In known windshield wipers for vehicles, the wiper blade normally sweeps over a sector of the windshield in which the radial extension is determined by the length of the short side of the rectangular surface of the windshield. In order to increase the wiping area outside of the sector, the wiper blade may be made to slide in its length direction at the same time it performs its swinging-wiping movement. Thus, by a choice of a suitable swinging and sliding movement the windshield surfaces that are wiped constitute a substantially rectangular shape. However, the construction and arrangement necessary for operating the wiper blade with a combination swinging and sliding movement is often complex and expensive to manufacture. Another disadvantage of this construction is that the complex structure materially reduces the functional reliability of the wiping device.
A windshield wiper is also known in which the wiper blade is supported by a holder consisting of two parts movably connected to each other, and located flush with the windshield. In this construction, the wiper blade is divided into two portions which, for adjustment of the operative length of the wiping blade to the shape of the wiped surface, makes a maximum angle of 90.degree. with each other. It should be evident that the severe bending of the wiper blade may lead to stresses in wiper blade and consequently causing the wiper blade to break. Obviously, this construction results in a shorter life of the wiper blade compared to conventional wiper blades.