Patent ID: 8633662

Claim:
A method for operating a motor, wherein the motor comprises a plurality of electromagnets configured around a rotor, the method comprising: controlling each electromagnet of the plurality of electromagnets through a respective drive transistor pair, wherein at least one respective drive transistor pair is enabled at any point in time to energize its corresponding electromagnet; determining a present position of the rotor; controlling each respective drive transistor pair according to said determining; overlapping on-times and off-times of the respective drive transistor pairs with respect to a commutation command operative to switch from a first electromagnet of the plurality of electromagnets to a second electromagnet of the plurality of electromagnets, wherein the first electromagnet is energized and the second electromagnet is not energized, wherein switching from the first electromagnet to the second electromagnet is performed to de-energize the first electromagnet and to energize the second electromagnet, and wherein said overlapping is performed by delaying one or more of: the on-times of the respective drive transistor pairs; or the off-times of the respective drive transistor pairs; and adjusting the on-times and off-times of the respective drive transistor pairs during said overlapping such that respective currents in the first electromagnet and in the second electromagnet are prevented from changing direction while switching from the first electromagnet to the second electromagnet.