Patent ID: 8662602

Claim:
A brake control apparatus comprising: a master cylinder arranged to raise an internal pressure of a wheel cylinder of a vehicle; a booster arranged to raise the internal pressure of the wheel cylinder by operating the master cylinder by an electric motor in accordance with or independently of operation of a brake pedal of the vehicle; a pressure regulator provided with a hydraulic pressure source, and arranged to raise the internal pressure of the wheel cylinder independently of operation of the master cylinder; and a control section including: a first controller connected for signal communication to the booster, and configured to control the electric motor of the booster, wherein the first controller includes a processor and a driver, wherein the driver is configured to drive the electric motor, wherein sensing information is inputted to the processor from a stroke sensor arranged to measure a stroke of the brake pedal; and a second controller connected for signal communication to the pressure regulator, and configured to control the pressure regulator, to receive input of sensing information from a master cylinder pressure sensor and to receive input of the sensing information from the stroke sensor through the processor, wherein the master cylinder pressure sensor is configured to measure an internal pressure of the master cylinder, the control section being configured to: detect that at least one of the booster and the first controller is in a state of malfunction; select one of backup modes in accordance with the state of malfunction, wherein the backup modes include first and second backup modes; select the first backup mode in response to detecting a condition that the processor of the first controller is in a state of malfunction; select the second backup mode in response to detecting a state of malfunction in which it is impossible to normally drive the electric motor of the booster except when detecting the condition; control the internal pressure of the wheel cylinder by operating the pressure regulator by the second controller based on the sensing information of the master cylinder pressure sensor without operation of the booster when in the first backup mode; and control the internal pressure of the wheel cylinder by operating the pressure regulator by the second controller based on the sensing information of the stroke sensor when in the second backup mode.