Kearns' Intermittent Wipers

Have you ever looked at a simple item and wondered who invented it and how incredibly wealthy they must be?  It is rumored that the inventor of Post-It Notes is one of the wealthiest people and corporations to date.  Think about some of the amazing new technological features that come on your vehicles today; air conditioning, cruise control, navigation, dual zone climate control, and the list can go on and on.  Vehicles from a Volkswagen Dealer come either in standard gas engines, hybrid models, or the diesel TDI; those are impressive technologies, and VW is able to do all of them incredibly well.  What about something simple, like intermittent windshield wipers, that come standard on vehicles from Toyota Dealer Minneapolis and Bradenton Mazda Dealer, as well as every vehicle sold on the market today.  Such a simple piece of history makes all of our driving lives much easier and more enjoyable. 

Well, you have to give credit to Robert Kearns for the intermittent windshield wiper.  The feature first became available on automobiles in 1969 and the technology has only slightly been improved on with certain brands and models, like the Ford Focus offers increased levels of intermittent so that you can adjust the time between wiper intervals.  The more interesting thing about this useful piece of technology is that Kearns had to sue domestic auto names Ford and Chrysler for patent infringement.  Both of these were extremely drawn out litigation processes, with the Ford one beginning in 1978 and finally being settled in 1990.  The courts ruled in Kearns' favor, and Ford paid him $10.1 million and both parties agreed that that would be the end. 

Kearns sued Chrysler in 1982, and after spending approximately $10 million for legal fees, Kearns was awarded $30 million from Chrysler in 1995.  There were processes started by Kearns and his family to sue Mercedes-Benz, GM, and a few Japanese auto brands, but some filing deadlines were missed and the suits never were officially filed.  If you would like to learn more about this auto technology story, there was a movie made based on the true events called "Flash of Genius."

intermittent wipers, robert kearns, kearns intermittent wipers, kearns vs ford, kearns vs chrysler