Patent ID: 7948099

Claim:
A method of controlling the power supply of an electric starter ( 1 ) that drives the internal combustion engine ( 3 ) of a vehicle, which electric starter comprises an actuator to ensure the engagement of a starter output pinion with a ring gear of the internal combustion engine, wherein the starter ( 1 ) power supply is stopped after each power supply phase for a first predetermined period (T OFF ); the duration of each of the starter power supply phases is limited to a predetermined duration (T V0 ), on the order of a second, if the speed of the internal combustion engine remains zero during the starter power supply phase; the starter power supply phases have a maximum duration (T ON ) on the order of about ten seconds; and wherein if the duration of a power supply phase has been limited because the speed of the internal combustion engine has remained zero during a starter power supply phase, the starter power supply is stopped for a predetermined duration (T OFF ); a counter is incremented for the number (N ON ) of power supply phases; and, after incrementing the counter, the system returns ( 42 ) into a waiting state.