Patent ID: 8428906

Claim:
A method for determining a mixup of terminals of a position encoder, the method comprising: setting, by a setting arrangement, an actuating element of the position encoder to a zero setting, wherein the position encoder has a position encoder motor which is bidirectionally drivable via a plurality of terminals, so that a mixup of at least two of the terminals of the position encoder motor leads to a reversal of the direction of the actuation motion of the position encoder; driving, by a control unit, the position encoder motor according to a diagnostic variable, which is selected so that, based on the actuation using the diagnostic variable, in the case of a non-mixup of the terminals and in the case of a mixup of the terminals, different absolute values of the changes are to be expected in the changes of the actuation position of the actuating element; recording, by a position encoder sensor, a current change in the actuation position of the actuating element that comes about by the driving of the position encoder motor; and establishing, by the control unit, a mixup of at least two of the terminals, if the absolute value of the current change of the actuation position of the actuating element deviates from the absolute value of the change in the actuation position that is to be expected.