Patent ID: 6979966

Claim:
A method for detecting a motor position of a motor having at least two motor windings and at least two terminals for the motor windings, which comprises: connecting the motor to a drive circuit having a number of switch configurations corresponding to a number of the motor windings, each of the switch configurations having at least one switch and an output terminal; connecting each of the terminals of the motor to an output terminal of a respective one of the switch configurations; providing drive signals assuming one of a first level and a second level to the at least one switch of the switch configurations, the at least one switch of the switch configurations being in one of an on state and an off state dependent upon a level of the drive signals; subjecting the drive signals having the first and second levels to a mutually coordinated temporal change and adjusting a power consumption of the motor with pulse-width modulated drive signals; and detecting the motor position by evaluating potentials at the at least two terminals of the motor only during predetermined time periods having a temporal position and a duration derived from the drive signals.