Internal combustion engine, and control apparatus and method thereof

Abstract

The method of air to be introduced is controlled for each cylinder, whereby it is intended to make it possible to control the torque generated in each cylinder, perform an ultra-lean burn operation, purify the exhaust gas, and increase the output of an engine. An air flow control valve adapted to be on-off controlled in accordance with an operated quantity of an accelerator pedal is disposed in each branch pipe or intake port. The air flow control valve may be a throttle valve disposed in each branch pipe or it may be a variable intake valve for opening and closing the intake port.

1 . An apparatus for controlling an internal combustion engine, comprising: 
 an accelerator pedal;    an accelerator sensor for detecting an operated quantity of the accelerator pedal;    a control circuit which produces a control signal in accordance with an output of said accelerator sensor;    an intake valve disposed in an intake port of each cylinder in the internal combustion engine; and    an actuator which controls an opening/closing timing and/or stroke of said intake valve in accordance with the control signal outputted from said control circuit.    
     
     
         2 . A method for controlling an internal combustion engine, wherein the opening/closing timing and/or the stroke of at least one of intake/exhaust valves in an engine are/is controlled in accordance with an operated quantity of an accelerator pedal.  
     
     
         3 . A method for controlling an internal combustion engine, comprising the steps of: 
 determining a required amount of air required for each cylinder in the internal combustion engine; and    controlling the opening/closing timing and/or the stroke of each intake valve in accordance with the required amount of air thus determined.    
     
     
         4 . An internal combustion engine provided with intake valves for controlling the opening and closing of intake ports formed in cylinders, wherein the on-off condition of each said intake valve is defined as a function of an operated quantity of an accelerator pedal.  
     
     
         5 . A method for controlling an output torque of an internal combustion engine in accordance with the degree of opening of an accelerator pedal, wherein said output torque is controlled in accordance with the on-off condition of each intake valve provided in the engine.  
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 5 , wherein an intake quantity detecting sensor is provided and the on-off condition of the intake valve is feedback-controlled in accordance with an output signal provided from said intake quantity detecting sensor.  
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 5 , wherein an internal cylinder pressure sensor for detecting an internal cylinder pressure is provided and the on-off condition of the intake valve is feedback-controlled in accordance with an output signal provided from said internal cylinder pressure sensor.  
     
     
         8 . A method for controlling an internal combustion engine, wherein a torque sensor for detecting a rotational torque of the engine is provided and the on-off condition of an intake valve is controlled in accordance with an output signal provided from said torque sensor.  
     
     
         9 . An internal combustion engine provided with intake valves for controlling the opening and closing of intake ports formed in cylinders and an air flow sensor for detecting the amount of air introduced into the cylinders, wherein the on-off condition of each said intake valve is defined as a function of both an operated quantity of an accelerator pedal and an output signal provided from said air flow sensor.  
     
     
         10 . An apparatus for controlling an internal combustion engine operated by introducing air from intake ports of cylinders, wherein an air flow control valve for controlling the amount of air to be introduced into each cylinder in accordance with an operated quantity of an accelerator pedal is provided in each branch passage and/or each intake port.  
     
     
         11 . A method for controlling an output torque of each cylinder in an internal combustion engine, wherein the output torque of each cylinder is controlled by controlling the amount of air introduced into each cylinder.  
     
     
         12 . A variable intake valve mechanism in an internal combustion engine, comprising: 
 an intake valve for opening and closing each intake port formed in each cylinder;    a motor-driven actuator for actuating said intake valve electrically; and    a control circuit which produces a control signal for said motor-driven actuator, 
 wherein said control circuit produces the control signal for said motor-driven actuator in accordance with an operated quantity of an accelerator pedal.  
   
     
     
         13 . An apparatus for controlling the torque of an internal combustion engine, comprising: 
 branch pipes connected respectively to intake ports in cylinders to feed air to the cylinders;    a main intake pipe connected to an upstream side of said branch pipes to introduce air to the branch pipes;    a reverse flow detection type air flow sensor disposed in said main intake pipe and capable of measuring the amount of air flow through each said branch pipe, including the amount of air reverse flowing through the branch pipe;    a torque measuring means for measuring an output torque of the engine;    an air flow control valve for controlling the amount of air flowing through each said branch pipe in accordance with an operated quantity of an accelerator pedal; and    an air flow control valve opening compensating means for compensating the degree of opening of said air flow control valve in accordance with a variation in output of said torque measuring means to adjust the amount of air flowing through each said branch pipe.