The disc shower and its evolution
12/05/2014
It is almost as natural on a car as the wheels, the windshield shower. We use them without thinking twice. However, this was not always the case. In the 1920s, there was no such device at all, and it was only in the 1930s that resourceful minds came up with the idea of carrying a fluid reservoir and letting water or alcohol drip onto the windshield.
A hand or foot pump was not uncommon in some vehicles in the 1950s, but electric pumps only became standard equipment later. However, this was by no means the end of the evolution, as there were also systems that distributed the liquid directly on the windshield wiper (e.g. on the TVR Griffith) instead of spraying it up from the torpedo. The spray nozzles could also be heated so that the system also worked in winter. And, of course, the electronics were also used. Nowadays, the windshield wiper distributes the liquid automatically and usually with an additional delay. What's more, depending on the setting of the headlights, the modern car decides whether the xenon light units need to be cleaned at the same time. What started out simple has thus become a complex system, like so many things in automotive engineering ...
By the way, if you would like to read more thoughts on inventions and innovations in vehicle construction , there is a separate topic channel on Zwischengas .
