Abstract
An analytical procedure to determine a proper profile of the spring rail that generates intended contact pressure distribution in the flat wiper blade is introduced. The flat wiper blade is one piece blade and subjected to pressing force at a center point. In this type of blade, contact pressure distribution in the tip of rubber strip is determined by the pressing force, the initial profile of the blade before contact and bending stiffness of the blade. Experimentally obtained bending stiffness of the blade assembly is almost identical to that of the spring rail. Principle of reciprocity has been used to define the initial profile of spring rail from the deformed profile that is assumed to be identical to the windshield glass profile. The procedure has been verified experimentally by measuring the contact pressure of the blade assembled with the spring rail designed by the procedure proposed here. Measured contact pressure distributions of the blades show good agreements with intended distributions over the entire blade span. Consequently, it can be concluded that proposed procedure has relatively good accuracy in developing the spring rail for flat blade having a specific contact pressure distribution.