Robert Kearns
Robert Kearns was born in Gary, Indiana, United States on March 10th, 1927 and is the Entrepreneur. At the age of 77, Robert Kearns biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.
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Robert William Kearns (March 10, 1927 – February 9, 2005) was an American engineer, lecturer, and physicist who created the most common intermittent windshield wiper systems used on most automobiles from 1969 to 2005.
Since a few previous attempts by other ingenuities failed to gain any traction in manufacturing, his first patent for the invention was filed on December 1, 1964. Kearns won one of the first patent infringement cases against Ford Motor Company (1978–1990) and a lawsuit against Chrysler Corporation (1982–1992).
He aimed to convince the "Big Three" automakers (General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler) in licensing the technology. He invented and patented the intermittent windshield wiper system, which was useful in the event of rain or mist.
Everybody turned down his plan, but some people started using electronic intermittent wipers based on Kearns' design in their cars, beginning in 1969, when Ford introduced the function to its Mercury range. Kearns' legal battle against Ford to protect his invention and patent was the subject of an article in The New Yorker magazine in 1993, which became the basis for a full-length biographical feature film titled Flash of Genius in 2008.
Actor Greg Kinnear played Kearns.
Kearns and his partner, Phyllis, had six children together, but they separated due to the strain from the legal war.
At the age of 77, he died of brain cancer at the age of 77.
Education and early career
Kearns served in the US Army in intelligence related groups and tool manufacturing. He was a member of the Office of Strategic Services, the forerunner of the U.S. CIA, during World War II.
He earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Detroit Mercy, a master's degree in engineering mechanics from Wayne State University, and a doctorate from Case Institute of Technology.
Family and career
Robert Kearns was the son of Martin J. Kearns & Mary E. O'Hara. Kearns and his family moved to Montgomery Village, Maryland in 1971 where he worked for the National Bureau of Standards creating a standard for measuring skid resistance on roadways. His youngest son, 14 at the time and too young to be served court papers, answered the family's door when visitors arrived. In 1976, the intermittent wiper feature appeared on a Mercedes auto, and Kearns soon suffered a mental breakdown. After winning the Ford and Chrysler cases, Kearns moved to Maryland's Eastern Shore.
In the late 1990s, he served on the board of directors of the Veterans of the Office of Strategic Services and the General William J. Donovan Memorial Fund.