Every day I hop into my vehicle, switch on the engine, and drive off. If it is a hot day, I choose to switch on the air conditioning or put down my convertible roof. On cold days I fix the heat system, to make sure I am comfortable as I am driving. When it is raining, snowing or foggy I utilise my Wiper blades to clear the windscreen.
I never normally think of how these things evolved for my comfort, I just accept that vehicles have these features to improve my driving experience. However, as winter approaches, it caused me to reflect upon the Windscreen wipers and what a amazing invention they are.
I have searched 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 idea of Windscreen wipers in the form of brushes which swept up and down the windscreen to clean it. I would think that the brushes most likely caused quite a few scuffs to the windshield, so in 1905, when the American inventor, Mary Anderson, patented the swinging arm style of windscreen wiper, with a rubber blade, this must have been keenly accepted by the automotive industry.
These early Windscreen wipers required the driver to move a lever in the vehicle to operate the wipers, so the next large 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 motor 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 rotted and the Wiper blades required replacement in a fairly short time period.
Silicone wiper blades are now also to be had and these are less at risk from temperature changes than their rubber forerunners. Even though the Silicone wiper blades are a little more costly than the rubber Windscreen wipers, they often come with a guarantee to not rot or split, as happens with the rubber wipers, and also allege to be able to follow the contours of the windscreen better, giving a cleaner sweep.
We request a lot from these amazing little inventions. I expect to press or pull or turn a stick on my steering wheel and get an instant effect from the Wiper blades. They are needed to remove dirt and flies from my windscreen in the summer. When the roads are grimy, I require the grime to be cleaned from my windscreen immediately, to give me clear visibility. If it is icy early in the morning, I switch on the heater and impatiently turn the Windscreen wipers on to clean the windshield quickly. In winter the heavy snow is given short shrift.
For these reasons 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.