DEVICE AND METHOD FOR SAFETY DEACTIVATION OF AN ELECTRIC CONSUMER IN A VEHICLE

In the safety shutdown of an electrical consumer (14) in a vehicle, the power consumption of the consumer (14) in its active state is monitored by a main monitoring unit (41) with respect to a safety shutdown threshold which, when reached or exceeded, leads to the generation of a shutdown signal (43) for switching off the electronic switch (18) by the main monitoring unit (41). In another operating state differing from its active state, in which the power consumption of the line leading to the at least one consumer (14) is lower than in its active state, the power consumption is monitored by an auxiliary monitoring unit (47) with respect to the speed of changes. The main monitoring unit (41) is deactivated when the consumer (14) is in the further operating state or in one of the further operating states, or is operated in a standby mode with reduced functionality and power consumption compared to an activation of the main monitoring unit (41). The main monitoring unit (41) is activated to monitor the power consumption of the consumer (14) with respect to reaching or exceeding the safety shutdown threshold when the consumer (14) is in the further operating state or one of the further operating states, when the speed of changes in power consumption reaches or exceeds a first threshold value (38) and/or falls below or exceeds a first voltage range.