Patent ID: 7019479

Claim:
In an electronically commutatable motor for use as a drive motor of a safety-critical auxiliary drive unit in a motor vehicle with a multi-phase excitation winding in the stator, which, in order to generate a torque for a permanent magnet rotor, can be connected to a direct current source via a motor control unit and a commutation device equipped with semiconductor switches, the improvement comprising means for suppressing or at least partially compensating for a braking moment that is generated by the motor in the event of a winding short and/or a malfunction in the semiconductor switches of the commutation device by the operation of the motor with the remaining unaffected phase windings, wherein the motor comprises a full-bridge circuit comprised of semiconductor switches operable to connect the phase windings ( 12 , 14 , 16 ) of the multi-phase excitation winding individually to the direct current source ( 38 ).