Isn’t it frustrating not being able to see riding your motorcycle in the rain? RainPal – A life-saving electronic wiper device that fits onto existing motorcycle helmet visors in 2 seconds. If you would like to see our campaign on Indiegogo click here.
No one would drive a car without wipers, why drive a motorcycle without a wiper? When riding a motorcycle in rain visibility diminishes so much we thought we must solve this. How often are you frustrated almost having an accident in the rain as you did not see something until it was nearly too late?
Do you feel tired or stressed riding in the rain? Perhaps you have even had an accident because of poor visibility in the rain.
RainPal provides 140degree of rain cleared vision giving a better field of vision than in a car and better than another motorcycle rider except of course other RainPal users.
RainPal’s current design is the evolution of several earlier concept designs over the past year. Our original idea was a replacement visor with an integrated wiper as most helmets are designed with quick release visors it would be fast to change during rain. The problem with a system like this is that the attachment system varies greatly between models and/or again between manufacturers therefore to find a universal attachment system, or even an attachment system to fit most full face visors would be extremely difficult if not impossible.
Our second idea was similar to a goggle with a wiper system that went over the existing visor but again there was a fixing issue of how to attach to the helmet. A band around the helmet was the only method that came to mind. However there was a more important issue as the goggle and the visor would be very close, separated by only about 1cm this design we felt would have condensation/misting/fogging issues due to the temperature difference between the user’s face and external conditions especially in cold or cool climates. Whereas a double glazing system has a vacuum seal between the inner and outer glass to avoid this issue a vacuum would not be possible to achieve conveniently in this situation.
Our final design is unique in not only it’s cosmetic look which we feel is very sleek but more importantly from the safety provided by the 140degrees large area wiped clear of rain. There are no comparisons.
We researched and evaluated many attachment systems. In addition to being very safe we wanted the system to be quick and easy to fit. The final system takes around 2 seconds by merely sliding RainPal over an existing visor with a secondary fail-safe detachment system utilising the use of clamps, suction cups, an inner fail-safe suction cup this is a unique attachment method. We designed a fail-safe detachment system so that should the unit be incorrectly fitted to the visor RainPal can still not come away from a closed visor. Once the visor is closed there is no gap at the top of the visor where it meets the helmet. By having an Inner Fail-Safe Suction Cup even if the unit was to come loose this suction cup would not be able to move between the visor and the helmet therefore RainPal stays attached. In addition the faster the rider is travelling the greater the wind force to make this bond even stronger. Nature working with RainPal. Uplift on RainPal is not a problem as there are gaps between the compressed cushions (which stop any vibration) enabling air to move freely in between the visor and RainPal.
To enable fitment to many shapes of visors RainPal flexes around 5cms at the outer edges.
We decided upon a vertical wipe of 140degrees as opposed to an arc or half circular wipe enabling a greater frontal viewing area and a large area of side view, enabling you to see earlier those impatient drivers pulling out of side turnings and other dangers. Being a vertical wipe there is no horizontal disorientation of the true horizon possible with a horizontal wipe.
To minimise any blind spot RainPal uses probably the thinnest wiper in the world at just 1mm of contact point with a 2mm shaft.
We have spent all of 2014 year designing RainPal for you.
After extensive multi-level testing in Ansys simulation software the unit we designed to work at up to driving speeds of 160kmh (99mph) which we felt was high enough in the rain even on excellent roads.
Driving a motorcycle in some places is so dangerous by the time you have read from the start of this sentence to here 2 people will have died in a traffic accident on a motorbike because in the world 2 people die on average every second, of every minute, of every hour, of every day as it is always raining somewhere in the world. China alone has 100m motorcycles.
RainPal aims to drastically reduce the number of deaths for motorcycle riders, by purchasing RainPal you improve your own safety when riding in the rain, or recommend RainPal to a friend and help save their life.
The cost is a small price to pay for the immense added safety RainPal offers. In many countries it can rain any time, any day of any month so having RainPal stored in your bike all the time can be a massive improvement for your safety.
Summary of Features:
1. Easy, fast attachment.
2. 140degrees of clear vision
3. Probably the thinnest wiper in the world at 1mm with a ultra-thin 2mm shaft.
4. Variable wiper speed
5. Variable delay/intermittent wipe.
6. LED lighting for installation at night.
7. Choice of on-board controls, or Wireless control which can be fitted to the steering etc
8. Easy storage under the seat, back box or side box.
9. Over 60 minutes of full speed battery life.
10. Easy to recharge via USB.
11. Lightweight
We are currently raising funding on Indiegogo to take us forward to cover mass production mould costs, packaging, storage, insurance, certifications for example, CE and bringing RainPal to market that much faster. Together we can save lives.
We are a small group of people and without you we cannot make RainPal and save lives all over the world including perhaps your own life. Every donation matters to us as this campaign will determine if we can continue to manufacture RainPal. Without your contributions we cannot afford to manufacture RainPal so please donate or purchase RainPal and help save not only your own life, or a colleague, but people all over the world by giving them a chance to purchase RainPal by helping take us into production. There is no other visor wiper system on the market which is one of the reasons we have applied for a Patent and have Design Rights.
Other ways to help! Even if you do not have the money now please share news of you finding RainPal with your family and friends on Facebook, Twitter etc.
The road ahead is clear! If you would like to see our campaign on Indiegogo click here.
