WINDSHIELD WIPERS

[TheStig]

Fascinating facts about the invention of
Windshield Wipers by Mary Anderson in 1903

The first mechanical windshield wipers had to be operated by hand! Either the driver or a passenger had to work a crank to make the wipers go back and forth.   
Mary Anderson, from New York City, was awarded a patent in 1903 for a window cleaning device. Once the invention was protected by patent, she tried to interest companies into producing the device. No one was interested, so Mary put the patent in a drawer and eventually it expired.
With closed bodywork generally available during the 20’s, cars were equipped with windowed doors to protect passengers from bad weather and dust. From 1916, manual windshield wipers replaced squeegees.

Automatic windshield wipers were invented in 1921. Called "Folberths," after their inventors, Fred and Willaim Folberth, they were powered by an "air engine," a device connected by a tube to the inlet pipe of the car’s motor.

The electric version, attached to the top of the windshield, was created by Bosch in 1926, but was reserved only for luxury models.

Robert Kearns (1928-2005) patented intermittent powered wipers in 1967. He demonstrated the system to Ford Motor Company, which introduced automobiles with intermittent wipers in 1978. Other automakers soon followed.

Robert W. Kearns spent years in litigation against Ford Motor and Chrysler for using his idea, and eventually won multimillion-dollar judgments. Robert Kearns, 77, died February 26, 2005.
 

TheStig

[cosworth151]

Vaccuum wipers were unforgetable. Step on the gas, the wipers almost stop. Let up, they take off like mad.

In college, I bought a 1966 Thunderbird with hydraulic wipers. They ran off the power steering pump. It was an early attempt at intermittent wipers. There was an anti-backflow valve that was plugged up. When I cranked the steering hard, the switch would fly out and the wipers would take off full blast. That gave a start to more than one unsuspecting passenger!