Good wiper design
Good wiper design
(OP)
In case there are some of the windshield designers out there who worked on the Nissan Quest (or similar design), I wanted to commend you on what I see as a great design. I am one of those at an unfortunate height where my line of vision is directly in line with the top edge of the wiper wash. I have to bow my head a little, usually, to get a clear line of sight. It turns into a real ergonomic issue while I drive. I tried accenting with larger wipers, but I couldn't get wipers that extended further to the top of the winshield without having them also extend to far off the bottom of the windshield. I recently purchased the Nissan Quest minivan and in addition to a windshield big enough to view a feature film, the wipers do a great job of clearing nearly the entire thing with none of the redundant wiping area usually found in the mid windshield.
The wiper combination consists of a driver side wiper which covers with about a 3 ft. span and a passenger wiper with an extended arm and a blade that covers only an 18" span. Basically the passenger wiper only covers the area beyond the reach of the driver side wiper.
This may be old design for buses, so far as I know, but new to me in passenger cars. I wish it were more prevalent. The only issue I see with it is that you can't just buy a single pair of replacement wipers. You need to buy two pair of drastically differently sized wipers.
The wiper combination consists of a driver side wiper which covers with about a 3 ft. span and a passenger wiper with an extended arm and a blade that covers only an 18" span. Basically the passenger wiper only covers the area beyond the reach of the driver side wiper.
This may be old design for buses, so far as I know, but new to me in passenger cars. I wish it were more prevalent. The only issue I see with it is that you can't just buy a single pair of replacement wipers. You need to buy two pair of drastically differently sized wipers.
ChemE, M.E. EIT
"The only constant in life is change." -Bruce Lee





RE: Good wiper design
Yeah that happens on my subaru too... 21 & 17"(18") ... I find that its worth it though (i just buy the refills for summer not the whole hand.) Then I get all through spring on my winter jacketed, switch to the unjacketed regular ones in early summer when the weather is nice. Then to the other set when the UV an D-Town roads have taken their toll. And back to the jackets when it starts freezing.
ncik
RE: Good wiper design
Another useful feature that was popular in the 80's and 90's but seems to have diminished in popularity is the height adjustable seat, so you can place your eyeballs about 6" below the roof, and thereby get maximum vision of the road surface. If all eyeballs were in a similar position behind the screen, it would be easier to optimise wipers.
Regards
pat pprimmer@acay.com.au
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RE: Good wiper design
ChemE, M.E. EIT
"The only constant in life is change." -Bruce Lee
RE: Good wiper design
pat - perhaps height-adjustable seats have fallen out of favor for reasons involving roof structure crush space. Hip points seem to be rising, anyway. Ford made enough of this that specific mention was made in the monthly magazines in connection with the new Five Hundred.
Norm
RE: Good wiper design
If you draw that lot out you realise that two people with the same dimension can be in a whole range of positions. This is crazy. The airbag needs to know where your face is.
Cheers
Greg Locock