Power window
Overview
American English
American English is a set of dialects of the English language used mostly in the United States. Approximately two-thirds of the world's native speakers of English live in the United States....
) as well as electric or power window lifts (British English
British English
British English, or English , is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere...
) are automobile
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
window
Window
A window is a transparent or translucent opening in a wall or door that allows the passage of light and, if not closed or sealed, air and sound. Windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent material like float glass. Windows are held in place by frames, which...
s which can be raised and lowered by depressing a button or switch
Switch
In electronics, a switch is an electrical component that can break an electrical circuit, interrupting the current or diverting it from one conductor to another....
, as opposed to using a hand-turned crank handle
Crank (mechanism)
A crank is an arm attached at right angles to a rotating shaft by which reciprocating motion is imparted to or received from the shaft. It is used to change circular into reciprocating motion, or reciprocating into circular motion. The arm may be a bent portion of the shaft, or a separate arm...
.
Packard
Packard
Packard was an American luxury-type automobile marque built by the Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan, and later by the Studebaker-Packard Corporation of South Bend, Indiana...
introduced the first power windows (along with automotive air-conditioning systems) in the 1940 Packard 180
Packard 180
The Packard 180 was introduced for the 1940 model year by the Packard Motor Car Company to replace the discontinued V-12 as their top-of-the-line luxury model. Correct name of the model was Custom Super Eight One-Eighty...
series. This was a hydro-electric system. In 1941, the Ford
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
Motor Company followed quickly with power windows on the Lincoln Custom
Lincoln Custom
The Lincoln Custom was a custom limousine and long-wheelbase touring sedan from Ford's Lincoln luxury division, manufactured only in 1941 and 1942...
(only the limousine and seven-passenger sedans).
