Since everything is perfect in the company’s road car and Formula 1 departments this year, Ferrari engineers have been hard at work on windshield wipers. CarBuzz has just found the Italian automaker’s second wiper-related patent this year, and while we thought the first one was a bad idea, this one is just bizarre.
But there is some cost-cutting madness in the new windshield wiper invention.
Ferrari Wants To Completely Change Windshield Wiping
Ferrari Windshield Wiper PatentFerrari
We thought that the windshield wiper was already completely sorted. A motor hooked to a mechanism turns the wiper arm back and forth and cleans the rain off of the glass.
In this patent, though, Ferrari proposes ditching rotational movement completely. Instead of a complex mechanism that lets the wiper change direction without stopping and reversing the motor, the inventors want to let the wiper slide.
The idea uses an electromagnetic linear actuator in a track. The wiper points straight up and slides in the track. Instead of a swipe, it stays vertical as it slides from side to side across the glass.
It slides across at least half of the windshield, but then Ferrari adds two possibilities. In the first one, the wiper’s track stops around halfway across the windshield. When it gets to that spot, a motor swipes the blade like a normal wiper to clear the other side. It then slides back and repeats.
The second way has a track across the entire windshield. In that instance, the wiper just slides vertically back and forth.
What Is The Point Of This Elaborate Mechanism?
Ferrari Windshield Wiper PatentFerrari
Why would Ferrari take a fairly simple, straightforward system and add a support track, flexible wiring, and even possibly a chain drive to its wipers? In short, weight and cost. In the patent, Ferrari’s inventors describe the system as having small dimensions and weight while clearing a “particularly wide” area of the windshield.
It could also save costs. According to the patent, this would let Ferrari adapt the wiper system to a new car — it would only need to change the track and the height of the blade. It would also work identically for left and right-drive cars, while current systems need to be adapted for both.
The idea could even improve aerodynamics. It would let Ferrari run the hood directly up to the glass, improving the aero transition between the two parts. Plus, Ferrari suggests it would look better. Though a wiper parked alongside the A-pillar will stand out even if the automaker says “they become one single assembly to the human eye.”
CarBuzz Insight – Why This Matters:
Ferrari 12Cilindri ManualeFerrari
Developing a different wiper mechanism for left and right-drive cars is probably expensive when you build as few cars per year as Ferrari, so this solution would be quite appealing.
But having the wiper slide side-to-side with a linear actuator is going to place a lot of stress on the point where the wiper arm meets the track. It’s also going to have trouble with the extreme curves at the edges of the front glass of some of Ferrari’s cars. Then there is the seriously high-speed movement necessary to keep the glass clear when it travels that far.
This is a neat idea, but the execution is going to be a massive challenge. Unless Ferrari has decided that nobody drives its cars in the rain — in which case, this is more about compliance. It’s still better than the down-facing wiper patent for the Luce.
Patent filings do not guarantee the use of such technology in future vehicles and are often used exclusively as a means of protecting intellectual property. Such a filing cannot be construed as confirmation of production intent.
Source: US Patent & Trademark Office
