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Tesla has applied for a patent for a new electromagnetic windshield-wiper system

caranddriver.com

11–20 of 142 posts

Re: Tesla has applied for a patent for a new electromagnetic windshield-wiper system

#11
post #6

This may be a stupid question but, is there a reason cars don't just have a single blade that goes straight across, rather than wiping in this arc motion? It seems like it'd do a much better job of wiping and avoiding streaks if it just went straight across.

[deleted]

Re: Tesla has applied for a patent for a new electromagnetic windshield-wiper system

#12
post #7

> Tesla was also thinking about its Autopilot system when conceptualizing the patent for the wiper system. The argument is that traditional wiper systems aren't as robust as this new electromagnetic system; time and weather can lead to corrosion, making the traditional setup less effective over time. The resulting lack of visibility could hamper Autopilot and other autonomous-driving aids that use cameras to track la…

In a Tesla, isn't there a camera in the middle between the driver and passenger inside the passenger compartment at the very top of the windshield?

This! A friend actually used to work on those systems. Hilarious amounts of complexity figuring out auto wipers

Re: Tesla has applied for a patent for a new electromagnetic windshield-wiper system

#13
post #6

This may be a stupid question but, is there a reason cars don't just have a single blade that goes straight across, rather than wiping in this arc motion? It seems like it'd do a much better job of wiping and avoiding streaks if it just went straight across.

I would guess you will need a long groove and a wheel that slides on it, and it will be prone to breaking if you consider how fast the thing should slide when its heavy rain.

Re: Tesla has applied for a patent for a new electromagnetic windshield-wiper system

#16
post #6

This may be a stupid question but, is there a reason cars don't just have a single blade that goes straight across, rather than wiping in this arc motion? It seems like it'd do a much better job of wiping and avoiding streaks if it just went straight across.

You would need two separate actuators on top and bottom, making it more expensive and prone to jamming.

Re: Tesla has applied for a patent for a new electromagnetic windshield-wiper system

#17

> Tesla was also thinking about its Autopilot system when conceptualizing the patent for the wiper system. The argument is that traditional wiper systems aren't as robust as this new electromagnetic system; time and weather can lead to corrosion, making the traditional setup less effective over time. The resulting lack of visibility could hamper Autopilot and other autonomous-driving aids that use cameras to track la…

They are top center of the windshield.

Re: Tesla has applied for a patent for a new electromagnetic windshield-wiper system

#18
post #6

This may be a stupid question but, is there a reason cars don't just have a single blade that goes straight across, rather than wiping in this arc motion? It seems like it'd do a much better job of wiping and avoiding streaks if it just went straight across.

Mechanical simplicity and standardisation.

The windscreen wiper is very likely to be outsourced to a 3rd party company, and they can reduce costs by having a repeatable design. In terms of a blade going on a straight line, it’s much easier to rotate a wiper blade from a motor than translate that into a linear movement.

It’s worth nothing that other systems exist (https://www.a1-windscreens.co.uk/news/windscreen-wiper-movem...), but much less common.

Re: Tesla has applied for a patent for a new electromagnetic windshield-wiper system

#19
post #6

This may be a stupid question but, is there a reason cars don't just have a single blade that goes straight across, rather than wiping in this arc motion? It seems like it'd do a much better job of wiping and avoiding streaks if it just went straight across.

Presumably, it's down to simplicity of implementation: A single servo motor that directly rotates an attached blade vs. a necessarily, due to the curvature of the windshield, curved linear rail (which ought to be more difficult to seal against debris).

Re: Tesla has applied for a patent for a new electromagnetic windshield-wiper system

#20
post #16
post #6

This may be a stupid question but, is there a reason cars don't just have a single blade that goes straight across, rather than wiping in this arc motion? It seems like it'd do a much better job of wiping and avoiding streaks if it just went straight across.

You would need two separate actuators on top and bottom, making it more expensive and prone to jamming.

And I imagine very prone to jamming in snow and ice when regular windshield wipers can be enough of a problem.
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