Windshield Wiper's Odd Geometry

[Craig]

 

[Andy Shoup]

In a rainstorm while driving the van on one of those "Elio Missions" I've come to mentally separate from those trips where I need the cargo space the van affords, I noticed the performance of the wipers covering the Caravan's HUGE windshield. Long wiper blades can cover a lot of acreage, but they require a wide windshield to cover the height needed. Just swinging an arc from one corner of the Elio's rather narrow windscreen means that covering the height needed is a challenge in geometry.

Now, there are several cars on the market, notably Mercedes and Lexus that add a little engineering kink to their solution of the problem. A cam in the base of the wiper arm extends the arm an inch or two to sweep a larger area on each stroke, meaning that the path of the wiper blade isn't an arc swung from the base, but a rather oblong track that reaches farther out into the corners during a segment of the stroke to clear a larger area. Over ten years ago Mercedes made it work on some models so well that for a time they used only a single wiper. Meanwhile Lexus retained the two blades, but the one on the passenger side was a bit shorter (22" vs 26" on the driver's side on my RX). Almost made it with one by using that cam trick on the driver's side, but not quite.

At first it seemed like a bit of "show off" engineering - "Hey look at what we can do!" - but it turned out to be a pretty neat way of reaching the blade up into the corners of the windscreen while providing a relatively flat "top" to the wiper's path. It was dead silent and completely reliable in operation - so much so that it took me a few days to notice it on my first RX. The only giveaway was the larger housing at the base of the driver's side wiper arm - the contents of which included that cam assembly that pushes the arm into the corners. If you concentrate on it in operation it can get kinda hypnotic.

Don't look for this on your Elio - I'm sure it costs a few extra bucks . . . but it looks like a technology that is filtering its way down the price list and may soon become standard on more cars. As our windshields get larger as necessitated by aerodynamics and visibility, this is a solution that's ready now.

Meanwhile, Rain-X. Most of the time you don't even need your wipers.

I thought I read somewhere that they were in fact going to use the cammed wiper arm on the Elio.

 

[RogWild]

Guess, like MANY OTHER things...... we will just have to "Wait and See" what the "E" Series vehicles have.

 

[Rickb]

Guess, like MANY OTHER things...... we will just have to "Wait and See" what the "E" Series vehicles have.

Coming soon.

 

[RogWild]

"SOON" used to be one of my favorite words..... when I was a KID. But since companies like LIT Motors (Gyro Tilting 2-wheel Motorcycle) stated that a video of their prototype vehicle making sharp, banking turns, and driving at 'highway speeds' was "Coming Soon" (in Apr 2013).... then, "after NEXT prototype".... now back to "SOON"..... it has lost its 'luster'! "ON TRACK", from Elio Motors..... is fast becoming my next least favorite phrase!

 

[wizard of ahs]

I too am a Rainex man.....don't need no stinkin' wipers

 

[Rickb]

"SOON" used to be one of my favorite words..... when I was a KID. But since companies like LIT Motors (Gyro Tilting 2-wheel Motorcycle) stated that a video of their prototype vehicle making sharp, banking turns, and driving at 'highway speeds' was "Coming Soon" (in Apr 2013).... then, "after NEXT prototype".... now back to "SOON"..... it has lost its 'luster'! "ON TRACK", from Elio Motors..... is fast becoming my next least favorite phrase!

It's still Lit's favorite term for progress reporting. I have a good feeling about EM being "ON TRACK".......just maybe not the FAST TRACK. Damn, we have been waiting a long time Rog!

 

[Rickb]

Possibly similar to the Elio's windshield wiper design for a narrow windshield.

 

[goofyone]

Possibly similar to the Elio's windshield wiper design for a narrow windshield.

My understanding is that it will be very similar to this but most of the mechanism will be hidden from view and the entire wiper will be hidden out of the airstream when stowed.

Elio Motors has shown a drawing of the P4 with this type of wiper on it however we have not yet seen it on an Elio Vehicle.

*Top image was provided by member RogWild and the lower one can be found on blog.eliomotors.com. I did crop and/or blow up the images to make things easier to see.

We will quickly adapt however it will look odd for a bit as the wipers will move horizontally across the windshield instead of in an arc like in most vehicles. The good news is that we will save some money as we only need one wiper blade.

 

[RogWild]

It's still Lit's favorite term for progress reporting. I have a good feeling about EM being "ON TRACK".......just maybe not the FAST TRACK. Damn, we have been waiting a long time Rog!

Yep, Rick; since 2007 for the Venture Vehicles "Fly the Road", tilting 3-wheel, Carver One 'Clone'...... or back to the '60's when I saw my first Messerschmitt in Germany!