Mary Anderson: Inventor of the Windshield Wiper Blade

In 1903 Mary Anderson was granted her first patent for an automatic windshield cleaning device, known as a windshield wiper blade. The wiper blade was operated from inside the car. The driver or passenger would work a crank in order to make the windshield wipers move.

She was born in Burton Hill Plantation, in Greene County, in 1866. In 1889 she moved along with her mother and sister to Birmingham. Mary moved on to Fresno California in 1883 where she operated a cattle ranch and vineyard until 1898. She heard that an elderly aunt needed help in 1902, and that is when she returned to Birmingham. The aunt had 15 large trunks in her bedroom. Upon the aunts death, it was discovered there was a large amount of gold and jewelery within the trunks. Mary, and the rest of her family gained a substantial amount of money from the newly found treasures. Mary Anderson used some of the money to take a trip to New York City, in 1902. She took a ride on a trolley car, and noticed the driver struggling to keep his windshield clear. The driver would make constant stops in order to clean the messy grime from the windshield.

She returned to Birmingham with an idea for a device that would clean a windshield. She drew the design, and had a local company build a model of her idea. She was granted a 17 year patent for her windshield cleaning device in 1903. She attempted to sell the rights of her wiper blade invention to a well known Canadian company, in 1905. However, the Canadian company did not think it was a marketable product at the time. After the patent expired car manufacturers had windshield wipers on the cars as standard procedure. They used Mary Anderson's basic design for the manufacturing of wipers. It was not until the year 1921 when the electric windshield wiper was invented. They were introduced by Fred and William Folberth. The wiper blades were powered by an "air engine," a device connected by a tube to the inlet pipe of the car's motor. There was an electric version that was attached to the top of the windshield developed by Bosch in 1926. In 1967 intermittent powered wipers were patented by Robert Kearns. He demonstrated his idea to the Ford motor company, but they didn't start using intermittent wiper blades until 1978. Robert Kearns battled for years in legal courts to sue Ford and Chrysler for the use of his idea. He eventually won the lawsuit winning a multi-million dollar pay out.

Mary managed the Fairmont Apartments, which her family had constructed, until her death, in 1953. At 86 she had been the oldest member of South Highland Presbyterian Church.

Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Anderson_(inventor)