Control device, especially for vehicle braking light control

摘要

A control device is provided with a controllable element and a control unit that delivers an output signal which, when a control command signal applied to the input side is at an activating level, continuously or periodically assumes an activating level and continuously assumes a deactivating level when the control command signal is at a deactivating level or there is a functional failure of the control unit. The control device incorporates a redundancy logic unit that logically links the control command signal with the output signal of the control unit to form the control signal for the controllable element in such fashion that when the output signal of the control unit is continuously at its deactivating level, the control signal, corresponding to the control command signal, is at its activating or deactivating level, while otherwise the control signal is at its activating or deactivating signal level depending on the level of the output signal of the control unit. The control device can be used for controlling the brake lights of a vehicle.