Who Was Robert William Kearns? #shorts
Robert (Bob) William Kearns was an American inventor and engineer who made significant contributions to the automotive industry. He is best known for inventing the intermittent windshield wiper mechanism, which has become a standard feature in most cars worldwide. After inventing and patenting this system, he tried to interest the Big Three auto makers (General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler) in licensing the technology. Each rejected his proposal, yet began to install electronic intermittent wipers based on Kearnss design in their cars. Kearns went on to win multimillion-dollar patent infringement cases against Ford Motor and Chrysler for using his idea, a legal battle that later became the basis for a biographical feature film, Flash of Genius, in 2008. Here we explore more about the events that took place.
About Robert Kearns
Robert William Kearns (March 10, 1927 – February 9, 2005) was an American mechanical engineer, educator, and inventor who invented the most common 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, after a few previous designs by other inventors had failed to gain any traction in manufacturing. Kearns won one of the best known patent infringement cases against Ford Motor Company (1978–1990) an...
More about Robert Kearns→Added
Know someone who'd love this clip?
Help us preserve music history — share it with friends and fellow fans.
