Every day I hop into my vehicle, switch on the engine, and set off. If it is a warm day, I decide to turn on the air conditioning or put down my convertible roof. On chilly days I adjust the heat system, to make sure I am comfortable whilst driving. When it is raining, snowing or foggy I apply my Wiper blades to clear the windshield.
I never generally think of how these things evolved for my comfort, I just assume that vehicles have these facilities to enhance my driving experience. However, as winter nears, it led me to consider the Windscreen wipers and what a superb invention they are.
I have looked for information on this subject and found that in 1903, when the first windscreens were added to cars, an inventor by the name of J H Apjohn came up with the notion of Windscreen wipers in the form of brushes which swept up and down the windshield to clear it. I would think that the brushes probably caused quite a few scuffs to the windshield, so in 1905, when the American inventor, Mary Anderson, patented the swinging arm style of windshield wiper, with a rubber blade, this must have been eagerly accepted by the motor industry.
These early Windscreen wipers called for the operator to move a lever in the car to operate the wipers, so the next major step was towards electric Windscreen wipers. A dentist from Hawaii, Dr Ormand Wall, invented the electric wipers in 1917, some 12 years after Mary Anderson’s first Wiper Blades were added to vehicles.
All Windscreen wipers had rubber blades until quite recently. The problems encountered with these were that due to changes in temperature, summer heat, frost in winter, the rubber perished and the Wiper blades needed replacing in a reasonably short time period.
Silicone wiper blades are now also obtainable and these are less susceptible to temperature variations than their rubber forerunners. Although the Silicone wiper blades are somewhat more pricey than the rubber Windscreen wipers, they frequently come with a guarantee to not rot or split, as occurs with the rubber wipers, and also claim to be able to follow the contours of the windshield better, giving a cleaner sweep.
We request a lot from these superb little inventions. I expect to push or pull or twist at a stick on my steering wheel and receive an instant effect from the Wiper blades. They are expected to clear dirt and bugs from my windshield in the summer. When the roads are dirty, I require the mud to be cleared from my windshield immediately, to give me good visibility. If it is icy first thing in the day, I turn on the heater and impatiently switch the Windscreen wipers on to clear the screen fast. In winter the heavy snow is given no mercy.
Because of the above I thank the ingenious Mary Anderson, the inventor of Windscreen wipers.I also marvel at the type of mind that could come up with such an invention out of just being faced with a problem. It’s a lesson to us all when we’re facing adversity.
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