Patent ID: 6990967

Claim:
A potentiometer device, for detecting valve positions, connected to send a voltage signal U s to a control unit, the potentiometer device comprising: a carrier element; and at least one slider disposed on the carrier element, and a slider element in contact with the slider track, wherein the slider track switches between a supply voltage U v of the control unit and a ground, and the slider element is connected with the control unit by a protective resistance over an output; wherein the control unit comprises: an A/D converter; and a first resistance, for detecting a cable disconnect, connected to the A/D converter, wherein the first resistance is selected from the group consisting of a pull-down resistance connected between voltage signal U s and ground, and a pull-up resistance connected between supply voltage U v and voltage signal U s ; wherein the potentiometer device further comprises a second resistance connected to the output, wherein when the first resistance is selected as the pull-down resistance then the second resistance is a pull-up resistance connected between the supply voltage U v and the voltage signal U s , and when the first resistance is selected as the pull-up resistance then the second resistance is a pull-down resistance connected between the voltage signal U s and the ground.