Patent ID: 7568468

Claim:
A method for operating an internal combustion engine having a fuel pump with a drive shaft, the fuel pump conveying fuel into at least one fuel-collection line, the fuel being subsequently conveyed to at least one combustion chamber via at least one fuel-injection device, the method comprising: setting, by means of a valve device, a quantity of the fuel conveyed by the fuel pump into the fuel-collection line; wherein the valve device is configured to selectively connect a discharge side of the fuel pump to a low-pressure region of the fuel pump, and wherein the valve device is configured to selectively disconnect the discharge side from the low-pressure region, and wherein, in supplying the quantity of fuel, a supply rate, defined as the number of supply phases of the fuel pump per rotation of the drive shaft, is determined as a function of at least one operating parameter of the internal combustion engine; ascertaining at least one of (1) an interval between a first supply phase of a new supply-rate interval and a last supply phase of a preceding supply-rate interval, wherein a supply-rate interval is defined as an interval having a specific supply rate, and (2) a duration of the first supply phase of the new supply-rate interval; and changing the supply rate.