Saturday, February 26, 2005

Robert Kearns, inventor of intermittent wipers, dies at 77

Associated Press

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DETROIT -- Robert Kearns, the inventor of intermittent windshield wipers, has died of cancer, according to family members. He was 77.

Kearns died Feb. 9 at his home in suburban Baltimore and was buried in Michigan on a misty Valentine's Day.

"It was going just enough to have the wipers going on intermittent. I thought, 'How appropriate,'" Kearns' daughter, Maureen Kearns, told the Detroit Free Press for a story published Friday.

Kearns was born in Gary, Ind., and grew up in suburban Detroit. He was a member of the Office of Strategic Services, the forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency, during World War II. After the war, he earned engineering degrees from the University of Detroit and Wayne State University and a doctorate from Case Western Reserve University.

In 1967, Kearns patented the intermittent wipers he invented. He demonstrated the system to Ford Motor Co., which introduced cars with intermittent wipers in 1978. Other automakers soon followed.

Kearns filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Ford and collected $10 million in 1990. Five years later, the U.S. Supreme Court let Kearns collect around $21 million from Chrysler Corp. for using his design.

Kearns, who was acting as his own lawyer, was disappointed because the court didn't bar the company from continuing to use the wipers. He called the decision "a travesty" and left the money uncollected for years. Much of his money went back into other lawsuits against General Motors Corp. and around 20 other automakers.

U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn, who presided over five of Kearns' trials, said Kearns was frustrated because he wanted to be a major manufacturer.

"He was feisty, determined and he established the fact that he made a contribution to the auto industry that was unique," Cohn said. "His zeal got ahead of his judgment."

Maureen Kearns said her father's home was filled with legal files. After a point, she said, "his life was simply this battle."

Kearns suffered from Alzheimer's disease in his final years.

Kearns is survived by his daughters, Maureen Kearns and Kathleen Corsetty; sons Dennis, Timothy, Patrick and Bob; a brother; and seven grandchildren.