Design and analysis of windshield wiper mechanism

The windshield wiper mechanism is an important issue for the automotive industry. This mechanism is a special mechanism that has both translational and rotational motion. In the automotive sector, it is necessary to design a mechanism that meets the specific performance and regulatory requirements of the target market. Due to the complexity and difficulty of the analytical methods, the design of these mechanisms is usually carried out by graphical methods using CAD software. However, this trial-and-error method is repeated until the important design parameters of the system, such as joint positions, transmission angle, etc., are suitable. Kinematic analysis of the wiper mechanism is critical. To evaluate the performance of the system, the velocity and acceleration values throughout the motion should be calculated and evaluated along with other design options. Since the graphical analysis is only performed for the current position of the mechanism, the process must be repeated for each position of the system. These repetitions cause loss of time and effort. For this reason, after determining the necessary inputs for the system, a simple algorithm that realizes the design of a mechanism to meet the requirements, performs kinematic analysis to evaluate the performance of the system, and tries to integrate it into the workflow. In this study, a wiper mechanism was designed by utilizing the geometry of a fourbar linkage and the application of function synthesis of this mechanism, taking into account the performance and regulatory requirements of the automotive industry. During the synthesis phase, solutions were generated using different approaches, and the most suitable method for the application was selected. Using the optimal solution obtained, a MATLAB algorithm was created to determine the dimensions of a system with specified wiper positions and wiping angles and to perform a kinematic analysis of the sized mechanism. In this way, the system can be designed easily with a simple interface, without dealing with complex analytical equations, based only on the inputs and constraints required by the system, without any scientific background. The required outputs can be obtained and interpreted quickly and easily. This enables the prediction of system performance, the identification of potential problems, and the implementation of necessary actions to eliminate them, without proceeding to complex and costly mold/fixture investments, sample production, and testing/validation processes. Keywords: Wiper Mechanism, Kinematic Synthesis, Function Synthesis, Kinematic Analysis