Robert William Kearns (March 10, 1927 – February 9, 2005) was the inventor of the intermittent windshield wiper systems used on most automobiles from 1969 to the present. His first patent for the invention was filed on December 1, 1964.
Kearns won one of the best known patent infringement cases against Ford Motor Company. Having invented and patented the intermittent windshield wiper mechanism, which was useful in light rain or mist, he tried to ...
more
Robert William Kearns (March 10, 1927 – February 9, 2005) was the inventor of the intermittent windshield wiper systems used on most automobiles from 1969 to the present. His first patent for the invention was filed on December 1, 1964.
Kearns won one of the best known patent infringement cases against Ford Motor Company. Having invented and patented the intermittent windshield wiper mechanism, which was useful in light rain or mist, he tried to interest the "Big Three" auto makers in licensing the technology. They all rejected his proposal, yet began to install intermittent wipers in their cars beginning in 1969.
Kearns was born in Gary, Indiana, but grew up near the large Ford plant in River Rouge, Michigan which was a working-class neighborhood of Detroit. His father worked for a steel company, the Great Lakes Steel Corporation.
He excelled in cross-country foot racing during high school, was a talented violinist, and became a teenage intelligence officer when he served in the...
less
