by Fran Bernard, on Jun 14, 2023 11:51:26 AM
Photo: Sensible Driver
Charlotte Bridgwood
In 1917, Charlotte improved on another woman inventor, Mary Anderson’s, original manual design for windshield wipers. Mary was on a Trolley car in New York City, and it was a very snowy day and because of the weather Mary couldn’t see out the windows. She was very disappointed that she could not see the wonderful sights. The driver of the trolley had to constantly stop to get the snow off the windows. Because of that experience she designed a spring-loaded arm with a rubber blade that would wipe across the windshield and could be activated from the inside of the car. 5 Automotive Inventions by Female Inventors | Direct Auto
Charlotte took Mary’s idea and upgraded the wiper to be electrically operated. The new design used rollers instead of blades to clean the windshield. Charlotte was president of the Bridgwood Manufacturing Company. It was through her manufacturing company that she invented what she called: “Electric Storm Windshield Cleaner”. 11 women who changed automotive history and the way we drive (classiccars.com)
Unfortunately, there was not a lot of commercial production. Her small company produced the wipers for a while, but she didn’t get any substantial support. Her patent expired in 1920. Like Mary, Charlotte, didn’t receive many compliments for her work. It was only after her patent expired that the windshield wiper design took hold. They became standard pieces of equipment in personal cars only a few years later with Cadillac becoming the first car manufacturer to adopt the automatic windshield wipers. Charlotte Bridgwood - Wikipedia
Neither Charlotte or Mary possessed mechanical or engineering qualifications. They used their common sense to find a solution to a widespread problem. Thanks to their vision we have a device that is still used today, keeping drivers safe during bad weather. Female Pioneers: Mary Anderson and Charlotte Bridgwood created windscreen wipers | DENSO (denso-am.eu)
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