RE: PH Origins: Intermittent wipers
Discussion
This is one of the sadder stories I've read on PH. Poor chap. I hope that at least one OEM has since recognized his achievement and respect a man that chased his innovation to be given the rights he deserved.
I have to say I've never had a bad intermittent wipe... auto wipers on the other hand have all been terrible - I recently attended a meeting on the requirement for the sensor on an auto wiper and despite it's ridiculous requirements OEMs are never sure if it'll satisfy the customer
I have to say I've never had a bad intermittent wipe... auto wipers on the other hand have all been terrible - I recently attended a meeting on the requirement for the sensor on an auto wiper and despite it's ridiculous requirements OEMs are never sure if it'll satisfy the customer
Evilex said:
Unfortunately, the best intermittent wipers I've encountered were two systems on... Fords.
One was a variable intermittent system with six different durations accessible via a control on the wiper stalk (Escort Mk 5)
The other was on the Puma (and presumably it's Fiesta relatives).
Turn the wipers on to intermittent. Turn them off. Turn them on again... That's the interval between wipes. Worked a treat.
That's possibly the nicest thing anyone has ever said about the MK5 Escort (Cosworth excluded).One was a variable intermittent system with six different durations accessible via a control on the wiper stalk (Escort Mk 5)
The other was on the Puma (and presumably it's Fiesta relatives).
Turn the wipers on to intermittent. Turn them off. Turn them on again... That's the interval between wipes. Worked a treat.
Back in the late 80's I fitted an intermittent wiper kit to my Dolomite, including a rheostat on the centre console to adjust the delay. I was high-tech heaven back then, although I feel a bit bad for Kearns now!
grumpynuts said:
Another annoying feature is 3 wipes when you activate the screen washers. I want to decide how many sweeps the wipers do when I clean the screen, not the car, and often the 3rd wipe creates a smear when 2 wipes would've been perfect. They call it progress.
It's particularly annoying when your washer fluid has just run out or is frozen on a cold day and the wipers then just smear crap across your windscreen! RichardR said:
Back in the late 80's I fitted an intermittent wiper kit to my Dolomite, including a rheostat on the centre console to adjust the delay. I was high-tech heaven back then, although I feel a bit bad for Kearns now!
My X-Type has this 'afterthought' wipe and it is portrayed in the manual as a benefit to catch the dribble that "inevitably" runs down after the quick series of wipes following a wash. As others have said, it is a pain not a benefit. Quite frankly a flick wipe does it all really - you choose when it wipes and if it wipes.grumpynuts said:
Another annoying feature is 3 wipes when you activate the screen washers. I want to decide how many sweeps the wipers do when I clean the screen, not the car, and often the 3rd wipe creates a smear when 2 wipes would've been perfect. They call it progress.
It's particularly annoying when your washer fluid has just run out or is frozen on a cold day and the wipers then just smear crap across your windscreen! Lewis Kingston said:
No, you're not mistaken – there are references to a 'Special' version of the 125 that seemingly arrived in November 1968 at the Turin motor show (I can't find earlier mentions of it, at least). This featured an intermittent system, which was then later rolled out into other cars.
The Ford system predates it slightly, however, as those were in catalogues by at least October 1968, for the 1969 model year cars – and listing/production may have started even earlier than that; in any case, although Kearns' system had been in development for a long time, the Fiat's set-up was certainly among the first of its kind in production.
The kicker, alas, is that Fiat was one of the companies sued by Kearns (it was one of the later cases that was ultimately dismissed). I can only assume, as there's no documentation otherwise, that the circuit the company was using was the same.
The reason Mercedes is cited, volume of production and prominence aside, is that Kearns viewed it as a 'great' company and reputedly the discovery it was using his design was what triggered his breakdown.
Perhaps he didn't find out Fiat was using his circuit until later down the line. There's very little around on the Fiat case, though, so it's hard to say.
Thanks, now my age is moving on it's good to know I haven't lost the plot completely! The Ford system predates it slightly, however, as those were in catalogues by at least October 1968, for the 1969 model year cars – and listing/production may have started even earlier than that; in any case, although Kearns' system had been in development for a long time, the Fiat's set-up was certainly among the first of its kind in production.
The kicker, alas, is that Fiat was one of the companies sued by Kearns (it was one of the later cases that was ultimately dismissed). I can only assume, as there's no documentation otherwise, that the circuit the company was using was the same.
The reason Mercedes is cited, volume of production and prominence aside, is that Kearns viewed it as a 'great' company and reputedly the discovery it was using his design was what triggered his breakdown.
Perhaps he didn't find out Fiat was using his circuit until later down the line. There's very little around on the Fiat case, though, so it's hard to say.
Edited by Lewis Kingston on Tuesday 17th July 10:09
I think the 125 went on sale in late 1967 (I remember seeing a few on an F plate). They had a 90 bhp engine, 4 speed box and vinyl seats.
The 125 Special had 100 bhp, a 5 speed box and cloth inserts on the seats (I wish my Dad had bought one of those)!
So I suppose somewhere along the way the intermittent wipers got fitted to the standard 125 before my Dad's J plate one.
I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure my mate's dad K plate Cortina 2000GXL had intermittent wipers too.
But I can see why Kearns would target Mercedes as a premium brand, and Ford as a volume brand ahead of Fiat.
motco said:
My first two cars didn't even have self-parking wipers!
by no "self parking" do you mean that, when turning off the wipers, they would simply come to an instant halt -- wherever on the windscreen they happened to be at that very moment ?therefore, presumably, you were required to flip the on/off switch a couple of times, in rapid succession, so as to bring the wipers down to their resting or "parked" position ?
motco said:
RichardR said:
Back in the late 80's I fitted an intermittent wiper kit to my Dolomite, including a rheostat on the centre console to adjust the delay. I was high-tech heaven back then, although I feel a bit bad for Kearns now!
My X-Type has this 'afterthought' wipe and it is portrayed in the manual as a benefit to catch the dribble that "inevitably" runs down after the quick series of wipes following a wash. As others have said, it is a pain not a benefit. Quite frankly a flick wipe does it all really - you choose when it wipes and if it wipes.grumpynuts said:
Another annoying feature is 3 wipes when you activate the screen washers. I want to decide how many sweeps the wipers do when I clean the screen, not the car, and often the 3rd wipe creates a smear when 2 wipes would've been perfect. They call it progress.
It's particularly annoying when your washer fluid has just run out or is frozen on a cold day and the wipers then just smear crap across your windscreen! I liked the system on my old MG TF. Pressing the button to wash your windscreen simply engaged the washers, with the wipers remaining steadfastly parked at the bottom of the screen. It was up to the driver to engage the wipers, and disengaging when he or she felt the screen was sufficiently clean.
Very useful for those moments when I'd parked near a tree or similar and just needed a bit of water and a single sweep to shift the pollen dust, rather than a dozen sweeps and an extra one for good luck.
Conscript said:
grumpynuts said:
Auto wipers are a PIA, and never work that well. I prefer an old school adjustable intermittent wipe when it is only spitting and 2 speed constant wipers when raining harder. It's all you need. Every car I've tried with auto wipers has them all over the place and going full speed when I don't want them to. Another annoying feature is 3 wipes when you activate the screen washers. I want to decide how many sweeps the wipers do when I clean the screen, not the car, and often the 3rd wipe creates a smear when 2 wipes would've been perfect. They call it progress.
Whereas I think they are great. My own car has manual intermittent wipers which I find myself having to fiddle with every so often when it's raining. Girlfriend's car has auto wipers and they work brilliantly. If it starts raining, you just switch the wipers on and forget about them. Interesting article by the way. Intermittent wipers are so ubiquitous that it's one of those things I've never really thought about the history of, they're just something I take for granted. More articles like this please
Is that just Japanese logic, or don't all cars do that?
unsprung said:
motco said:
My first two cars didn't even have self-parking wipers!
by no "self parking" do you mean that, when turning off the wipers, they would simply come to an instant halt -- wherever on the windscreen they happened to be at that very moment ?therefore, presumably, you were required to flip the on/off switch a couple of times, in rapid succession, so as to bring the wipers down to their resting or "parked" position ?
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