Patent ID: 8432060

Claim:
A device for the electrical actuation of a safety-critical system comprising: an electrical switching device having at least two terminals; at least one switch disposed within the electrical switching device; an operator control element mounted upon the electrical switching device, by means of which at least two operating states for the system are selectable and by means of which switching positions of the at least one switch are determined; and at least one current direction element included within the electrical switching device so that for at least one of the at least two operating states, a unidirectional current flow occurs between the at least two terminals, with the unidirectional current flow between the at least two terminals occurring for one operating state in the direction from the first to the second terminal and for a further operating state in a reverse direction from the second to the first terminal; wherein the at least two terminals of the device are electrically connected to an electronic control unit for the safety critical system, in particular an electromechanical parking brake system for a motor vehicle, that carries out at least one of open- or closed-loop control of the safety critical system in accordance with the operating state selected at the operator control element.