Mary Anderson’s Invention of Windshield Wipers

Windshield wipers are used to clean the windshields of cars in order to avoid obstruction and to help increase visibility of roads for drivers. Typically they are used to remove excess water.

The first windshield wipers were invented by J. H. Apjohn and were just brushes that moved up and down on car windows. Later that year, Mary Anderson reinvented windshield wipers. She introduced the swinging arm method which is still used today. To use the windshield wipers, drivers would have to flip a lever in their car. The drawback to this was that there weren’t any electric motors to help power the windshield wipers. Users would have to move a lever, steer, and work the gear shifts all at the same time (“Windshield Wiper Facts, information, pictures” 2002).

Picture of Windshield Wipers on a car from AliExpress.
Windshield Wipers on a car from AliExpress.

 

Subpages:

  1. Timeline Factors
  2. Social Factors
  3. Bibliography
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