Patent ID: 8288975

Claim:
A brushless direct current motor, comprising: a stator having windings configured to generate a plurality of magnetic fields; a rotor having a plurality of magnets, the rotor rotatable by the plurality of magnetic fields; and a drive circuit for driving the windings, the drive circuit including a plurality of power inputs and a common input, an input interface coupled to the plurality of power inputs and the common input and configured to receive an alternating current voltage across one of the plurality of power inputs and the common input and output the alternating current voltage, the input interface including a plurality of isolation devices configured to provide an indication based on the received alternating current voltage, a filter and a rectifier configured to filter and rectify the alternating current voltage to a direct current voltage, a controller configured to receive the direct current voltage from the rectifier and the indication from the input interface and to generate a control signal based on the indication, the indication identifying which of the plurality of power inputs the alternating current voltage is applied to, and means for powering the windings based on the control signal, the powering means including an inverter.