Patent ID: 7210055

Claim:
An electronic control apparatus comprising: a timer circuit which is operated by a power supply voltage continuously outputted from a first power supply circuit; a second power supply circuit which outputs a power supply voltage when any one of a predetermined switch signal inputted from an external circuit and an operation command signal generated within the apparatus is in an active level; and a microcomputer which is operated by a power supply voltage outputted from the second power supply circuit, wherein the electronic control apparatus activates the microcomputer through processes that the timer circuit starts a counting operation after the switch signal changes to a passive level from the active level, the operation command signal to the second power supply circuit from the timer circuit changes to the active level when the count value of the timer circuit reaches a predetermined specified value and thereby the power supply voltage is outputted from the second power supply circuit; wherein the microcomputer executes, when having started operation thereof by receiving the power supply voltage from the second power supply circuit, an activation cause determination process to determine whether a present activation is caused by the switch signal or the timer circuit, maintains a condition that the power supply voltage is outputted from the second power supply circuit by continuously setting the operation command signal to the second power supply circuit to the active level only for a period until the particular process is terminated when it is determined by the activation cause determination process that the present activation is caused by the timer circuit, determines, when it is determined, on the contrary, in the activation cause determination process, that the present activation is caused by the switch signal, whether the count value of the timer circuit exceeds the specified value or the determination value which is set closer to the final value side of the count value of the timer circuit than the specified value and also performs, when the affirmative result is determined, the failure detecting process to determine a failure occurs in the functions of the timer circuit; and the specified value is set to the preceding value of the final value of the count value of the timer circuit and the timer circuit continues the counting operation even after the count value reaches the specified value; and wherein the microcomputer sets, when it is determined by the activation cause determination process that the present activation is caused by the timer circuit, a flag indicating the activation by the timer circuit, determines whether the flag is set or not when it is determined in the activation cause determination process that the present activation is caused by the switch signal and does not determine occurrence of a failure in the failure detecting process when the flag is set.