Power Window Switch
In today's increasingly modern world, where owning laptops, iPods and other technological gadgets is the norm rather than the exception, can you imagine using a small hand crank to roll your own car windows down? Sure, that's a bit of an exaggeration. Many cars still come with manual windows, but increasingly, power window switches have become the norm when it comes to rolling your car window down and getting some good, clean fresh air. In fact, we can probably say that power window switches are the rule while manual, hand crank windows are the exception.
But have you ever thought about power window switches? What makes your car windows go up and down better than good old elbow grease? What is up with those other automatic features, such as the power window that is smart enough to know when your husband forgot to take his arm out of the window and, fortunately, stops when it notices the obstruction? All of these automotive wonders have to do with one thing – the power window switch.
The lifting mechanism is an extremely important part of the power window system. If you were to take this out and look at it, it would look like a lever and pulley system with gears and a small electric motor. The worm gear and several spur gears work together to create a larger gear reduction, bestowing the power window switch lifting mechanism with enough torque to pull the window up. This is important for reasons of, of course, running the power window switch just as it is important for a reason you may not have thought of – safety. One important element of power windows in cars is that they are unable to be forced open. This is a safety feature that has surely kept many people safe over the years. But why can't power windows be forced open? That's where that little and oddly named "worm gear" comes in. These gears have a self-locking feature. To life the window, the worm spins the gear, but the opposite – the gear spinning the worm – is impossible. Therefore there is no way that a power window can be forced down. If that wasn't all, power windows also often include special features like auto up or auto down, and child safety protections to keep tots from getting limbs (or more!) through car windows.
One thing that you may not have known is that the very same lifting mechanism used in power windows is also often used in manual windows. The only difference is, of course, the method of generating the "power" to open and close the windows. The power window switch is, naturally, powered by an electric motor, while energy created by hand cranking is used to raise and lower manual windows.
The term power window switch refers to the actual button the driver presses in order to get the window to follow his or her command to roll up or roll down. These power window switches are, of course, connected to the window's lifting mechanism by mechanical wiring. One of the most basic types of power window switch wiring is the method which allows the driver of the car to control all four windows and the child protection or safety controls on all windows in the car.
In that basic system, the power window's power is fed to the driver's door through a circuit breaker. When the driver gives the car a signal by pushing the power window switch, the power is distributed to a contact in the center of a control panel that controls each window. From there, the power is routed to which ever window the driver wished to control. And then, viola, through the one touch magic of the power window switch the window is raised, lowered, or locked.
