Patent ID: 6864650

Claim:
A control system for controlling a motor of a winch, comprising: a power supply; a controller unit attached to said power supply; a user operable control device for providing input signals to said controller unit; a control circuit connected to said power supply and including four high current, non-mechanical electronic switches each of said electronic switches being operable between an open state and a closed state in response to respective control signals from said controller unit, a first two of said electronic switches being provided in parallel upstream of a motor field winding and a second two of said electronic switches being provided in parallel downstream of the motor field winding such that closing one of said first two of said electronic switches and one of said second two of said electronic switches causes current to flow through said motor field winding in a first direction while closing a second of said first two of said electronic switches and a second of said second two of said electronic switches causes current to flow through said motor field winding in a second direction opposite to said first direction, wherein said four high current non-mechanical electronic switches include MOSFET switches each controlled by low current control signals from said controller unit.