Thanks, clearly a very important issue. I remember seeing a Mercedes single wiper design that moved the centre drive left to right and back, as well as reciprocating, it looked amazing. Good video on a little appreciated factor of motoring life.
Who'da thunk wipers story could be so interesting. 2 wiper motor failure short stories. 1974, a cut potato smeared on the screen of my wife's Triumph 13/60 Herald got me home on a rainy night driving through city lights. Not something I'd want to do again. More memorable was a 140 mile journey though heavy rain in a Citroen Dyane. The motor failed while we were on holiday but the sun was shining most of the time. The day we were setting sail for home, heavy rain was forecast. Disconnecting the motor and running fishing line linked to both wiper blades and though the side windows got us home. The line was attached to a stick and, even though the wife too turns occasionally, my arm knew about it for days. I can still see the grooves the line wore in the plastic chrome strip that decorated the rain channel beside the windscreen. Thanks again. Still no Lego Lambo
My first car was a 1970 Vauxhall Viva. It had a pump in the dash to wash the screen. When it failed (which was often) i used to hang out of the window and squeeze a Fairy Liquid bottle of suds...Not good in dirty winter weather and howling wind. I used to get stopped at least twice a week in that car..It was an utter nail.
Next, make a full documentary about the Triangle of Doom featuring HubNut. He will tell you all about it and more. It’s not going to be a Corner of Disappointment.
At my family's glass shop, we use Rain-X not only on the auto glass we install, but also the bathroom mirrors and shower doors as it repels water and keeps mirrors from foggin up....✌🏻🇺🇸
Magnificent explained. However..one little remark...the early 2cv used not the engine to power the wipers but the speedometer did drive them. Never the less, again a interesting vid 😎
@@LittleCar Early 2CV ...speedometer is lashed to the offside pillar, with the cable also serving to drive the windscreen wipers. Just as info ofcourse. You really do a fantastic job with thé vids. Please do go on !
Yes a very interesting design with the extending monoblade arm, but a very sensitive system. Mercedes-Benz in general has had some interesting solutions, like the system on the 107, 116 and 126 with both arms on top of each other.
I *LOVE* when Im learning a bit of abstract knowledge and suddenly realize a practical application for it! So the rain sensing wipers on my car are “wipe-trash” (I’ll see myself out) and they never notice when it’s raining and it’s time to go to work. However, a few months ago I learned that if I gave the sensor pad on the windshield a good tap, they would work as intended ..for a while. Thanks to this video, I understand why. My “tapping” it, presses the sensor against the glass in a way that changes the angle of reflected light into it. I bet the adhesive used to attach it to the glass has been weakened somehow, allowing the sensor to slowly droop out of calibration until I press it back into place again. Fascinating!
Surprisingly fascinating. A long time ago, I loved how my 1980s Nissan has 3-5 different interval speeds. My wife’s Alfa Romeo had an interval setting for every speed, resulting in almost infinite options. A wider speed for any weather. Now, on my aging Mercedes, I never think about it. It wipes when the windscreen is wet, at the required interval. We have reached perfection.
Some of the high end cars use a device to slightly vibrate the glass to 'bounce' the water off the windshield, thus removing the need for windshield wipers.
In 1967 my school pal David had a Ford Popular with wipers that somehow worked off the carburettor air intake. The wipers would thrash frantically when the engine was idling and slow down as the engine speed increased, the exact opposite of what you wanted! They don’t make them like that any more.....
You do not KNOW how much u appreciate this! I’m a car enthusiast but my absolute FAVORITE part of a car are it’s wipers. I bought both of my Volvo’s because they have headlight wipers lol. THANKS!!
Little Car nah, that would’ve been too much wiper overload, this was PERFECT! I used to tell my Mum that I didn’t want a wife, I wanted to marry a pair of wipers and life life happily ever after...funny things kids say right? Regardless, FINALLY a tru in-depth deep dive about wipers. Thank YOU!!
Interesting video of one of the most important safety equipment on all cars. Great channel! 😀 I have to say mr. HubNut has increased my interest to wipers 😄
best solution i ever had was my citroen c6 - huge wipers leaving only small triangle in the place where it didn't disturb, with very good sense for rain intensity in automated mode where i really didn't have to take care of anything... when changed for volvo s80, still fighting with the sensitivity setting, never got it right after almost two years with that car...
In skoda felicia(and possibly other cars) you can switch wipers to a first position and turn them off. when you cant see again due to rain switch them back to position 1. they will remember how long they have been off and wipe in that interval. its much more intuitive than dial take controls the interval(found in first gen fabia for example). i heard people are searching for GLXi Felicia's that had this feature in scrapyards. specifically the relay
My mother's 1954 Chevrolet had wipers that moved just in their separate spaces and left the center of the windshield unwiped. They operated at only one speed, and slowed down when you were accelerating. My father had a 1956 Jeep that had a divided windshield; the driver's side had a wiper with its own little electric motor while the passenger side had a purely manual wiper that someone had to move by hand. Both of these were attached at the top, not the bottom - very old-fashioned.
Ooh.. ooh an upload. I love this channel and quite why I'm so excited about watching a video about windscreen wipers I'll never know. I begrudge adverts on other channels but you work so hard to create fascinating content that I always leave them on. I absolutely love the channel. You didn't mention string powered wipers that a few of us have had to use on old cars when they failed. (Obviously, used only until you got home, but a passenger was required to help)
That’s an interesting story in how it all began. On the Montego the wipers when not in use “parked” under the bonnet line making it more air dynamic. When in use wiped and around 15’ would sit and wait for the wipe or continuously
My mother's Ford Falcon had vacuum operated wipers. And the wipers would slow down when going up the little hill to school. But being in San , she did not need to use them too much.
It was great that Mr Kearns quite rightly triumphed. In this technological world, I've always wondered why some genius hasn't come up with a better system than a wiper to clear water off a windscreen.
My 1964 Land Rover has an individual Lucas wiper motor for the driver’s side only. Passenger side wiper was an optional extra, on the passenger side, I have a blanking plate where the wiper arm would have been. Lucas wiper motors can also be hand operated, and my screenwash is a water filled bag that hangs inside the cab, operated by a push operated manual pump switch.
Thanks, a very interesting video. I've thought about wipers before, mostly driving through heavy rain, when none of them work very well. With the exception of the change from vacuum to electric motors, parallel wiping, and intermittent wipers, there really has been very little change in how we clear rain from the windshield. I doubt there are many exposed parts on a car to have so few upgrades. I'm hoping some modern Robert Kearns is working on a system that really clears rain from the glass and doesn't uses rubber blades going back and forth.
Thanks Little Car 🚗 for sharing. Great video I enjoyed watching. The 2008 film Flash of Genius is a great film, about a very clever man who never gave up the fight for justice. A great story well worth watching. Thanks 🙏
Pneumatic wipers used to be common on railway locomotives which all have a compressed air system. I'm not sure whether they were used on road trucks as well?
We've come to expect much from the LittleCar, BigCar stable over recent months and this little nugget doesn't disappoint either.... It is a concise , light & informative snack. May I offer one tiny suggestion that definitely isn't meant as criticism? Quite a few episodes seem to end rather abruptly. I only notice this because there I am, motoring along, really engrossed & enjoying an episode and then quite suddenly...... it's gone, cut to Patreon & credits! Perhaps a few words in conclusion, pulling together the various strands of the story would round things off very neatly & professionally? That being said, I truly believe that the BigCar family of channels is fast gaining a reputation for producing high quality bitesized edutainment , with plenty of fun & candour thrown in for good measure.... A tasty little recipe for success I'd say.
Thanks for such kind words. Yes, sometimes it does end a little abruptly. I'm still trying to work out endings! I'll keep working on it. Good feedback.
I'm getting spoiled. Cars that turn their head lights on or off. Wipers that sense the rain and come on as needed. Wi-fi, infrared, bluetooth, one days I'll just be able to send the car out by itself to run my errands, etc.
The original Trico plant designed by Louis Kahn (one of many) in Buffalo, NY has been used as a storage facility for many years since Trico stopped production in the US back in the 1990s. The building has recently been acquired for development as a high-ceiling loft apartment building serving the Roswell Park Cancer Institute and the Buffalo General SUNY medical campus. The Oishei Foundation is one of the largest charitable organizations in Western New York, contributing to many educational and cultural institutions to this day.
One of the earliest recorded patents for the windscreen wiper is by George J. Capewell of Hartford Connecticut, which was filed on August 6, 1896. His invention was for an automated, motorised, wiper for "cars, locomotives, and such land-vehicles". Other early designs for the windscreen wiper are credited to Polish concert pianist Józef Hofmann, and Mills Munitions, Birmingham who also claimed to have been the first to patent windscreen wipers in England. At least three inventors patented windscreen cleaning devices at around the same time in 1903; Mary Anderson, Robert Douglass, and John Apjohn. In April 1911, a patent for windscreen wipers was registered by Sloan & Lloyd Barnes, patent agents of Liverpool, England, for Gladstone Adams of Whitley Bay.
Actually the early Citroen 2CV's had their wipers connected to the speedometer cable, not the engine. That's why wipers stops when the car stops and the hand lever is needed. These can be recognized by the speedometer mounted in the windshield corner.
I am a 35yr auto technician. About 15 yrs ago, a coworker removed the wiper blades from a customer's car. He forgot to install the new ones and released the vehicle. When the customer inquired the technician said (true story) "Sorry, I guess that I forgot to wipe"
I once heard that Chrysler had a notion to do away with wipers, and opt for a coated glass, (think of some kind of super-rainx) with air nozzles that would blow air at high velocity. The coating would bead the water, and the air would blow it away. Eliminating any temporary visual obstruction of the wipers moving across the field of view, and any wear of, and thus need to replace wipers. Yeah that sounded good. When I heard of it I was almost convinced. But then I realized, we live in the real world where birds exist. And bugs. As well as dirt, mud and road gunk. Also the noise of the blowers and the loud leaf-blower sound of the system would be quite more annoying then the occasional "fwip! fwip!" of wipers. The idea never came to fruition. And knowing Chrymofiamler, it would have broken in a month anyway, or been phased out when they sold out to the next company down the line.
Vacuum-driven wipers. I had an old Ford (it was ancient even then) fitted with them. Terrible things. They worked at idle when the vacuum was high, but got slower when the engine speed rose and the inlet vacuum dropped. More sophisticated cars had a vacuum reservoir, akin to the brake reservoir fitted later.
Vacuum wipers were great fun. When you put your foot down to go up a hill the wipers would stop. Watch 'em go though when you went down the other side 😁
Small error but vacuum wipers use inlet manifold vacuum to to operate the wipers rather than gas from the exhaust. It’s the “sucking” of the air into the engine that moves them, not the “blowing” of the exhaust coming out.
In case anyone hasn't tried Rainex you should you should, if you are going fast enough in a light shower you don't need wipers at all and when it pours it even better with wipers.
It seems to get to Kearn's story you skipped over variable speed wipers. Chrysler had them from the mid 1950's. I believe they used a potentiometer and had a wide effective range of speed. Arguably, they were better than the early intermittent wipers.
Back in 2003 I had a Peugeot 307 DTurbo that had automatic rain-sensing wipers. I thought "this is it, this is what all cars will have from now on", but NO... I've never had a car with that since. Oh well.
I was wondering if you were gonna mention RainX, I use that stuff all the time, it’s awesome. And my moms car has been having issues with the auto wipers. You can’t turn them off!! There’s no intermittent wiper, it just changes the sensitivity of the sensor! It’s terrible.
Didn't know that there was so much to the topic. Great video. Seeing as Trico is mentioned, I've had nothing but trouble with their refills , complete blades and even the additives. Eiterh simply cheap garbage products or just not suited to Australian climate.
I don't think the wipers ran on exhaust gas. The wipers were powered from the intake manifold vacuum. Good for light throttle (high vacuum pressure). At wide open throttle the vacuum would be low and the wipers slowed down (or stoppped).
One of the first wiper projects was successfully proposed to Ford by the outstanding Polish pianist Józef Hofmann (1875-1957), who was inspired by the metronome movement. It is worth mentioning that Hofmann was an extraordinary figure - apart from his incredible musical talent, he made over 70 inventions. If you are interested, please visit Wikipedia.
BR trailed the Clearview system on Western Class locos D1006 and D1039 as the standard wiper system on the class of locomotives was not effective. In the end BR decided not to fit them to the rest of the class and they were removed and the standard system put back.
What a pity you didnt mention modern cars with only one wiper, or with three like E type or the mercedes system that had two rotating points: ( but great research
This is one for Mr. HubNut
I was thinking the same lol ! I can hear Ian now, pontificating on the pantograph phenomenon 😊
I don't know if he would have coped with all those triangles of doom haha
Very true this is HubNut's cup of tea!
My thoughts exactly. Interesting video
Yeah no mention of triangles of doom or pantograph wipers or headlamp wipers though.
Thanks, clearly a very important issue.
I remember seeing a Mercedes single wiper design that moved the centre drive left to right and back, as well as reciprocating, it looked amazing.
Good video on a little appreciated factor of motoring life.
When tbose Merc systems weren't seizing up, not a great idea😉
ua-cam.com/video/XahPMsqkeiM/v-deo.html
I knew Citroën would have something to do with this story. Geniuses!
Sitwen used Sir Harry's swirl chamber design for enhancing the economy & power of a diesel engine.!
You've done it! Made this mundane topic very interesting, and entertaining.
Thanks! That's the intention - to make an entertaining but insightful video.
Who'da thunk wipers story could be so interesting. 2 wiper motor failure short stories. 1974, a cut potato smeared on the screen of my wife's Triumph 13/60 Herald got me home on a rainy night driving through city lights. Not something I'd want to do again.
More memorable was a 140 mile journey though heavy rain in a Citroen Dyane. The motor failed while we were on holiday but the sun was shining most of the time.
The day we were setting sail for home, heavy rain was forecast.
Disconnecting the motor and running fishing line linked to both wiper blades and though the side windows got us home. The line was attached to a stick and, even though the wife too turns occasionally, my arm knew about it for days. I can still see the grooves the line wore in the plastic chrome strip that decorated the rain channel beside the windscreen.
Thanks again. Still no Lego Lambo
🤣
My first car was a 1970 Vauxhall Viva. It had a pump in the dash to wash the screen. When it failed (which was often) i used to hang out of the window and squeeze a Fairy Liquid bottle of suds...Not good in dirty winter weather and howling wind.
I used to get stopped at least twice a week in that car..It was an utter nail.
Next, make a full documentary about the Triangle of Doom featuring HubNut. He will tell you all about it and more. It’s not going to be a Corner of Disappointment.
HubNut will love this video
Me with 37 homeworks i am 23 days late for due to tommorow or i fail the year:Hmmm Wiper yes interesting
Pata - do your homework! UA-cam videos can wait!
Get a patent for homework delay so that anyone who delays their homework has to pat royalties to you. You’ll be rich kid. 😂
That sounds like a recurring anxiety dream
Kind of explains why Mr Hubnut isn't the biggest Ford fan.
At my family's glass shop, we use Rain-X not only on the auto glass we install, but also the bathroom mirrors and shower doors as it repels water and keeps mirrors from foggin up....✌🏻🇺🇸
Hubnut has just arrived.
I was just thinking that!
I think I’m missing something great, who’s Hubnut? Don’t leave me out lol
@@fredaydaybae8450 Some say if you say HubNut three times in a row, he will come. HubNut HubNut Hubnut.
Magnificent explained. However..one little remark...the early 2cv used not the engine to power the wipers but the speedometer did drive them.
Never the less, again a interesting vid 😎
Hmmm - my research was wrong then.
@@LittleCar
Early 2CV ...speedometer is lashed to the offside pillar, with the cable also serving to drive the windscreen wipers.
Just as info ofcourse. You really do a fantastic job with thé vids. Please do go on !
Yes I thought the same when he said this.
I only clicked this video to see something about the one arm solution of Mercedes in the 80s and 90s...well :(
Exactly! The great monoblade wiper!
I borrowed someone's Merc once and when I turned the 'wipers' on I got a helluva fright, like this huge dinosaur arm suddenly on the windshield.
Der drizzle flappen. German / window wiper.
Yes a very interesting design with the extending monoblade arm, but a very sensitive system. Mercedes-Benz in general has had some interesting solutions, like the system on the 107, 116 and 126 with both arms on top of each other.
I gotta say, the fact that Citroen was using the difference in resistance to see how wet the windshield was is incredibly cunning.
I know I'm kind of randomly asking but does anyone know of a good site to stream new tv shows online?
Thank you for granting my previous request for this video
I *LOVE* when Im learning a bit of abstract knowledge and suddenly realize a practical application for it!
So the rain sensing wipers on my car are “wipe-trash” (I’ll see myself out) and they never notice when it’s raining and it’s time to go to work. However, a few months ago I learned that if I gave the sensor pad on the windshield a good tap, they would work as intended ..for a while. Thanks to this video, I understand why. My “tapping” it, presses the sensor against the glass in a way that changes the angle of reflected light into it. I bet the adhesive used to attach it to the glass has been weakened somehow, allowing the sensor to slowly droop out of calibration until I press it back into place again. Fascinating!
Awesome Aaron! I hope this will fix them. Yes - I love your "dad" joke as my daughter called it.
I recommend watching 2008's "Flash of Genius" It's a decent movie
The only option I could see was buying a DVD, anyone seen an online option?
@@carlarrowsmith You can rent it on UA-cam. I think it's on Hulu as well
Yes I’ve seen the 2008 film Flash of Genius and I really enjoyed watching. Great movie worth watching.
I love how you pronounce 'Citroen'...bravo!
Surprisingly fascinating. A long time ago, I loved how my 1980s Nissan has 3-5 different interval speeds. My wife’s Alfa Romeo had an interval setting for every speed, resulting in almost infinite options. A wider speed for any weather. Now, on my aging Mercedes, I never think about it. It wipes when the windscreen is wet, at the required interval. We have reached perfection.
Your video has reminded me that I need to replace my wipers. But I know I'll forget until I'm driving in the rain again. sigh.
Wonderful to watch the Little Car stories!
Some of the high end cars use a device to slightly vibrate the glass to 'bounce' the water off the windshield, thus removing the need for windshield wipers.
.... And then someone trained a pair of snakes to wave from left to right against the glass - result: *"Vindscreen Vipers!*"LOL
In 1967 my school pal David had a Ford Popular with wipers that somehow worked off the carburettor air intake. The wipers would thrash frantically when the engine was idling and slow down as the engine speed increased, the exact opposite of what you wanted! They don’t make them like that any more.....
You do not KNOW how much u appreciate this! I’m a car enthusiast but my absolute FAVORITE part of a car are it’s wipers. I bought both of my Volvo’s because they have headlight wipers lol. THANKS!!
I love headlight wipers. I should have included them.
Little Car nah, that would’ve been too much wiper overload, this was PERFECT! I used to tell my Mum that I didn’t want a wife, I wanted to marry a pair of wipers and life life happily ever after...funny things kids say right? Regardless, FINALLY a tru in-depth deep dive about wipers. Thank YOU!!
Interesting video of one of the most important safety equipment on all cars.
Great channel! 😀
I have to say mr. HubNut has increased my interest to wipers 😄
Thanks! 👍
best solution i ever had was my citroen c6 - huge wipers leaving only small triangle in the place where it didn't disturb, with very good sense for rain intensity in automated mode where i really didn't have to take care of anything... when changed for volvo s80, still fighting with the sensitivity setting, never got it right after almost two years with that car...
I knew some about the wiper history, but thank you for completing the picture of an underrated but important automotive part! D/A/G
It was all new to me!
In skoda felicia(and possibly other cars) you can switch wipers to a first position and turn them off. when you cant see again due to rain switch them back to position 1. they will remember how long they have been off and wipe in that interval. its much more intuitive than dial take controls the interval(found in first gen fabia for example). i heard people are searching for GLXi Felicia's that had this feature in scrapyards. specifically the relay
My mother's 1954 Chevrolet had wipers that moved just in their separate spaces and left the center of the windshield unwiped. They operated at only one speed, and slowed down when you were accelerating. My father had a 1956 Jeep that had a divided windshield; the driver's side had a wiper with its own little electric motor while the passenger side had a purely manual wiper that someone had to move by hand. Both of these were attached at the top, not the bottom - very old-fashioned.
Ooh.. ooh an upload. I love this channel and quite why I'm so excited about watching a video about windscreen wipers I'll never know. I begrudge adverts on other channels but you work so hard to create fascinating content that I always leave them on. I absolutely love the channel. You didn't mention string powered wipers that a few of us have had to use on old cars when they failed. (Obviously, used only until you got home, but a passenger was required to help)
Glad you like the videos, and thanks for your support through ads!
Such an underrated channel
Who is rating it badly??
@@terribletelevision6980 just not many views/subs as it should have, it's great quality content
That’s an interesting story in how it all began.
On the Montego the wipers when not in use “parked” under the bonnet line making it more air dynamic. When in use wiped and around 15’ would sit and wait for the wipe or continuously
My mother's Ford Falcon had vacuum operated wipers. And the wipers would slow down when going up the little hill to school. But being in San , she did not need to use them too much.
Weird that they haven’t come up with something more sophisticated by now. It’s the obvious one to modernise on a car.
It was great that Mr Kearns quite rightly triumphed. In this technological world, I've always wondered why some genius hasn't come up with a better system than a wiper to clear water off a windscreen.
My 1964 Land Rover has an individual Lucas wiper motor for the driver’s side only.
Passenger side wiper was an optional extra, on the passenger side, I have a blanking plate where the wiper arm would have been.
Lucas wiper motors can also be hand operated, and my screenwash is a water filled bag that hangs inside the cab, operated by a push operated manual pump switch.
"it soon became clear" @ 1:07
😃
Thanks, a very interesting video. I've thought about wipers before, mostly driving through heavy rain, when none of them work very well. With the exception of the change from vacuum to electric motors, parallel wiping, and intermittent wipers, there really has been very little change in how we clear rain from the windshield. I doubt there are many exposed parts on a car to have so few upgrades. I'm hoping some modern Robert Kearns is working on a system that really clears rain from the glass and doesn't uses rubber blades going back and forth.
I’ve thought about this too, what advances can wipers have to make them better. This is an area that needs to be explored!
Thanks Little Car 🚗 for sharing. Great video I enjoyed watching. The 2008 film Flash of Genius is a great film, about a very clever man who never gave up the fight for justice. A great story well worth watching. Thanks 🙏
Glad you enjoyed it Stephen!
I straight away thought of the scene in Fistful of Dynamite and the truck with the hand operated windscreen wipers.
Pneumatic wipers used to be common on railway locomotives which all have a compressed air system. I'm not sure whether they were used on road trucks as well?
We've come to expect much from the LittleCar, BigCar stable over recent months and this little nugget doesn't disappoint either.... It is a concise , light & informative snack.
May I offer one tiny suggestion that definitely isn't meant as criticism? Quite a few episodes seem to end rather abruptly. I only notice this because there I am, motoring along, really engrossed & enjoying an episode and then quite suddenly...... it's gone, cut to Patreon & credits!
Perhaps a few words in conclusion, pulling together the various strands of the story would round things off very neatly & professionally?
That being said, I truly believe that the BigCar family of channels is fast gaining a reputation for producing high quality bitesized edutainment , with plenty of fun & candour thrown in for good measure.... A tasty little recipe for success I'd say.
Thanks for such kind words. Yes, sometimes it does end a little abruptly. I'm still trying to work out endings! I'll keep working on it. Good feedback.
I'm getting spoiled. Cars that turn their head lights on or off. Wipers that sense the rain and come on as needed. Wi-fi, infrared, bluetooth, one days I'll just be able to send the car out by itself to run my errands, etc.
Great info , brought back memories of wipers slowing down in traffic jams!
Glad you enjoyed it!
I wipe my windows with a rag on a stick
Good move!
What a chad
Bart
Big Car or Little Car, all of your videos are great! For real
Thanks!
And such a simple thing as a squeeky wiper can drive you literally mad !
THAT TELL YOU IT'S TIME TO CHANGE THEM.
Great video. We used to sell a product called Duxback. Like Rainex but lasts about 6 months. Amazing stuff
Thanks!
Wow, my idea worked out for a new great video. Many, many thanks.
Good on Robert Kurns!
The original Trico plant designed by Louis Kahn (one of many) in Buffalo, NY has been used as a storage facility for many years since Trico stopped production in the US back in the 1990s. The building has recently been acquired for development as a high-ceiling loft apartment building serving the Roswell Park Cancer Institute and the Buffalo General SUNY medical campus. The Oishei Foundation is one of the largest charitable organizations in Western New York, contributing to many educational and cultural institutions to this day.
You are likely the only English speaking person I have heard that can pronounce « r’s » correctly when pronouncing French words. Kudos to you
Woo hoo!
One of the earliest recorded patents for the windscreen wiper is by George J. Capewell of Hartford Connecticut, which was filed on August 6, 1896. His invention was for an automated, motorised, wiper for "cars, locomotives, and such land-vehicles".
Other early designs for the windscreen wiper are credited to Polish concert pianist Józef Hofmann, and Mills Munitions, Birmingham who also claimed to have been the first to patent windscreen wipers in England. At least three inventors patented windscreen cleaning devices at around the same time in 1903; Mary Anderson, Robert Douglass, and John Apjohn. In April 1911, a patent for windscreen wipers was registered by Sloan & Lloyd Barnes, patent agents of Liverpool, England, for Gladstone Adams of Whitley Bay.
Actually the early Citroen 2CV's had their wipers connected to the speedometer cable, not the engine. That's why wipers stops when the car stops and the hand lever is needed. These can be recognized by the speedometer mounted in the windshield corner.
I am a 35yr auto technician. About 15 yrs ago, a coworker removed the wiper blades from a customer's car. He forgot to install the new ones and released the vehicle. When the customer inquired the technician said (true story) "Sorry, I guess that I forgot to wipe"
Putting a coat of Rain-X on makes all the difference.
I once heard that Chrysler had a notion to do away with wipers, and opt for a coated glass, (think of some kind of super-rainx) with air nozzles that would blow air at high velocity. The coating would bead the water, and the air would blow it away. Eliminating any temporary visual obstruction of the wipers moving across the field of view, and any wear of, and thus need to replace wipers. Yeah that sounded good. When I heard of it I was almost convinced. But then I realized, we live in the real world where birds exist. And bugs. As well as dirt, mud and road gunk. Also the noise of the blowers and the loud leaf-blower sound of the system would be quite more annoying then the occasional "fwip! fwip!" of wipers. The idea never came to fruition. And knowing Chrymofiamler, it would have broken in a month anyway, or been phased out when they sold out to the next company down the line.
From Big Car to Mr HubNut!
12 years for such an obvious situation... Sheesh
That was surprisingly interesting! I now have the answer to how my car knows it’s raining, and a movie for a rainy day. 💦 Cheers.
I'm going for surprisingly interesting!
Interesting video. Love the channel
Thanks Al
Vacuum-driven wipers. I had an old Ford (it was ancient even then) fitted with them. Terrible things. They worked at idle when the vacuum was high, but got slower when the engine speed rose and the inlet vacuum dropped. More sophisticated cars had a vacuum reservoir, akin to the brake reservoir fitted later.
Another great presentation. Thankyou! X
Next make a video about the electric starter motor, that's another part that we take for granted today!
Another great video!!!! Surprised you didnt mention single wipers and jumping wipers!
Thanks. I probably should have talked about single wipers, but I couldn't find a good angle, as there were single wipers at the start of automobiles.
08:17 The film Flash of Genius was great. If you like Big Car and Little Car I think you'll really enjoy it.
Vacuum wipers were great fun. When you put your foot down to go up a hill the wipers would stop. Watch 'em go though when you went down the other side 😁
Should have mentioned John Delorean's retractable wipers.
I remember watching that movie, the poor bloke lost almost everything to get his justice which make you wonder if it was worth it at the end.
@Jack Kraken hi I’ve watched that film too great movie. Very clever man.
@@m3snusteve He might have been smart but it just felt like a loss to me.
Is the question, why am i watching this, or why am I interested in this?
I wiped my screen of this video. When it was over, of course :)
Small error but vacuum wipers use inlet manifold vacuum to to operate the wipers rather than gas from the exhaust. It’s the “sucking” of the air into the engine that moves them, not the “blowing” of the exhaust coming out.
Thanks Simon!
My Civic's wipers are hinged in the corners of the windscreen. They have larger coverage than traditional wiper arrangements.
Great video! Thanks for informing us!
In case anyone hasn't tried Rainex you should you should, if you are going fast enough in a light shower you don't need wipers at all and when it pours it even better with wipers.
It seems to get to Kearn's story you skipped over variable speed wipers. Chrysler had them from the mid 1950's. I believe they used a potentiometer and had a wide effective range of speed. Arguably, they were better than the early intermittent wipers.
Yes, I missed that!
Very good video! Thank you for the informative upload!
Great video! But I thought Lucas invented the intermittent windshield wiper? I know they invented self-dimming headlights. :)
😃 They did, but not intentionally.
Back in 2003 I had a Peugeot 307 DTurbo that had automatic rain-sensing wipers. I thought "this is it, this is what all cars will have from now on", but NO... I've never had a car with that since. Oh well.
Eh? Loads of cars have auto wipers. Even the Ford Transit does.
@@smorris12 I don't doubt that; I was just saying I've never had it again! Maybe I need to buy better cars haha.
Great video, thank you!
Glad you liked it!
I never faut wipers were this intresting great job !
I've yet to see a rain-sensing system that works properly and reliably all of the time. Manually adjustable intermittent wipers are still superior.
The wipers on the Citroen 2CV were actually driven from the speedometer cable.
How about a special on sun shades? Always wondered why we don't have Polaroid windows. Sun can be dangerous at times, while driving.
'Vacuum' systems used to slow when going faster or up hill....due to throttle plate opening
Just purchased a newer vehicle & had to figure out how to operate the wiper system. Bet those early wipers had the Debbil of a time w/Love Bugs
Automobile's have Windshield's & Aircraft have Windscreen's ! There is a Massive Engineering Difference !? YYZ , Mohawk-Planker .
Great job on the video.
I was wondering if you were gonna mention RainX, I use that stuff all the time, it’s awesome. And my moms car has been having issues with the auto wipers. You can’t turn them off!! There’s no intermittent wiper, it just changes the sensitivity of the sensor! It’s terrible.
Didn't know that there was so much to the topic. Great video. Seeing as Trico is mentioned, I've had nothing but trouble with their refills , complete blades and even the additives. Eiterh simply cheap garbage products or just not suited to Australian climate.
Yeah Trico refills are useless in Australia. I was thinking about trying Cibie silicon blades but they're bloody expensive.
In my experience, there were 10 ads on this 10 minute video.
I don't think the wipers ran on exhaust gas. The wipers were powered from the intake manifold vacuum. Good for light throttle (high vacuum pressure). At wide open throttle the vacuum would be low and the wipers slowed down (or stoppped).
One of the first wiper projects was successfully proposed to Ford by the outstanding Polish pianist Józef Hofmann (1875-1957), who was inspired by the metronome movement.
It is worth mentioning that Hofmann was an extraordinary figure - apart from his incredible musical talent, he made over 70 inventions. If you are interested, please visit Wikipedia.
I just stick my head out the side window, my dog taught me
Bloody brilliant. Get it? brilliant
Superlative history!
Thank you Jacopo!
BR trailed the Clearview system on Western Class locos D1006 and D1039 as the standard wiper system on the class of locomotives was not effective. In the end BR decided not to fit them to the rest of the class and they were removed and the standard system put back.
"a cyclist ran into him" you mean he ran over a cyclist?
Exactly! This seems to happen all the time.
Could be either way, though likely he hit a the cyclist.
What a pity you didnt mention modern cars with only one wiper, or with three like E type or the mercedes system that had two rotating points: ( but great research