Imagine yourself in a situation where you are driving your bucket truck in the middle of a heavy rain. You are driving slowly, since you can barely see the road, and have almost no visibility to see what is ahead of you. Frequently, you may need to stop and get out of the truck to wipe your windows.
Certainly, at the end of this trip, you are soaked and your driver’s seat may smell because it, too, became soaked with rain water that came from your need to get out of your truck to clear off your windows during the rainstorm. You may be thinking that this problem would not have occurred if only you had a device that you were able to operate from inside the vehicle that would clear the raindrops off of your windshield – you could have been the windshield wiper’s inventor!
Who invented Windshield Wipers?
A young woman named Mary Anderson came up with the idea of inventing this device. While traveling from Alabama to New York City, she noticed that vehicles were constantly stopping and drivers were getting out of their vehicles in order to remove the rain or snow that was obscuring their vision. It was then that she began to devise her plan to create a device that could remove rain and snow from the windshield while being operated from inside the vehicle.
How Does This Mechanism Work?
In 1904, Mary Anderson applied for and was granted a patent for a device with a swinging arm and a rubber blade that could be operated inside the vehicle by the driver. Today this device is commonly known as the windshield wiper. This new device consisted of a lever which had a spring-loaded arm with a rubber blade. The rubber blade was able to swing across and back again, hence removing rain droplets or snowflakes from the surface of the window.
What Technology is Employed?
Although your truck windshield is bigger when compared to most passenger cars, just like any other vehicle, it is a combination of two mechanical technologies: the electric motor and worm gear reduction. In order to accelerate the blades to move back and forth across the truck’s windshield, it will take a lot of force to do it. Hence a worm gear is used to multiply the torque from a small electric motor by about 50 times in order to swing those blades back and forth.
Do I Need Good Wipers?
Absolutely! There’s no doubt that your vehicle needs to have good ones installed to provide visibility during rain or snow by removing rain drops or snowflakes away from the windshield. Most bucket trucks are equipped with such heavy-duty devices which benefits drivers, especially when they are driving in heavy rain or snow.
Are There Any Alternative Devices?
Many truck manufacturers have tried to eliminate these and have tried to use other schemes for visibility while driving in the midst of rain. All their endeavors have failed since most drivers were annoyed, rather than pleased, with these alternative devices. Current technological advances have begun to develop wipers that sense when rain hits the windshield. This system can detect the amount of water on the glass and will actually control the blades using optical sensors mounted near the rearview mirror which are in contact with the inside of the windshield.
How do I Avoid Streaks?
Streaks are often times annoying to drivers. Streaks can be caused by aging wiper blades or cracks that form on the rubber tips of them. To avoid streaks, do a regular check on the rubber edges and make sure they are operating with even pressure over their entire length. Check the blades and make sure they are clean and free from nicks and cracks. Make sure to replace them if you notice such wear. To prolong the life of them, sometimes it is helpful to wipe the dirt from the edge with a piece of cloth soaked in window cleaner.
Windshield wipers are one of the most important devices that your truck can have since this device greatly improves your visibility while driving your bucket truck during rain or snow. So, before going out and driving your bucket truck, especially during the winter or rainy season, make sure that your windshield wipers are working properly!
Christopher Hunter is an expert in commercial specialty trucks. If you are interested in learning more about Altec Bucket Trucks, go to the main website shown in this link.
