Daily I climb into my car, switch on the engine, and drive off. If it is a hot day, I decide to switch on the air conditioning or put down my convertible roof. On cool days I adjust the heat system, to be certain I am comfy whilst driving. When it is raining, snowing or foggy I utilise my Wiper blades to clear the windscreen.<br /><br />I never as a rule think of how these things evolved for my comfort, I just assume that vehicles have these features to enhance my driving experience. However, as winter approaches, it caused me to consider the Windscreen wipers and what a superb invention they are.<br /><br />I have looked for information on this area and found that in 1903, when the first windscreens were added to automobiles, 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 clean it. I imagine that the brushes most likely caused quite a few scratches 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 keenly accepted by the automotive industry.<br /><br />These early Windscreen wipers required the user to move a lever in the car to operate the wipers, so the next big move 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.<br /><br />All Windscreen wipers had rubber blades until relatively recently. The troubles encountered with these were that owing to temperature changes, heat in summer, frost in winter, the rubber perished and the <a href="http://www.xopc.co.uk/wiper_blades.htm" target='_blank'>Wiper blades</a> needed replacing in a reasonably quick time period.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.xopc.co.uk/silicone_wiper_blades.htm" target='_blank'>Silicone wiper blades</a> are now also to be had and these are less at risk from temperature variants than their rubber forerunners. Though the Silicone wiper blades are a little more expensive than the rubber Windscreen wipers, they frequently come with a guarantee to not rot or split, as occurs with the rubber wipers, and also allege to be able to follow the contours of the windshield better, giving a more clean sweep.<br /><br />We ask a lot from these superb little inventions. I expect to push or pull or twist at a stick on my driving wheel and get an instant effect from the Wiper blades. They are needed to remove dust and flies from my windshield in the summer. When the roads are grimy, I need the mud to be cleaned from my windshield promptly, to give me good vision. If it is icy first thing in the morning, I turn on the heater and eagerly switch the Windscreen wipers on to clean the windscreen quickly. In winter the heavy snow is given short shrift.<br /><br />Because of the above I thank the ingenious Mary Anderson, the inventor of <a href="http://www.xopc.co.uk/wiper_blades.htm" target='_blank'>Windscreen wipers</a>.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.
Comments