Patent ID: 7088565

Claim:
An apparatus for driving and controlling a load being driven, comprising: a drive control circuit, which operates on a driving power to be supplied thereto, for controlling a drive of the load responsive to a control signal given depending on how to drive the load, the control of the load including an overheat protection control performed with a hysteresis characteristic of a temperature of at least one of a component placed in the drive control circuit and the load, the overheat protection control involving a drive-limiting operation limiting the drive of the load when an overheat state is detected based on the temperature, the hysteresis characteristic of the temperature having an upper temperature and a lower temperature; and a mode switchover circuit for switching the driving power used in the drive control circuit between a normal mode and a stand-by mode in response to the control signal, the stand-by mode stopping the driving power to the load and the normal mode allowing the driving power to be supplied to the load, wherein either the drive control circuit or the mode switchover circuit has means for prohibiting a transition from the normal mode to the stand-by mode during the drive-limiting operation regardless of a value of the control signal, as long as the temperature is higher than the lower temperature.