to hold a contest to settle the question of which of them is most successful. It will be a gladiator style contest with each entrant fielding a team of ten super-powered combatants. Entrepreneur Llew Powell sets out to put together his team, which includes his former lover, an employee of his company with a fascinating hobby, two refugees from another dimension (a lonely giant and a drunken sailor), two sisters bound together by a promise, a diminutive doctor, a former Tibetan monk initiate and two androids with a history. As the team train together, alliances form, friendships and more develop, while others find the past is not easy to leave behind.
Meanwhile, a ruthless race of aliens has its eyes on the Earth. Already abducting and enslaving humans, they work towards the final invasion which would destroy life on Earth as we know it. Powell’s group, Combat Team Alpha, stumble upon one of the wormholes the aliens use to travel to Earth and witness for themselves the horrors in store if the aliens aren’t stopped. Barely escaping with their lives, they realise there are more important things to worry about than a fighting competition.
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