Patent ID: 8416546

Claim:
A method for detecting a state of a load device that can be connected to a switching connection in a circuit configuration, wherein the switching connection can be coupled to and decoupled from a predefined switching potential, the method which comprises: using a voltage drop across the switching connection as a basis for determining whether the load device is connected to the switching connection, the load device is not connected to the switching connection, or there exists a short circuit between the switching connection and a ground potential or a non-zero supply potential; and connecting an additional current source to the switching connection at the same time as the switching connection is decoupled from the predefined switching potential; selecting the circuit configuration from the group consisting of a first circuit configuration and a second circuit configuration, wherein: in the first circuit configuration, the load device is connected between the switching connection and the ground potential, a controllable switch is connected between the switching connection and the non-zero supply potential, and the additional current source is connected between the switching connection and the ground potential; and in the second circuit configuration, the load device is connected between the non-zero supply potential and the switching connection, a controllable switch is connected between the switching connection and the ground potential, and the additional current source is connected between a positive potential, which is different from the non-zero supply potential, and the switching connection.