A wiper that pausesSourced
Blinking inspired an intermittent wiper mechanism
American inventor Robert Kearns said continuous wipers bothered him while driving in light rain in 1963. He modelled a mechanism on the eye’s occasional blink and filed a patent in 1964. The useful feature also led to lengthy patent disputes with car manufacturers.
The idea lay in pauses between movements.
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Robert Kearns · Wikimedia contributors
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Reviewed: 2026-10-10