Patent ID: 8497715

Claim:
An electrical load driving apparatus comprising: a plurality of current supply wires connected in parallel with one another, each of the current supply wires being connected to one of a high voltage terminal and a low voltage terminal of a power source at one end thereof, and being connected to one end of an electrical load at the other end thereof, the other end of the electrical load being electrically connected with the other of the high voltage terminal and the low voltage terminal of the power source; a plurality of current supply transistors having one control terminal and two output terminals, each of the current supply transistors being interposed in a corresponding one of the current supply wires at the two output terminals thereof to supply a current to the electrical load when being turned on during a current supply period in which the electrical load is configured to be supplied with the current continuously; a check period generating section that successively generates a first check period within the current supply period, a specific one of the current supply transistors being turned on in a completely turn-on state where a voltage difference between the two output terminals thereof is lower than or equal to a predetermined value so that the specific current supply transistor is turned on completely, the current supply transistors other than the specific current supply transistor being turned on in a low current supply performance state where a voltage difference between the two output terminals thereof is higher than the predetermined value so that the current supply transistors other than the specific current supply transistor are turned on incompletely, the specific current supply transistor being selected from among all of the current supply transistors in sequence within the current supply period; and a wire breakage determining means configured to determine, upon detecting that a voltage variation in a voltage of one of the two output terminals, which is located on the side near the electrical load with respect to the current supply transistors and between any one of the current supply transistors and any other one of the current supply transistors, exceeds a predetermined threshold, that a wire breakage is present in a portion of one of the current supply wires on the side near the electrical load with respect to the current supply transistors.