Internal combustion engine having variable valve control system and NOx catalyst

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6729126
  • Patent Number
    6,729,126
  • Date Filed
    Friday, December 27, 2002
    21 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, May 4, 2004
    20 years ago
Abstract
An apparatus is provided which includes an internal combustion engine of a lean-burn type, an NOx catalyst disposed in an exhaust passage of the engine so as to remove nitrogen oxides contained in exhaust gas emitted from the engine, and a variable valve control system capable of changing at least one of the opening and closing timing and a lift of the intake valve and/or the exhaust valve for each cylinder of the engine. The variable valve control system is controlled so that the exhaust gas to which the NOx catalyst is exposed is controlled so as to be suitable for removing a selected gaseous component from the NOx catalyst when the selected gaseous component should be removed. A method of purifying an exhaust gas emitted from the above engine is also provided.
Description




INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE




The disclosures of Japanese Patent Applications No. 2000-078986 filed on Mar. 21, 2000 and No. 2000-107101 filed on Apr. 7, 2000, each including the specification, drawings and abstract, are incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




The invention relates in general to an internal combustion engine installed on a vehicle, such as an automotive vehicle, and more particularly to an internal combustion engine which includes a variable valve control system capable of changing the opening and closing timing and/or a lift of each of intake and exhaust valves mounted in the engine.




2. Description of Related Art




Internal combustion engines installed on automobiles have recently been desired to purify exhaust gases emitted from the engines of harmful gaseous components such as hydrocarbon (HC), carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) contained therein, before the exhaust gases are released into the atmosphere.




In order to meet the above-indicated demand, a known technique provides a three-way catalyst in the exhaust passage of the internal combustion engine. The three-way catalyst is arranged to reduce or remove hydrocarbon (HC), carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) contained in exhaust gases that have a predetermined air/fuel ratio equal to or close to the stoichiometric air/fuel ratio. For controlling the air/fuel ratio of the exhaust gases to which the three-way catalyst is exposed, the air/fuel ratio of an air-fuel mixture to be introduced into the engine is controlled in a feedback fashion, so that the exhaust gases emitted from the engine have the predetermined air-fuel ratio, enabling the three-way catalyst to purify the exhaust gases of desired harmful gaseous components.




On the other hand, internal combustion engines of lean-burn type have been developed for use on automobiles, in an effort to reduce the required amount of consumption of the fuel by the engine. The lean-burn type engine is capable of burning a fuel-lean air-fuel mixture the air/fuel ratio of which is higher than the stoichiometric value.




The exhaust gases to be emitted from such lean-burn type internal combustion engines have a relatively high air/fuel ratio, and contain a relatively small amount of reducing components such as hydrocarbon (HC), so that nitrogen oxides (NOx) contained in the exhaust gases can not be sufficiently reduced or removed by the three-way catalyst alone.




In view of the above situation, it has been proposed to use an occlusion-reduction type NOx catalyst disposed in the exhaust passage of the internal combustion engine. The occlusion-reduction type NOx catalyst is adapted to occlude or absorb nitrogen oxides (NOx) contained in fuel-lean exhaust gases to which the NOx catalyst is exposed when the exhaust gases have a fuel-lean air/fuel ratio, and to release the occluded nitrogen oxides (NOx) when the exhaust gases have a stoichiometric or fuel-rich air/fuel ratio. The released nitrogen oxides (NOx) are reduced into nitrogen (N


2


) by reaction with the reducing agents or components such as hydrocarbon (HC) and carbon monoxide (CO) contained in the exhaust gases.




With the NOx catalyst of the occlusion-reduction type disposed in the exhaust passage of the lean-burn internal combustion engine, nitrogen oxides (NOx) contained in the exhaust gases are occluded or absorbed in the NOx catalyst, when the fuel-lean exhaust gases are emitted as a result of combustion of a fuel-lean air-fuel mixture within the engine.




When the internal combustion engine is operated with a stoichiometric or fuel-rich air-fuel mixture having the stoichiometric air/fuel ratio or an air/fuel ratio lower than the stoichiometric value, and the exhaust gases emitted from the engine are stoichiometric or fuel-rich, the occlusion-reduction type NOx catalyst releases the occluded nitrogen oxides (NOx), and the released nitrogen oxides are reduced into nitrogen (N


2


).




The amount of nitrogen oxides (NOx) that can be occluded or stored in the occlusion-reduction type NOx catalyst is limited, and the capacity of the NOx catalyst to occlude nitrogen oxides (NOx) is saturated after a long period of operation of the engine with a fuel-lean air-fuel mixture, leading to a possibility of releasing the nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere without being reduced.




To avoid the above-indicated possibility, it has been practiced to perform so-called “rich spike” control when the NOx occlusion capacity of the occlusion-reduction type NOx catalyst is saturated during the lean-burn operation of the engine. In the “rich spike” control, the mode of operation of the engine is switched from the lean-burn mode to the rich-burn mode so that the NOx catalyst is exposed to fuel-rich exhaust gases having a relatively low air/fuel ratio.




However, merely increasing the amount of fuel injection into the engine undesirably causes a sudden increase of the output torque of the engine. To prevent this sudden increase, the fuel injection amount must be increased while the amount of air to be drawn into the engine is reduced. Accordingly, the rich spike control requires both of the fuel injector valve and the throttle valve to be controlled so as to increase the fuel injection amount while reducing the intake air amount.




The throttle valve is located some distance apart from the combustion chamber in each cylinder, and therefore the actual reduction of the air amount in the combustion chamber to a desired value requires a certain time after the moment at which the opening of the throttle valve was reduced. Thus, the switching of the engine operation mode from the lean-burn mode to the rich-burn mode requires a relatively long time due to a delayed control response of the throttle valve.




Further, the throttle valve and the fuel injector valve must be controlled again after the termination of the rich-spike control, in order to increase the air amount to be drawn into the cylinder of the engine and reduce the fuel amount to be injected into the cylinder. Like the switching of the engine operation upon initiation of the rich-spike control, the switching of the engine operation mode from the rich-burn mode to the lean-burn mode requires a relatively long time due to a delayed response of the throttle valve after the termination of the rich-spike control.




Thus, the rich-spike control requires a considerably long time due to the long periods of time required for switching the mode of operation of the engine operation between the lean-burn and rich-burn modes upon initiation and termination of the rich-spike control. This may cause undesired deterioration of the driveability of the vehicle and an unnecessary increase in the amount of consumption of the fuel.




Some of the lean-burn internal combustion engines such as diesel engines and lean-burn gasoline engines use the above-described NOx catalyst of the occlusion-reduction type or selective reduction type or other exhaust emission purifying device for purifying the exhaust gases emitted therefrom.




The selective reduction type NOx catalyst is a catalyst capable of reducing or decomposing nitrogen oxides (NOx) in an oxygen-rich atmosphere, in the presence of hydrocarbon (HC). For this selective reduction type NOx catalyst to be able to reduce or remove NOx, an appropriate amount of HC component is required. When the selective reduction type NOx catalyst is used to purify exhaust gases emitted from the above-indicated lean-burn internal combustion engines, the selective reduction type NOx catalyst needs to be supplied with the hydrocarbon (HC) component, since the amount of the HC component in the exhaust gases emitted during a normal lean-burn operation of the engine is extremely small. The supply of the HC component may be achieved by operating the engine with a fuel-rich or stoichiometric air-fuel mixture so that the exhaust gases emitted from the engine have the stoichiometric air/fuel ratio or an air/fuel ratio lower than the stoichiometric value.




As discussed above, the occlusion-reduction type NOx catalyst is adapted to occlude NOx when the emitted exhaust gases are fuel-lean, and release and reduce the occluded NOx when the oxygen concentration of the exhaust gases is reduced.




When the occlusion-reduction type NOx catalyst is used to purify exhaust gases to be emitted from the lean-burn internal combustion engines, NOx in the fuel-lean exhaust gases are occluded in the NOx catalyst during a normal lean-burn operation of the engine. The NOx cannot be occluded in the NOx catalyst after the NOx occlusion capacity of the catalyst is saturated as a result of the lean-burn operation of the engine for a long time. In this event, NOx is released into the atmosphere. To avoid this situation, it is necessary to cause the exhaust gases to be fuel-rich and to considerably reduce the oxygen concentration of the exhaust gases, at a suitable point of time before saturation of the NOx occlusion capacity of the NOx catalyst, in order to increase the amount of HC as a reducing agent, release the occluded NOx from the NOx catalyst and reduce the released NOx into N


2


. In this manner, the NOx catalyst may be able to recover the original NOx occlusion capacity.




Thus, the emission purifying device utilizing the lean-burn NOx catalyst requires the supply of hydrocarbon (HC) as the reducing agent for reducing and removing NOx, and therefore requires the exhaust gases to be stoichiometric or fuel-rich from time to time. JP-A-6-17225 discloses one example of a method of controlling the exhaust gases to be stoichiometric or fuel-rich, which utilizes an auxiliary or secondary injection of fuel into the engine.




The auxiliary fuel injection is a fuel injection into the engine cylinder following the primary fuel injection into the engine cylinder made for providing the desired output torque of the engine. The auxiliary fuel injection takes place during the expansion stroke or exhaust stroke.




However, a portion of the fuel injected into the cylinder in the secondary fuel injection for the purpose of controlling the air/fuel ratio of the exhaust gases may be burned in the cylinder, increasing the output torque of the engine by a small amount, depending upon the operating condition of the engine, so that the vehicle drive force is increased with some shock, resulting in undesirable deterioration of the vehicle driveability. In this respect, it is desired to develop any suitable method of controlling the air/fuel ratio of the exhaust gases (or increasing HC as the reducing agent), other than the auxiliary fuel injection.




For controlling the exhaust gases to be stoichiometric or fuel-rich, there is also known a method in which the air-fuel mixture introduced into the combustion chamber is controlled to have the stoichiometric air/fuel ratio or an air/fuel ratio lower than the stoichiometric value. If the air/fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture is immediately changed from a value higher than the stoichiometric value to the stoichiometric or lower value, however, there may be a risk of misfiring of the engine due to a delayed mixing of the air and the fuel into the desired air-fuel mixture. Accordingly, the air/fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture must be sufficiently gradually changed from a lean level (that is higher than the stoichiometric value) to a rich level (that is lower than the stoichiometric value).




However, the gradual change of the air/fuel ratio requires a relatively long time until the desired stoichiometric or lower air/fuel ratio is reached. During this period of time, NOx is less likely to be reduced and removed by the selective reduction type NOx catalyst, or NOx releasing and reduction is less likely to be effected by the occlusion-reduction type NOx catalyst. In either of these two types of NOx catalysts, the NOx reducing/removing capability and the fuel economy of the engine are undesirably deteriorated.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




It is therefore an object of the present invention to recover an NOx catalyst used in an internal combustion engine of a lean-burn type capable of burning an oxygen-rich air-fuel mixture, such that the NOx catalyst is placed, at an early opportunity, in a state suitable for reducing or removing selected gaseous components in exhaust gases emitted from the engine while the exhaust gases should be purified of the gaseous components, and such that the amount of consumption of the fuel by the engine is reduced.




To accomplish the above and/or other objects, one aspect of the present invention provides an apparatus comprising (a) an internal combustion engine of a lean-burn type capable of burning an oxygen-rich air-fuel mixture, which engine includes an intake valve and an exhaust valve for each of a plurality of cylinders thereof, (b) an NOx catalyst disposed in an exhaust passage of the internal combustion engine so as to remove nitrogen oxides contained in an exhaust gas emitted from the engine, (c) a variable valve control system capable of changing the opening and closing timing and/or a lift of at least one of the intake valve and the exhaust valve for each cylinder of the engine, and (d) a controller configured to control the variable valve control system to thereby control the exhaust gas to which the NOx catalyst is exposed, such that the controlled exhaust gas is suitable for removing a selected gaseous component from the NOx catalyst when the selected gaseous component should be removed.




In the apparatus of the invention constructed as described above, the controller is adapted to control the variable valve control system so as to control the exhaust gases emitted from the engine, such that the controlled exhaust gases permit the NOx catalyst to be recovered into an optimum state for reducing or removing the selected gaseous components in the exhaust gases that are emitted while the selected gaseous components should be removed.




The valve heads of the intake and exhaust valves in the closed states partially define the cylinders (combustion chambers) of the engine, and therefore the opening and closing timings and the amounts of lift of these valves will directly affect the condition of gases within the cylinders and the condition of exhaust gases to be emitted from the cylinders.




Accordingly, the exhaust gases emitted from the engine can be controlled in a short time by controlling the variable valve control system such that the controlled exhaust gases permit the NOx catalyst to be recovered into the state suitable for reducing or removing the selected components contained in the exhaust gases. Thus, the operation of the controller for recovering the NOx catalyst does not require an intolerably long time.




In particular, the time required for operating the internal combustion engine with a rich or stoichiometric air/fuel ratio for the purpose of removing the selected gas component(s) from the NOx catalyst can be shortened, and therefore the amount of fuel injected can be minimized, while at the same time suppressing deterioration of vehicle driveability.




Examples of the selected components to be reduced or removed from the NOx catalyst include nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulfur oxides (SOx).




When the nitrogen oxides (NOx) are to be removed from the NOx catalyst, at least one reducing agent for reducing the nitrogen oxides is required. To this end, the controller may be adapted to control the variable valve control system such that the exhaust gases emitted form the internal combustion engine contain a large amount of reducing agent or agents.




The amount of the reducing agents contained in the exhaust gases can be increased, for example, by operating at least one of the cylinders of the engine with a fuel-rich air-fuel mixture having an air/fuel ratio lower than the stoichiometric value, so that the exhaust gases are fuel-rich, having a relatively low air/fuel ratio.




When at least one of the cylinders of the internal combustion engine is operated with a fuel-rich air-fuel mixture, the controller, such as an ECU, may be adapted to control the variable valve control system so as to shorten the period of opening of the intake valve of each cylinder in question, for example, so that the quantity of the air to be drawn into the cylinder is reduced to lower the air/fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture to be burned in the cylinder. To further increase the amount of the reducing agents to be contained in the exhaust gases, the controller controls the fuel injection valve so as to increase the amount of the fuel to be injected into the cylinder in question, as well as controlling the variable valve control system so as to shorten the period of opening of the intake valve.




Although hydrocarbon (HC) is generally a typical reducing agent for reducing nitrogen oxides (NOx), hydrogen (H


2


) and carbon monoxide (CO) which have a higher reducing ability than hydrocarbon (HC) may also be used as the reducing agents. Hydrogen (H


2


) is produced in the combustion process of the air-fuel mixture, and carbon monoxide (CO) is produced by oxidization of hydrocarbon (HC). In view of this fact, the controller may be adapted to control the variable valve control system such that the exhaust gases emitted from the engine contain a large amount of hydrogen (H


2


) and carbon monoxide (CO).




For instance, the amount of hydrogen (H


2


) to be contained in the exhaust gases may be increased by advancing the moment of opening of the exhaust valve to a point of time before the moment of initiation of the exhaust stroke of the piston, that is, to a point of time in the expansion stroke of the piston, so that the air-fuel mixture being burned is expelled from the cylinder as part of the exhaust gases.




The amount of carbon monoxide (CO) to be contained in the exhaust gases may be increased, for instance, by retarding the moment of opening of the exhaust valve to a point of time after the moment of initiation of the exhaust stroke of the piston, so that the gases within the cylinder are sufficiently oxidized before they are exhausted from the cylinder.




When sulfur oxides (SOx) are to be removed from the NOx catalyst, in particular, when SOx poisoning of the NOx catalyst is to be eliminated, the NOx catalyst need to be exposed to a hot fuel-rich atmosphere. To this end, the controller may be adapted to control the variable valve control system such that the exhaust gases emitted form the engine are hot and relatively fuel-rich.




The temperature of the exhaust gases may be raised, for example, by advancing the opening timing of the exhaust valve of the cylinder in question so that the gases which have been just burned in the cylinder are discharged from the cylinder. The air/fuel ratio of the exhaust gases can be reduced by shortening the period of opening of the intake valve, by retarding the moment of opening of the intake valve and/or advancing the moment of closing of the intake valve, or alternatively by controlling the fuel injector valve so as to increase the amount of fuel injected into the cylinder.




In the case where the internal combustion engine according to the invention is equipped with spark plugs, the temperature of the burned gases upon opening of the exhaust valve of the cylinder in question can be further raised by advancing the moment of opening of the exhaust valve and retarding the ignition timing of the corresponding spark plug to retard the moment of combustion of the air-fuel mixture.




The NOx catalyst of the internal combustion engine of the invention may be, for instance, an NOx catalyst of an occlusion-reduction type adapted to occlude or absorb nitrogen oxides (NOx) contained in fuel-lean exhaust gases to which the NOx catalyst is exposed, and to release and reduce the occluded nitrogen oxides (NOx) when the exhaust gases are stoichiometric or fuel-rich. Alternatively, the NOx catalyst may be of a selective reduction type adapted to reduce or decompose nitrogen oxides (NOx) contained in the exhaust gases when the exhaust gases are fuel-lean and contain a reducing agent or agents.




In the internal combustion engine of the invention, the variable valve control system is preferably controlled so as to prevent a variation in the drive torque produced by the engine, while controlling the exhaust gases such that the controlled exhaust gases permit the NOx catalyst to be recovered into its optimum state for reducing or removing the selected gaseous components.




In the above instance, the selected components can be removed with a high degree of control response, while minimizing the drive torque variation of the internal combustion engine.




Another aspect of the invention provides an apparatus comprising: (a) an internal combustion engine of a lean-burn type capable of burning an oxygen-rich air-fuel mixture, which engine includes an intake valve and an exhaust valve for each of a plurality of cylinders thereof, (b) an NOx catalyst disposed in an exhaust passage of the internal combustion engine, (c) a variable valve control system capable of changing the opening and closing timing of the exhaust valve for said each cylinder of the engine, and (d) a controller configured to control the variable valve control system so as to placed the exhaust valve in an open position before a moment of initiation of an exhaust stroke of a corresponding one of the cylinders, when an exhaust gas emitted from the corresponding cylinder is desired to contain a reducing component for reducing NOx.




Preferably, the exhaust valve is opened after a moment of injection of a fuel into the corresponding cylinder.




By opening the exhaust valve within the period between the moment of the fuel injection and the moment of initiation of the exhaust stroke, a portion of the fuel injected into a combustion chamber of the engine can be introduced into the lean-burn NOx catalyst before that portion of the fuel has been burned within the combustion chamber. Since the above control is executed immediately after the controller determines that the learn-burn NOx catalyst requires a reducing agent or agents, the purification efficiency of the catalyst can be improved while minimizing otherwise possible deterioration of the fuel economy.




In the internal combustion engine including the variable valve control system according to the second aspect of the instant invention, the controller is preferably operated to control the variable valve timing control mechanism such that the exhaust valve is held open during at least a period between the moment of the fuel injection and the moment of ignition of the air-fuel mixture.




However, the exhaust valve may be opened prior to the moment of initiation of the fuel injection, and may be closed during the fuel injection. Further, the exhaust valve may be opened only once or two or more times in one cycle of operation of the engine.




When the internal combustion engine has a plurality of cylinders, the above-described control operation to open the exhaust valve at an appropriate time other than during the exhaust stroke may be performed with respect to all of the cylinders or a selected one or ones of the cylinders. When the engine has a plurality of exhaust valves for one cylinder, the above-described control operation may be performed with respect to all of the exhaust valves of the cylinder or for only a selected one or ones of the exhaust valves.




The variable valve control system provided in the internal combustion engine according to the first or second aspect of this invention may include an electromagnetic drive mechanism operable to generate electromagnetic force by application of electric current thereto, for bidirectionally moving the exhaust valves and/or the intake valves. Alternatively, the variable valve control system may include a hydraulic drive mechanism operated with a pressurized fluid for bidirectional movements of the exhaust valves and/or the intake valves.




In the second aspect of the present invention, the learn-burn NOx catalyst may be of the occlusion-reduction type or the selective reduction type.




The selective reduction type of lean-burn NOx catalyst is interpreted to mean a catalyst adapted to reduce or decompose NOx in exhaust gases emitted as a result of combustion of a fuel-lean air-fuel mixture, more specifically, to reduce or decompose NOx contained in an oxygen-rich atmosphere, in the presence of hydrocarbon. For instance, the lean-burn NOx catalyst may be a catalyst wherein zeolite carries ion-exchanged copper (Cu) or other transition metal, or zeolite or alumina carries a noble metal.




It is to be understood that the invention is applicable to a lean-burn internal combustion engine, such as diesel engines and lean-burn gasoline engines.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

a plan view schematically showing an arrangement of an internal combustion engine including a variable valve control system according to the invention;





FIG. 2

is an elevational view in cross section schematically showing an arrangement of the internal combustion engine of FIG.


1


:





FIG. 3

is a cross-sectional view showing the interior of an electromagnetic drive mechanism for an intake valve in the engine;





FIG. 4

is a block diagram showing an electronic control unit for controlling the engine;





FIG. 5

is a flowchart illustrating a purification assisting control routine according to a first embodiment of the invention;





FIG. 6

is a timing chart indicating the opening and closing timing of intake and exhaust valves in one example of purification assisting control according to a second embodiment of this invention;





FIG. 7

is a timing chart indicating the opening and closing timing of the intake and exhaust valves in another example of the purification assisting control according to the second embodiment;





FIG. 8

is a flowchart illustrating a purification assisting control routine executed to effect the purification assisting control of

FIG. 7

;





FIG. 9

is a flowchart illustrating a rich-burn cylinder control routine according to a third embodiment of this invention;





FIG. 10

is a flowchart illustrating a purification assisting control routine according to a fourth embodiment of this invention;





FIG. 11

is an elevational view schematically showing an internal combustion engine including a variable valve control system according to a fifth embodiment of the invention;





FIG. 12

is a view showing the interior of an electromagnetic drive mechanism for an exhaust valve in the engine of

FIG. 11

;





FIG. 13

is a block diagram showing an electronic control unit for controlling the engine of

FIG. 11

;





FIG. 14

is a graph indicating different conditions of combustion of air-fuel mixture in relation to the engine speed and the engine load; and





FIG. 15

is a timing chart indicating the opening and closing timing of intake and exhaust valves in the engine of FIG.


11


.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS




Referring first to

FIGS. 1-5

, there will first be described an internal combustion engine including a variable valve control system, which engine is constructed according to the first embodiment of the invention.




In the schematic views of

FIGS. 1 and 2

, the internal combustion engine according to the first embodiment is indicated generally at


1


, along with its intake and exhaust systems. The internal combustion engine


1


is a four-cycle water-cooled gasoline engine having four cylinders


21


.




The internal combustion engine


1


includes a cylinder block


1




b


having the four cylinders


21


and cooling passages


1




c


, and a cylinder head


1




a


fixed on the cylinder block


1




b.






In the cylinder block


1




b


, a crankshaft


23


serving as an output shaft of the engine


1


is freely rotatably supported. The crankshaft


23


is operatively connected, via a connecting rod


19


, to a piston


22


which is slidably received in each cylinder


21


.




An upper portion of the cylinder


21


cooperates with the upper end face of the piston


22


and the lower surface of the cylinder head


1




a


, to define a combustion chamber


24


. The cylinder head


1




a


is provided with four spark plugs


25


attached thereto such that each spark plug


25


is exposed to the combustion chamber


24


in each cylinder


21


. To the spark plug


25


is electrically connected an, igniter


25




a


for applying electric current to the spark plug


25


.




The cylinder head


1




a


has two intake ports


26


that are open at their open ends to the combustion chamber


24


in each cylinder


21


, and two exhaust ports


27


that are open at their open ends to the combustion chamber


24


. The cylinder head


1




a


is provided with intake valves


28


for opening and closing the respective open ends of the intake ports


26


, and exhaust valves


29


for opening and closing the respective open ends of the exhaust ports


27


, such that the intake and exhaust valves


28


,


29


are bidirectionally movable in their longitudinal direction.




The cylinder head


1




a


further incorporates electromagnetic drive mechanisms


30


for bidirectionally moving the respective intake valves


28


. Each electromagnetic drive mechanism


30


(hereinafter referred to as “intake valve drive mechanism


30


”) is adapted to generate electromagnetic force when its solenoid coil is energized with electric current applied thereto, as described below in detail. To each electromagnetic drive mechanism


30


is electrically connected a driver circuit


30




a


(hereinafter referred to as “intake valve driver circuit


30




a


”) for applying electric current to the corresponding solenoid.




The cylinder head


1




a


further incorporates electromagnetic drive mechanisms


31


for bidirectionally moving the respective exhaust valves


29


. Each electromagnetic drive mechanism


31


(hereinafter referred to as “exhaust valve drive mechanism


31


”) is adapted to generate electromagnetic force when its solenoid coil is energized with electric current applied thereto, as described below in detail. To each electromagnetic drive mechanism


31


is electrically connected a driver circuit


31




a


(hereinafter referred to as “exhaust valve driver circuit


31




a


”) for applying current to the corresponding solenoid.




The intake valve drive mechanisms


30


and the exhaust valve drive mechanisms


31


cooperate with each other to provide a variable valve control system for controlling the opening and closing timings and the lifts of the intake and exhaust valves


28


,


29


.




The intake valve drive mechanisms


30


and the exhaust valve drive mechanisms


31


will be described in greater detail. Since these intake and exhaust valve drive mechanisms


30


and


31


are identical in construction with each other, only the intake valve drive mechanisms


30


will be described by way of example.




Reference is now made to the cross-sectional view of

FIG. 3

showing the intake valve drive mechanism


30


for one of the intake valves


28


. As shown in

FIG. 3

, the cylinder head


1




a


includes a lower head


10


fixed to the upper surface of the cylinder block


1




b


, and an upper head


11


superposed on the lower head


10


.




The lower head


10


is formed with two intake ports


26


for each cylinder


21


, and each intake port


26


has a valve seat


12


at its open end exposed to the combustion chamber


24


. The intake valve


28


has a valve head


28




a


which is movable to be seated on and unseated from the valve seat


12


.




The lower head


10


further has a through-hole formed therethrough, extending from the inner wall of each intake port


26


to the upper surface of the lower head


10


. The through-hole has a circular shape in cross section, and a valve guide


13


in the form of a sleeve is partially fitted in this through-hole. The intake valve


28


has a stem


28




b


that extends through the valve guide


13


such that the intake valve


28


is bidirectionally movable in its longitudinal direction.




The upper head


11


has a core mounting hole


14


which is concentric with the valve guide


13


and which has a circular shape in cross section. A first core


301


and a second core


302


are held in engagement with the core mounting hole


14


. The core mounting hole


14


has a lower large-diameter portion


14




b


which has a relatively large diameter and which is located on the side of the lower head


10


, and an upper small-diameter portion


14




a


which has a diameter smaller than that of the large-diameter portion


14




b


and which is located on the side remote from the lower head


10


.




The first and second cores


301


,


302


are annular members formed of a soft magnetic material, and are almost entirely fitted in the upper small-diameter portion


14




a


of the core mounting hole


14


, such that the two cores


301


,


302


are axially spaced apart from each other with a spacing


303


provided therebetween. The first core


301


has a flange


301




a


at its upper end, while the second core


302


has a flange


302




a


at its lower end. The first core


301


is inserted into the small-diameter hole


14




a


in the downward direction for abutting contact of its flange


301




a


with the upper surface of the upper head


11


in which the small-diameter portion


14




a


is open, while the second core


302


is inserted into the small-diameter hole


14




a


in the upward direction for abutting contact of its flange


302




a


with a shoulder surface formed between the small-diameter and large-diameter portions


14




a


,


14




b


. Thus, the two cores


301


,


302


are positioned relative to the upper head


11


, and the spacing


303


is located at a predetermined axial position within the small-diameter portion


14




a.






An upper cap


305


in the form of a sleeve is disposed on the upper head


11


and the first core


301


. The upper cap


305


has a flange


305




a


at its lower end through which screws


304


are inserted for fastening the upper cap


305


to the upper surface of the upper head


11


. With the upper cap


305


thus fixed to the upper head


11


, the annular lower end face of the upper cap


305


is held in abutting contact with the radially outer portion of the upper end face of the first core


301


, so that the first core


301


is fixed to the upper head


11


.




On the lower side of the second core


302


, there is disposed an annular lower cap


307


which has substantially the same outside diameter as the diameter of the large-diameter portion


14




b


of the core mounting hole


14


. Screws


306


are inserted through the lower cap


307


for fastening the lower cap


307


to the above-indicated shoulder surface of the hole


14


, which faces in the downward direction. The lower cap


307


thus fixed to the shoulder surface is held in abutting contact with the radially outer portion of the lower end face of the second core


302


, so that the second core


302


is fixed to the upper head


11


.




The first core


301


has an annular groove formed in its lower surface, while the second core


302


has an annular groove formed in its upper surface. A first solenoid coil


308


and a second solenoid coil


309


are fixedly received in those annular grooves, respectively. The first and second solenoid coils


308


,


309


are opposed to each other in the axial direction with the spacing


303


interposed therebetween. The two solenoid coils


308


,


309


are electrically connected to the intake valve driver circuit


30




a


indicated above.




An annular armature


311


which has a smaller outside diameter than the diameter of the space


303


and which is formed of a soft magnetic material is disposed within the spacing


303


. The annular armature


311


has a central hole through which an armature shaft


310


extends such that the armature


311


is fixed on this armature shaft


311


. The armature shaft


310


has an upper portion extending through a central hole in the first core


301


such that the upper end is located within the upper cap


305


, and a lower portion extending through a central hole in the second core


302


such that the lower end is located within the large-diameter portion


14




b


of the core mounting hole


14


. Thus, the armature shaft


310


is supported by the first and second cores


301


,


302


such that the armature shaft


310


is bidirectionally movable in its longitudinal direction.




An upper retainer


312


in the form of a circular disc is fixed to the upper end of the armature shaft


310


located within the upper cap


305


. The upper open end of the upper cap


305


is closed by an adjusting screw plug


313


screwed therein. An upper spring


314


is provided between the upper retainer


312


and the adjusting screw plug


313


such that a spring seat


315


is interposed between the adjusting screw plug


313


and the upper spring


314


. With this upper spring


314


, the armature shaft


310


and the armature


311


are biased in a direction toward the large-diameter portion


14




b


of the core mounting hole


14


, that is, in the downward direction as seen in

FIGS. 2 and 3

.




On the other hand, the armature shaft


310


is held, at its lower end located within the large-diameter portion


14




b


, in abutting contact with the upper end of the stem


28




b


of the intake valve


28


. A lower retainer


28




c


in the form of a circular disc is fixed to the outer circumferential surface of the upper end portion of the stem


28




b


, and a lower spring


316


is disposed between the lower surface of the lower retainer


28




c


and the upper surface of the lower head


10


. With this lower spring


316


, the intake valve


28


is biased in a direction that causes the valve head


28




a


to be seated on the valve seat


12


, that is, in the upward direction as seen in

FIGS. 2 and 3

. With this arrangement, the stem


28




b


of the intake valve


28


is held at its upper end in abutting contact with the lower end of the armature shaft


310


, biasing the armature shaft


310


and the armature


311


in a direction from the large-diameter portion


14




b


toward the small-diameter portion


14




a


, that is, in the upward direction as seen in FIG.


3


.




While the first and second solenoid coils


308


,


309


of the intake valve drive mechanism


30


constructed as described above are not energized with electric current supplied from the intake valve driver circuit


30




a


, the armature shaft


310


and the intake valve


28


are held in their predetermined neutral positions of

FIG. 3

with the armature shaft


310


held in abutting contact with the stem


28




b


, with a biasing force of the upper spring


314


acting on the armature shaft


310


in the downward direction, and with a biasing force of the lower spring


316


acting on the intake valve


28


in the upward direction.




The biasing forces of the upper spring


314


and the lower spring


316


are determined so that the armature


311


is located at an axially intermediate position of the cylindrical spacing


303


, or at a position intermediate between the first and second cores


301


,


302


, when the armature shaft


310


is placed at its neutral position. If the neutral position of the armature


311


deviates from the above-indicated intermediate position due to initial dimensional or positional errors of the associated components or chronological changes of the positions of the components, the neutral position of the armature


311


can be re-established by rotating the adjusting screw plug


313


in the appropriate direction.




The length of the armature shaft


310


and the length of the stem


28




b


of the intake valve


28


are determined so that the valve head


28




a


of the intake valve


28


is located at a position intermediate between the fully open position and the fully closed position, namely, located at its half-open position, when the armature


311


is placed at its neutral position.




When the first solenoid coil


308


is energized with electric current supplied from the intake valve driver circuit


30




a


, an electromagnetic force is generated between the first coil


301


and first solenoid coil


308


and the armature


311


, such that the electromagnetic force acts on the armature


311


in a direction that causes the armature


311


to be attracted toward the first core


301


. When the second solenoid coil


309


is energized with electric current, an electromagnetic force is generated between the second coil


302


and second solenoid coil


309


and the armature


311


, such that the electromagnetic force acts on the armature


322


in a direction that causes the armature


311


to be attracted toward the second core


302


. Thus, by alternately energizing the first and second solenoid coils


308


,


308


through the intake valve circuit


30




a


, the stem


28




b


of the intake valve


38


can be moved up and down with the armature


311


, to move the valve head


28




a


between the fully closed and open positions.




The opening and closing timings of the intake valve


28


can be adjusted by suitably controlling the energization timings and the amounts of energization current of the first and second solenoid coils


308


,


309


.




The intake valve drive mechanism


30


is provided with a valve lift sensor


317


for detecting a displacement of the intake valve


28


. The valve lift sensor


317


includes a target


317




a


in the form of a circular disc attached to the upper surface of the upper retainer


312


, and a gap sensing member


317




b


attached to the adjusting screw plug


313


such that a probe at one end of the gap sensing member


371




b


is opposed to the target


317




a.






In the thus constructed valve lift sensor


317


, the target


317




a


is moved with the armature


311


of the intake valve driver mechanism


30


, and the gap sensing member


317




b


generates an output signal indicative of a distance between the gap sensing member


317




b


and the target


317




a.






As described below referring to

FIG. 4

, an electronic control unit (ECU)


20


is provided for controlling the internal combustion engine


1


. The electronic control unit


20


includes a read-only memory (ROM)


402


, which stores data indicative of the value of the output signal of the gap sensing member


317




b


when the armature


311


is placed in the neutral position. The amount of displacement of the armature


311


and the valve head


28




a


of the intake valve


28


can be calculated on the basis of a difference between the value of the output signal of the gap sensing member


317




b


when the armature


311


is placed in the neutral position, and the value of the output signal when the first or second solenoid coil


308


,


309


is energized.




Referring back to

FIGS. 1 and 2

, four branch pipes of the intake manifold


33


are connected to the cylinder head


1




a


of the internal combustion engine


1


, and each of the branch pipes of the intake manifold


33


communicates with the two intake ports


26


of each cylinder


21


. Four fuel injector valves


32


are attached to the cylinder head


1




a


, at respective positions near the points of connection of the respective branch pipes of the intake manifold


33


to the cylinder head


1




a


, such that a fuel outlet of each fuel injector valve


32


is open to the intake ports


26


of the corresponding cylinder


21


.




The intake manifold


33


is connected to a surge tank


34


provided to reduce pulsation of the intake air. The surge tank


34


is connected to an intake pipe


35


, which in turn is connected to an air cleaner


36


provided to remove dirt and dust contained in the intake air.




The intake pipe


34


is provided with an air flow meter


44


which generates an output signal indicative of a rate of flow of the intake air through the intake pipe


35


. As shown in

FIG. 2

, a throttle valve


39


for controlling the rate of flow of the intake air through the intake pipe


35


is disposed in a portion of the intake pipe


35


which is located downstream of the air flow meter


44


.




The throttle valve


39


is provided with a throttle actuator


40


, a throttle position sensor


41


and an accelerator position sensor


43


. The throttle actuator


40


includes a stepping motor adapted to operate the throttle valve


39


such that the opening of the throttle valve


39


changes with the magnitude of electric power applied to the stepping motor. The throttle position sensor


41


generates an output signal indicative of the angle of opening of the throttle valve


39


. The accelerator position sensor


43


is mechanically connected to an accelerator pedal


42


, and generates an output signal indicative of the operating amount of the accelerator pedal


42


.




Also, an exhaust manifold


45


is connected to the downstream side of the cylinder head


1




a


of the internal combustion engine


1


. The exhaust manifold


45


includes four branch exhaust pipes each communicating with the two exhaust ports


27


of each cylinder


21


.




The exhaust manifold


45


is connected to an emission purifying catalyst in the form of an NOx catalyst


46


, which in turn is connected to an exhaust pipe


47


that is connected to a downstream muffler (not shown).




The NOx catalyst


46


is an occlusion-reduction type NOx catalyst having both a three-way catalytic function and an occlusion-and-reduction function. The three-way catalytic function is a function of purifying hydrocarbon (HC), carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) contained in exhaust gases that are emitted from the engine


1


when the emitted exhaust gases are stoichiometric or almost stoichiometric, namely, have the stoichiometric air/fuel ratio or an air/fuel ratio close to the stoichiometric value. The occlusion-and-reduction function is a function of occluding nitrogen oxides (NOx) contained in exhaust gases having a fuel-lean air/fuel ratio, and releasing the nitrogen oxides (NOx) occluded or absorbed in the NOx catalyst


46


when the emitted exhaust gases have a stoichiometric or fuel-rich air/fuel ratio. The occlusion-and-reduction function further includes a function of immediately reducing the released nitrogen oxides (NOx) into nitrogen (N


2


) by reaction of the nitrogen oxides with unburned hydrocarbon (HC) and carbon monoxide (CO) contained in the stoichiometric or fuel-rich exhaust gases.




For instance, the occlusion-reduction type NOx catalyst


46


includes (a) a substrate formed of alumina (Al


2


O


3


), for example, and (b1) at least one element carried on the substrate and selected from alkali metals such as potassium (K), sodium (Na), lithium (Li) and cesium (Cs), alkali earth metals such as barium (Ba) and calcium (Ca), and rare earth metals such as lanthanum (La) and yttrium (Y), and (b2) at least one noble metal such as platinum (Pt) also, carried on the substrate. In this embodiment, the NOx catalyst


46


employs barium (Ba) and platinum (Pt) carried on a substrate of alumina.




When the occlusion-reduction type NOx catalyst


46


is exposed to fuel-lean exhaust gases having a relatively high oxygen concentration, oxygen (O


2


) is deposited on the surface of platinum (Pt), in the form of O


2







or O


2−


. Nitrogen oxide (NO) contained in the exhaust gases reacts with oxygen (O


2







or O


2−


) on the surface of the platinum (Pt) to form nitrogen dioxides (NO


2


). Namely, 2NO+O


2


→2NO


2


.




Successively, nitrogen dioxide (NO


2


) that is being oxidized on the platinum (Pt) is bonded with barium oxide (BaO) to form nitric acid ion (NO


3







), which in turn is occluded or absorbed in the occlusion-reduction type NOx catalyst


46


.




This occlusion of NOx in the NOx catalyst


46


is continued while the emitted exhaust gases are kept fuel-lean, until the NOx occlusion or absorption capacity of the NOx catalyst


46


is saturated.




When the oxygen concentration of the exhaust gases to which the occlusion-reduction type NOx catalyst


46


is exposed is lowered, the amount of production of nitrogen dioxide (NO


2


) is reduced, so that nitric acid ion (NO


3







) bonded to barium oxide (Ba) is released from the NOx catalyst


46


in the form of nitrogen dioxide (NO


2


) and nitrogen monoxide (NO).




When the exhaust gases are stoichiometric or fuel-rich, that is, when the exhaust gases contain a comparatively large amount of hydrocarbon (HC) and carbon monoxide (CO), these components (HC, CO) are oxidized by reaction with oxygen (O


2−


or O


2−


) on the platinum (Pt) of the NOx catalyst


46


, and nitrogen dioxide (NO


2


) and nitrogen monoxide (NO) which have been released from the NOx catalyst


46


are reduced to nitrogen (N


2


) by reaction with reducing agents contained in the exhaust gases, i.e., by reaction with activated components, such as hydrocarbon (HC) and carbon monoxide (CO), which have been partially oxidized by reaction with oxygen (O


2







or O


2−


) on the platinum (Pt) of the NOx catalyst


46


.




That is, hydrocarbon (HC) and carbon monoxide (CO) contained in the exhaust gases to which the NOx catalyst


46


is exposed are first oxidized by immediately reacting with oxygen (O


2







or O


2−


) on the platinum (Pt). After the oxygen (O


2







or O


2−


) on the platinum (Pt) has been consumed, the remaining amounts of hydrocarbon (HC) and carbon monoxide (CO) react with nitrogen oxides (NOx), namely, nitrogen dioxide (NO


2


) and nitrogen monoxide (NO), so that these nitrogen oxides (NOx) are reduced into nitrogen (N


2


).




Thus, the occlusion-reduction type NOx catalyst


46


occludes or absorbs nitrogen oxides (NOx) contained in the exhaust gases while the exhaust gases are fuel-lean, and releases and removes the occluded nitrogen oxides (NOx) while the exhaust gases are stoichiometric or fuel-rich.




The exhaust manifold


45


is provided with an air/fuel ratio sensor


48


attached thereto. This sensor


48


generates an output signal indicative of the air/fuel ratio of the exhaust gases flowing through the exhaust manifold


45


, that is, the air/fuel ratio of the exhaust gases to which the occlusion-reduction type catalyst


46


is exposed.




An NOx sensor


49


is attached to a portion of the exhaust pipe


47


that is located slightly downstream of the NOx catalyst


46


. The NOx sensor


49


is adapted to generate an output signal indicative of the concentration of nitrogen oxides (NOx) contained in the exhaust gases discharged from the NOx sensor


46


.




The internal combustion engine


1


is further provided with a crankshaft position sensor


51


and a coolant temperature sensor


52


. The crankshaft position sensor


51


includes a timing rotor


51




a


attached to the end of the crankshaft


23


, and an electromagnetic pickup


51




b


fixed to a portion of the cylinder block


1




b


which is located near the timing rotor


51




a


. The coolant temperature sensor


52


is fixed to the cylinder block


1




b


, for detecting the temperature of a coolant flowing through coolant passages


1




c


formed through the engine


1


.




As indicated above, the operation of the internal combustion engine


1


is controlled by the electronic control unit


20


(hereinafter abbreviated to “ECU


20


”). To the ECU


20


, there are connected through electric wires various sensors such as the above-indicated throttle position sensor


41


, accelerator position sensor


43


, air flow meter


44


, air/fuel ratio sensor


48


, NOx sensor


49


, crankshaft position sensor


51


, coolant temperature sensor


52


and valve lift sensors


317


. Namely, the ECU


20


receives the output signals of those sensors.




To the ECU


20


are also connected through electric wires the above-indicated igniters


25




a


, intake valve driver circuits


30




a


, exhaust valve driver circuits


31




a


, fuel injector valves


32


and throttle actuator


40


, so that the ECU


20


can control these components


25




a


,


30




a


,


31




a


,


32


,


40


according to the output signals of the above-indicated sensors.




The ECU


20


includes a bidirectional bus


400


, and a central processing unit (CPU)


401


, the above-indicated read-only memory (ROM)


402


, a random-access memory (RAM)


403


, a backup random-access memory (backup RAM)


404


, an input port


405


and an output port


406


, which are interconnected to each other through the bidirectional bus


400


. The ECU


20


further includes an analog/digital converter (A/D converter)


407


connected to the input port


405


.




To the AD converter


407


, there are connected through electric wires the sensors adapted to generate analog output signals, such as the throttle position sensor


41


, accelerator position sensor


43


, air flow meter


44


, air/fuel ratio sensor


48


, NOx sensor


49


, coolant temperature sensor


52


and valve lift sensors


317


. The A/D converter


407


converts the analog output signals of the above-indicated sensors into digital signals to be fed to the input port


405


.




To the input port


405


, there are connected through the A/D converter


407


the sensors adapted to generate the analog output signals, such as the throttle position sensor


41


, accelerator position sensor


43


, air flow meter


44


, air/fuel ratio sensor


48


, NOx sensor


49


, coolant temperature sensor


52


and valve lift sensors


317


. However, the sensors adapted to generate digital output signals, such as the above-indicated crankshaft position sensor


51


, are directly connected to the input port


405


.




The digital output signals received by the input port


405


through the A/D converter


407


or directly from the crankshaft position sensor


51


are fed to the CPU


401


and RAM


403


through the bidirectional bus


400


.




The igniters


25




a


, intake valve driver circuits


30




a


, exhaust valve driver circuits


31




a


, fuel injector valves


32


and throttle actuator


40


are connected to the output port


406


through electric wires. The output port


406


receives control signals from the CPU


401


through the bidirectional bus


400


, and applies these control signals to the igniters


25




a


, intake valve driver circuits


30




a


, exhaust valve driver circuits


31




a


, fuel injector valves


32


and throttle actuator


40


.




The ROM


402


stores various application programs such as programs for executing a fuel injection amount control routine for determining the amount of fuel injection into the cylinders.


21


, a fuel injection timing control routine for determining the timings of fuel injection into the cylinders


21


, an intake valve timing control routine for determining the opening and closing timings of the intake valves


28


, and an exhaust valve timing control routine for determining the opening and closing timings of the exhaust valves


29


. The ROM


402


also stores programs for executing an intake valve drive current control routine for determining the amounts of electric current to be applied from the intake valve driver circuits


30




a


to the solenoid coils


308


,


309


of the electromagnetic intake valve drive mechanisms


30


, an exhaust valve driver current control routine for determining the amounts of electric current to be applied from the exhaust valve driver circuits


31




a


to the solenoid coils of the electromagnetic exhaust valve drive mechanism


31


, an ignition timing control routine for determining the ignition timings of the igniters


25




a


for the cylinders


21


, and a throttle valve opening control routine for determining the opening of the throttle valve


39


. The ROM


402


further stores a control program for executing a purification assisting control routine for reducing or removing nitrogen oxides (NOx) occluded or absorbed in the occlusion-reduction type NOx catalyst


46


.




The ROM


402


further stores various data maps, in addition to the application programs described above. The stored data maps include: a fuel injection amount control data map representative of a predetermined relationship between the operating state of the internal combustion engine


1


and the amount of fuel injection; a fuel injection timing control data map representative of a predetermined relationship between the operating state of the engine


1


and the timing of fuel injection; an intake valve timing control data map representative of a predetermined relationship between the operating state of the engine


1


and the opening and closing timings of the intake valves


28


; an exhaust valve timing control data map representative of a predetermined relationship between the operating state of the engine


1


and the opening and closing timings of the exhaust valves


29


; a valve drive current control data map representative of predetermined relationships between the operating state of the engine


1


and the amounts of electric current to be applied to the electromagnetic intake and exhaust valve drive mechanisms


30


,


31


; an ignition timing control data map representative of a predetermined relationship between the operating state of the engine


1


and the ignition timing of each spark plug


25


; and a throttle valve opening control data map representative of a predetermined relationship between the operating state of the engine


1


and the opening of the throttle valve


39


.




The RAM


403


is provided to temporarily store the output signals of the various sensors, and results of arithmetic operations performed by the CPU


401


, such as the engine speed as calculated on the basis of the output signal of the crankshaft position sensor


51


. The signals and data stored in the RAM


403


are updated each time the ECU


20


receives the output signal of the crankshaft position sensor


51


.




The backup RAM


404


is a non-volatile memory which retains data even after the operation of the engine


1


is stopped. The backup RAM


404


stores various data, such as values obtained by learning, which are associated with various control operations.




The CPU


401


operates according to the application programs stored in the ROM


402


, to execute the various control routines such as the fuel injection control routine, ignition timing control routine, intake valve timing control routine, exhaust valve timing control routine, throttle valve opening control routine, and purification assisting control routine.




In executing the various control routines, the CPU


401


monitors the operating state of the internal combustion engine


1


, on the basis of the output signals of the crankshaft position sensor


51


, accelerator positions sensor


43


, and air flow meter


44


. Depending upon the monitored operating state of the engine


1


, the CPU


401


executes the appropriate control routine or routines.




When the CPU


401


determines that the engine


1


is operating with a relatively low or medium load, the CPU


401


controls the engine


1


so as to be operated with an oxygen-rich air-fuel mixture having a fuel-lean air/fuel ratio, by controlling the opening of the throttle valve


39


, the amount of fuel to be injected from the fuel injector valves


32


, the opening and closing timings of the intake valves


28


, the opening and closing timings of the exhaust valves


29


and the ignition timings of the spark plugs


25


.




When the CPU


401


determines that the engine


1


is operating with a relatively high load, the CPU


401


controls the engine


1


so as to be operated with an air-fuel mixture having the stoichiometric ratio, by controlling the throttle opening, fuel injection amount, opening and closing timings of the intake and exhaust valves


28


,


29


and ignition timing.




When the engine


1


is operating with a fuel-lean air-fuel mixture, the exhaust gases emitted from the engine


1


are also fuel-lean, so that the nitrogen oxides (NOx) contained in the emitted exhaust gases are occluded or absorbed into the NOx catalyst


46


. The NOx occlusion capacity of the NOx catalyst


46


is saturated after a given period of lean-burn operation of the engine


1


with the fuel-lean air-fuel mixture. After the saturation of the NOx occlusion capacity of the NOx catalyst


46


, there is a risk that the nitrogen oxides (NOx) are released into the atmosphere with the exhaust gases, without being removed or reduced or otherwise converted.




To avoid the above risk, the CPU


401


initiates the purification assisting control routine when the NOx occlusion capacity of the NOx catalyst


46


is saturated during the lean-burn operation of the engine


1


. In the purification assisting control routine, the engine


1


is controlled so that the exhaust gases emitted from the engine


1


are controlled to be temporarily fuel-rich to reduce and remove the nitrogen oxides (NOx) which have been occluded or absorbed in the NOx catalyst


46


, in order to recover the NOx catalyst


46


into a state suitable for purifying the exhaust gases.




The purification assisting control according to the present embodiment will be now described. The purification assisting control is performed according to the purification assisting control routine executed by the CPU


401


as illustrated in the flowchart of FIG.


5


.




The purification assisting control routine is executed according to the control program stored in the ROM


402


, repeatedly with a predetermined cycle time, for instance, each time the CPU


401


receives an output pulse signal from the crankshaft position sensor


51


.




The purification assisting control routine of

FIG. 5

is initiated with step S


501


to determine whether the NOx occlusion capacity of the occlusion-reduction type NOx catalyst


46


is saturated.




For example, the determination in step S


501


as to whether the NOx occlusion capacity of the NOx catalyst


46


is saturated is effected by first estimating the amount of NOx absorbed and presently stored in the NOx catalyst, on the basis of the operating hysteresis of the internal combustion engine


1


, namely, a difference between the cumulative time of the lean-burn operation with a fuel-lean air-fuel mixture and that of the operation with an air-fuel mixture having the stoichiometric air/fuel ratio, and then comparing the thus estimated amount of the stored NOx with the maximum amount of NOx that can be stored in the NOx catalyst


46


. Alternatively, the determination in step S


501


can be made by first estimating the amount of the stored NOx on the basis of a temperature of the substrate of the NOx catalyst


46


or on the basis of the output signal of the air/fuel ratio sensor


48


, and then comparing the thus estimated amount of the occluded NOx with the maximum amount of NOx that can be stored in the NOx catalyst


46


. Further alternatively, the determination in step S


501


can be made on the basis of the output signal of the NOx sensor


49


while the exhaust gases to which the NOx catalyst


46


is exposed have a predetermined air/fuel ratio.




Hereinafter, the maximum amount of NOx that can be absorbed and stored in the NOx catalyst


46


will be referred to simply as “maximum NOx occlusion amount” of the NOx catalyst


46


.




If the CPU


401


determines in step S


501


that the NOx occlusion capacity of the NOx catalyst


46


is not saturated, one cycle of execution of the present purification assisting control routine is terminated. If the CPU


401


determines in step S


501


that the NOx occlusion capacity of the NOx catalyst


46


is saturated, the control flow proceeds to step S


502


.




In step S


502


, the CPU


401


calculates an amount of reducing agents required to reduce and remove the entire amount of NOx presently stored in the NOx catalyst


46


, in other words, the maximum NOx occlusion amount of the NOx catalyst


46


. This amount of reducing agents will be referred to as “target amount of reducing agents”.




It is noted that since the maximum NOx occlusion amount of the NOx catalyst


46


can be determined by experimentation, the target amount of reducing agents can also be determined by experimentation and can therefore be stored in the ROM


402


.




The control flow then proceeds to step S


503


in which the CPU


401


reads from the RAM


403


the engine speed and the operating amount of the accelerator pedal


42


represented by the output signal of the accelerator position sensor


43


, and calculates the presently required output torque of the engine


1


on the basis of the operating amount of the accelerator pedal


42


and the engine speed.




Step S


503


is followed by step S


504


in which the CPU


401


calculates the maximum amount of air that can be drawn into each cylinder


21


(hereinafter referred to as “target intake air amount per cylinder”) for the engine


1


to produce the required output torque calculated in step S


503


.




It is possible to obtain by experimentation a relationship between the output torque of the engine


1


and the intake air amount per cylinder when the engine


1


is operated with a fuel-rich air-fuel mixture having a predetermined air/fuel ratio (for instance, the lowest air/fuel ratio at which the air-fuel mixture is combustible). This relationship may be stored in advance in the form of a map. The target intake air amount per cylinder can be calculated on the basis of the calculated required output torque of the engine


1


and according to the map indicated above.




Then, the control flow proceeds to step S


505


in which the CPU


401


calculates a target air/fuel ratio of a fuel-rich air-fuel mixture to be burned in a selected single cylinder


21


of the engine


1


, which fuel-rich air-fuel mixture permits the required amount of reducing agents calculated in step S


502


to be contained in the exhaust gases emitted from that cylinder


21


. This calculation of the target air/fuel ratio of the fuel-rich air-fuel mixture is effected on the basis of the required amount of reducing agents and the required intake air amount per cylinder calculated in step S


504


.




Step S


505


is followed by step S


506


in which the CPU


401


compares the target air/fuel ratio of the fuel-rich air-fuel mixture calculated in step S


505


with the lowest air/fuel ratio (the most fuel-rich air/fuel ratio) in a range of air/fuel ratio within which the air-fuel mixture is combustible in the cylinder


21


.




If the CPU


401


determines in step S


506


that the calculated target air/fuel ratio is equal to or higher than the lowest air/fuel ratio, the CPU


401


determines that it is possible to supply the NOx catalyst


46


with the target amount of reducing agents, by operating the selected single cylinder only once with the fuel-rich air-fuel mixture having the above-indicated target air/fuel ratio. In this case, the control flow proceeds to step S


507


.




In step S


507


, the CPU


401


selects one of the cylinders


21


, and determines target opening and closing timings of the intake valves


28


of the selected cylinder


21


so that the amount of intake air to be introduced into the selected cylinder


21


coincides with the target intake air amount per cylinder calculated in step S


504


.




Then, the control flow proceeds to step S


508


in which the CPU


401


calculates a target amount of fuel injection by dividing the target intake air amount per cylinder by the target air/fuel ratio.




Step S


508


is followed by step S


509


in which the CPU


401


determines the target ignition timing of the selected cylinder


21


and target opening and closing timings of the exhaust valves


29


of that cylinder


21


so that the actual output torque of the engine


1


coincides with the required output torque of the engine


1


calculated in step S


503


when the cylinder


21


in question is operated with the above-indicated target intake air amount per cylinder and the fuel-rich air/fuel mixture having the target air/fuel ratio.




The control flow then proceeds to step S


510


in which the CPU


401


controls the intake valve driver circuit


30




a


, fuel injector valve


32


, exhaust valve driver circuit


31




a


and igniter


25




a


of the selected cylinder


21


, according to the target opening and closing timings of the intake valves


28


and exhaust valves


29


, target amount of fuel injection and target ignition timing, which have been calculated in steps S


507


-S


509


.




Since the valve heads


28




a


of the intake valves


28


of each cylinder


21


are disposed so as to partially define the combustion chamber


24


when the intake valves


28


are closed, so that changing the opening and closing timings of the intake valves


28


will immediately cause a change in the actual intake air amount, without a significant control delay. By controlling the intake valve driver circuit


30




a


so that the actual opening and closing timings of the intake valves


28


of the selected cylinder


21


coincide with the desired timings, the actual intake air amount that is drawn into the cylinder


21


is immediately controlled to the required intake air amount per cylinder.




Accordingly, the selected cylinder


21


can be immediately operated with the fuel-rich air-fuel mixture having the target air/fuel ratio, by controlling the intake valves


28


and the fuel injector valve


32


according to the target intake valve opening and closing timings and the target amount of fuel injection. As a result, the exhaust gases emitted from the selected cylinder


21


in the exhaust stroke contain an amount of reducing agents substantially equal to the target amount calculated in step S


502


.




The exhaust gases emitted from the selected cylinder


21


enter the NOx catalyst


46


through the exhaust manifold


45


, so that the nitrogen oxides (NOx) absorbed in the NOx catalyst


46


are entirely reduced and removed with the reducing agents contained in the exhaust gases.




Thus, the entire amount of nitrogen oxides (NOx) absorbed in the NOx catalyst


46


is reduced and removed by only one rich-burn operation of only one of the cylinders


21


of the engine


1


with the fuel-rich air-fuel mixture having the target air/fuel ratio.




If it is determined in step S


506


that the target air/fuel ratio calculated in step S


505


is lower than the lowest air/fuel ratio, the CPU


401


determines that only one rich-burn operation of only one cylinder


21


does not make it possible to supply the NOx catalyst


46


with the exhaust gases containing the required amount of reducing agents. In this case, the control flow proceeds to step S


511


.




In step S


511


, the CPU


401


determines the lowest air/fuel ratio as an updated target air/fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture.




Step S


511


is followed by step S


512


in which the CPU


401


selects one of the cylinders


21


of the engine


1


, and determines the target opening and closing timings of the intake valves


28


of the selected cylinder


21


so that the actual intake air amount coincides with the target intake air amount per cylinder calculated in step S


504


.




Then, the control flow proceeds to step S


513


in which the CPU


401


calculates the target amount of fuel injection by dividing the target intake air amount per cylinder calculated in step S


504


by the updated target air/fuel ratio calculated in step S


511


.




Step S


513


is followed by step S


514


in which the CPU


401


determines the target ignition timing of the selected cylinder


21


and the target opening and closing timings of the exhaust valves


29


of the cylinder


21


so that the actual output torque of the engine


1


coincides with the required output torque when the selected cylinder


21


is operated with the target intake air amount per cylinder and the fuel-rich air-fuel mixture having the target air/fuel ratio.




In the next step S


515


, the CPU


401


controls the intake valve driver circuit


30




a


, fuel injector valve


32


, exhaust valve driver circuit


31




a


and igniter


25




a


of the selected cylinder


21


, according to the target opening and closing timings of the intake and exhaust valves


28


,


29


, target amount of fuel injection and target ignition timing.




The control flow then proceeds to step S


516


in which the CPU


401


calculates the amount of the reducing agents contained in the exhaust gases which have been emitted from the selected cylinder


21


to the NOx catalyst


46


, as a result of the rich-burn operation of the selected cylinder


21


with the target intake air amount and the updated target air/fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture. The calculated amount of reducing agents will be referred to as “supplied amount of reducing agents”.




Step S


516


is followed by step S


517


in which the CPU


401


calculates an updated target amount of reducing agents, by subtracting the supplied amount of reducing agents from the target amount of reducing agents initially calculated in step S


502


. Then, the control flow returns to step S


505


and repeats the subsequent steps, with the originally determined target amount of reducing agents being replaced by the updated target amount obtained in step S


517


.




When steps S


505


and subsequent steps are implemented after steps S


511


-S


517


have been implemented, two or more cylinders


21


are operated with a fuel-rich air-fuel mixture (having an air/fuel ratio smaller than the stoichiometric value), and the total actual amount of reducing agents contained in the exhaust gases emitted from these cylinders


21


is made equal to the target amount of reducing agents, i.e., the amount required to reduce the entire amount of nitrogen oxides (NOx) stored in the NOx catalyst


46


. As a result, the nitrogen oxides (NOx) which have been occluded or absorbed in the NOx catalyst


46


can be reduced and removed during the rich-burn operations of the selected two or more cylinders


21


. However, the selected same cylinder


21


may be operated with a fuel-rich air-fuel mixture. For instance, the selected cylinder


21


is first rich-burn operated in step S


515


, and then again rich-burn operated in step S


510


, so that the total actual amount of reducing agents contained in the exhaust gases emitted from this cylinder


21


is made equal to the target amount of reducing agents.




The internal combustion engine


1


as described above utilizes the electromagnetic intake valve drive mechanisms


30


for controlling the opening and closing timings of the intake valves


28


for the respective cylinders


21


of the engine


1


, such that the amounts of intake air to be drawn into the respective cylinders


21


can be controlled independently of each other. When the nitrogen oxides (NOx) occluded or absorbed in the occlusion-reduction type NOx catalyst


46


are to be reduced and removed, the purification assisting control as described above is implemented to operate the required minimum number of cylinder(s)


21


with a fuel-rich air-fuel mixture by changing the amount of intake air into the rich-burn operated cylinder(s)


21


, so that the NOx catalyst


46


is supplied with exhaust gases containing the desired or target amount of reducing agents.




The amount of intake air to be drawn into each cylinder


21


that is operated with a fuel-rich air-fuel mixture can be controlled to a desired value without a control delay, by controlling the opening and closing timings of the corresponding intake valves


28


, so that the air/fuel ratio of the fuel-rich air-fuel mixture can be almost instantly controlled to the desired value.




Accordingly, the exhaust gases to which the NOx catalyst


46


is exposed during the purification assisting control can be controlled to supply the NOx catalyst


46


in a short time with the reducing agents necessary to reduce and remove the nitrogen oxides (NOx) present in the NOx catalyst


46


. Thus, the required length of rich-burn operation of the cylinder or cylinders


21


with a fuel-rich air-fuel mixture can be minimized. Accordingly, the rich-burn operation of the engine


1


does not result in significant deterioration of the vehicle driveability and the fuel economy of the engine


1


.




Further, the present purification assisting control is adapted to determine the target intake air amount and the target amount of fuel injection for the selected cylinder


21


such that the output torque produced by the selected cylinder


21


is equal to that produced by the other cylinders


21


(which are operated with a fuel-lean air-fuel mixture). Accordingly, the output torque of the engine


1


as a whole does not vary when the selected cylinder


21


is rich-burn operated at the target air-fuel ratio while the other cylinders


21


are lean-burn operated as in the normal operation of the engine


1


.




Although the present embodiment is arranged to determine the target intake air amount per cylinder such that the output torque of the selected cylinder


21


is equal to that of the other cylinders


21


, as described above, the target intake air amount per cylinder may be determined to be equal to the maximum intake air amount that can be drawn into each cylinder


21


during one intake stroke.




When the maximum intake air amount is used as the target intake air amount per cylinder, the amount of exhaust gases that are emitted from each cylinder


21


in one exhaust stroke is accordingly increased, whereby the amount of reducing agents contained in the exhaust gases emitted from each cylinder in one exhaust stroke is accordingly increased. In this case, therefore, it is possible to further reduce the required time of the rich-burn operation of at least one cylinder


21


to reduce and remove the nitrogen oxides occluded in the NOx catalyst


46


.




When the maximum intake air amount is used as the target intake air amount per cylinder, however, the output torque produced by the selected cylinder


21


is supposed to be considerably larger than that produced by the other cylinders


21


. In this sense, it is desirable to restrict the output torque of the selected cylinder


21


, by either controlling the opening and closing timings of the exhaust valves


29


and/or the ignition timing of the selected cylinder


21


, or the opening and closing timings of the exhaust valves


29


of the cylinder


21


which is in the exhaust stroke when the selected cylinder


21


is in the expansion stroke.




Referring next to

FIGS. 6-8

, there will be described a second embodiment of this invention as applied to the internal combustion engine


1


of

FIG. 1

provided with the variable valve drive mechanisms


30


,


31


. The second embodiment is different from the first embodiment, only in the purification assisting control performed by the ECU


20


.




The first embodiment of

FIGS. 1-5

is arranged to initiate a rich-burn operation of at least one cylinder


21


with a fuel-rich air-fuel mixture when the NOx occlusion capacity of the NOx catalyst


46


is saturated during the normal operation of the cylinders


21


of the engine


1


with a fuel-lean air-fuel mixture, so that the exhaust gases emitted from the rich-burn operated cylinder


21


are temporarily made fuel-rich and contain reducing agents necessary to reduce and remove the nitrogen oxides (NOx) occluded in the NOx catalyst


46


. On the other hand, the second embodiment is arranged to always effect rich-burn operation of at least one of the cylinders


21


while the other cylinders


21


are lean-burn operated.




In the following specific examples of the second embodiment, only one cylinder


21


is rich-burn operated while the other three cylinders


21


are lean-burn operated. Described more precisely, the three cylinders


21


are successively operated with a fuel-lean air-fuel mixture, and then the remaining one cylinder


21


is operated with a fuel-rich air-fuel mixture, so that fuel-lean exhaust gases are successively emitted from the lean-burn operated cylinders


21


, and then fuel-rich exhaust gases are emitted from the rich-burn operated cylinder


21


.




Accordingly, the occlusion-reduction type NOx catalyst


46


occludes or absorbs nitrogen oxides (NOx) contained in the exhaust gases emitted from the lean-burn operated cylinders


21


, and the occluded nitrogen oxides are reduced and released by reducing agents contained in the exhaust gases emitted from the rich-burn operated cylinder


21


. In this manner, the occlusion and reduction of the nitrogen oxides are repeated during the operation of the engine


1


.




In the rich-burn operation of the selected cylinder


21


, the air/fuel ratio and the amount of the fuel-rich exhaust gases emitted from the rich-burn operated cylinder


21


in each exhaust stroke are optimized to reduce and remove the entire amount of the nitrogen oxides (NOx) occluded in the NOx catalyst


46


during the lean-burn operations of the three cylinders


21


, namely, the entire amount of the nitrogen oxides contained in the exhaust gases emitted from the three lean-burn operated cylinders


21


.




It is noted that the combustion pressure generated upon combustion of a fuel-rich air-fuel mixture in the rich-burn operated cylinder


21


is higher than that upon combustion of a fuel-lean air-fuel mixture in the lean-burn operated cylinders


21


. If the combustion pressure as generated in the rich-burn operated cylinder


21


acted on the crankshaft


23


to produce a torque, the engine


1


would suffer from an undesirable variation in the output torque when the combustion occur successively in the four cylinders


21


.




In view of the above situation, the CPU


401


of the ECU


20


operated according to this second embodiment controls the opening and closing timings of the exhaust valves


29


of the cylinder


21


which is in the exhaust stroke when the rich-burn operated cylinder


21


is in the expansion stroke. Alternatively, the CPU


401


controls the opening and closing timings of the exhaust valves


29


of the rich-burn operated cylinder


21


. With this control performed, the output torque of the rich-burn operated cylinder


21


is reduced to be substantially equal to that of the lean-burn operated cylinders


21


.




In the example of

FIG. 6

, the #4 cylinder


21


is selected as the rich-burn operated cylinder


21


, and the #1, #2 and #3 cylinders


21


are lean-burn operated. The CPU


401


controls the exhaust valve drive mechanism


31


of the #3 cylinder


21


which is in the exhaust stroke when the #4 cylinder


21


is in the expansion stroke, such that the exhaust valves


29


of the #3 cylinder are opened after the moment of initiation of the exhaust stroke, that is, the moment of opening of that exhaust vales


29


is retarded with respect to the normal valve opening timing.




In the example of

FIG. 6

, the burned gases in the lean-burn operated #3 cylinder


21


are kept compressed during a period between the moment of initiation of the exhaust stroke (with its piston


22


at its bottom dead center) and the retarded moment of opening of the exhaust valves


29


, so that a portion of the output torque produced by the rich-burn operated #4 cylinder


21


is consumed by the #3 cylinder


21


to compress the burned gases therein after the exhaust stroke is initiated, whereby the effective output torque of the #4 cylinder


21


is reduced.




In the example of

FIG. 7

, too, the #4 cylinder


21


is selected as the rich-burned operated cylinder


21


, and the #1 through #3 cylinders


21


are lean-burn operated. However, the exhaust valves


29


of the rich-burn operated #4 cylinder


21


are opened in the process of the expansion stroke, namely, the moment of opening of those exhaust valves


29


is advanced with respect to the normal valve opening timing.




In the example of

FIG. 7

, the exhaustion of the burned gases from the rich-burned operated #4 cylinder


21


is initiated in the expansion stroke, so that the pressure acting on the piston


22


in that #4 cylinder is reduced in the expansion stroke, whereby only a portion of the combustion pressure in the #4 cylinder


21


is converted into the output torque of the crankshaft


23


.




The purification assisting control in the example of

FIG. 7

will be described in detail, by reference to the flowchart of

FIG. 8

which illustrates a purification assisting control routine executed by the CPU


401


according to the control program stored in the ROM


402


. This routine is repeatedly executed by the CPU


401


with a predetermined cycle time, for instance, each time the crankshaft


23


is rotated over an angle of 720°.




The purification assisting control routine of

FIG. 8

is initiated with step S


801


to read from the RAM


403


various kinds of data such as the engine speed and the operating amount of the accelerator pedal


42


as represented by the output signal of the accelerator position sensor


43


. Then, the control flow proceeds to step S


802


in which the CPU


401


determines the operating condition of the engine


1


on the basis of the engine speed and the operating amount of the accelerator pedal


42


.




Step S


802


is followed by step S


803


in which the CPU


401


determines whether the engine


1


is in a lean-burn state. This determination is made on the basis of the determination of the operating state of the engine


1


in step S


802


.




If a negative decision (NO) is obtained in step S


803


, one cycle of execution of the present routine is terminated. If an affirmative decision (YES) is obtained in step S


803


, the control flow goes to step S


804


.




In step S


804


, the CPU


401


calculates the presently required output torque of the engine


1


, on the basis of the engine speed and the operating amount of the accelerator pedal


42


which were read in step S


801


. The required engine output torque may be determined according to a predetermined relationship between the engine speed and operating amount of the accelerator pedal


42


and the required engine output torque. This relationship is obtained by experimentation, and a data map representing this relationship is stored in the ROM


402


.




The control flow then proceeds to step S


805


in which the CPU


401


calculates a required output torque of each cylinder


21


, on the basis of the required output torque of the engine


1


calculated in step S


804


. This required output torque of each cylinder


21


will be referred to as “required output torque per cylinder”. Step S


803


described above may follow this step S


805


.




Step S


805


is followed by step S


806


in which the CPU


401


determines a target air/fuel ratio of an air-fuel mixture to be burned in each lean-burn operated cylinder


21


and a target amount of intake air to be drawn into each lean-burn operated cylinder


21


(hereinafter referred to as “target intake air amount per cylinder”), so that the actual output torque produced by each lean-burn operated cylinder


21


coincides with the required output torque per cylinder and so that the amount of fuel injection into each lean-burn operated cylinder


21


is minimized.




The control flow then proceeds to step S


807


in which the CPU


401


determines target opening and closing timings of the intake valves


28


and target opening and closing timings of the exhaust valves


29


of each lean-burn operated cylinder


21


, according to the target air/fuel ratio and the target intake air amount per cylinder which were calculated in step S


806


. In step S


807


, the CPU


401


further operates to calculate the target fuel injection amount of each lean-burn operated cylinder


21


by dividing the target intake air amount per cylinder by the target air/fuel ratio.




In the next step S


808


, the CPU


401


first estimates an amount of nitrogen oxides (NOx) that are emitted from each lean-burn operated cylinder


21


when the cylinder


21


is operated with a fuel-lean air-fuel mixture that satisfies the target air-fuel ratio and the target intake air amount per cylinder. Then, the CPU


401


calculates the total amount of nitrogen oxides emitted from all of the three lean-burn operated cylinders


21


, by multiplying the estimated amount by three.




The control flow then proceeds to step S


809


to calculate an amount of reducing agents required to reduce the total amount of nitrogen oxides calculated in step S


808


.




Then, the control flow proceeds to step S


810


in which the CPU


401


first calculates the lowest air/fuel ratio of an air-fuel mixture that is combustible in the rich-burn operated cylinder


21


. This lowest air/fuel ration will be referred to as “target air/fuel ratio of the rich-burn operated cylinder


21


”. Then, the CPU


401


calculates an amount of reducing agents to be contained in unit volume of exhaust gases emitted as a result of combustion of the air-fuel mixture having the target air/fuel ratio, and calculates the amount of exhaust gases to-be emitted from the rich-burn operated cylinder


21


, in other words, the required amount of intake air to be drawn into the rich-burn operated cylinder


21


, by dividing the above-indicated target amount of reducing agents by the calculated amount of reducing agents. The above-indicated required amount of intake air into the rich-burn operated cylinder


21


will be referred to as “target intake air amount of the rich-burn operated cylinder”.




Step S


810


is followed by step S


811


to determine target opening and closing timings of the intake valves


28


of the rich-burn operated cylinder


21


on the basis of the target intake air amount of the rich-burn operated cylinder


21


calculated in step S


810


, and then calculates a target amount of fuel injected into the rich-burn operated cylinder


21


, by dividing the target intake air amount of the rich-burn operated cylinder


21


by the target air/fuel ratio of the rich-burn operated cylinder


21


.




Step S


811


is followed by step S


812


in which the CPU


401


estimates an output torque produced by the rich-burn operated cylinder


21


when this cylinder


21


is operated with an air-fuel mixture which satisfies the target air/fuel ratio and the target intake air amount of the rich-burn operated cylinder


21


, which were calculated in step S


810


.




The control flow then proceeds to step S


813


in which the CPU


401


determines target opening and closing timings of the exhaust valves


29


of the rich-burn operated cylinder


21


so that the output torque estimated in step S


812


is reduced to the required output torque calculated in step S


805


.




In the next step S


814


, the CPU


401


controls the intake vale driver circuits


30




a


, exhaust valve driver circuits


31




a


and fuel injector valves


32


of the lean-burn operated cylinders


21


, according to the target opening and closing timings of the intake valves


28


, the target opening and closing timings of the exhaust valves


29


and the required fuel injection amount, which were calculated in step S


807


. The CPU


401


further controls the intake valve driver circuit


30




a


, the exhaust valve driver circuit


31




a


and the fuel injector valve


32


of the rich-burn operated cylinder


21


, according to the target opening and closing timings of the intake and exhaust valves


28


,


29


and the target fuel injection amount, which were determined in steps S


811


and S


813


.




In the example of

FIG. 8

, the three lean-burn operated cylinders


21


are successively operated with a fuel-lean air-fuel mixture, and then the rich-burn operated cylinder


21


is operated with the air-fuel mixture having the target air/fuel mixture. As a result, the fuel-lean exhaust gases are successively emitted from the lean-burn operated cylinders


21


, and then the fuel-rich exhaust gases are emitted from the rich-burn operated cylinder


21


.




The exhaust gases emitted from the rich-burn operated cylinder


21


contain an amount of reducing agents which corresponds to the total amount of nitrogen oxides (NOx) contained in the exhaust gases emitted from the three lean-burn operated cylinders


21


. The occlusion-reduction type NOx catalyst


46


occludes or absorbs the nitrogen oxides contained in the exhaust gases successively emitted from the three lean-burn operated cylinders


21


, and the total amount of the nitrogen oxides occluded in the NOx catalyst


46


is released or removed when the NOx catalyst


46


is subsequently exposed to the exhaust gases emitted from the rich-burn operated cylinder


21


.




Thus, the purification assisting control according to the routine of

FIG. 8

is arranged to effect the occlusion and reduction of the nitrogen oxides (NOx) in and at the Nox catalyst


46


in each cycle of operation of the internal combustion engine


1


. This arrangement facilitates matching between the amount of occlusion of the nitrogen oxides and the amount of the reducing agents contained in the exhaust gases, making it possible to reduce the operating load on the CPU


401


.




In the purification assisting control of

FIGS. 7 and 8

, the output torque of the rich-burn operated cylinder


21


is made equal to that of each lean-burn operated cylinder


21


, by controlling the opening and closing timings of the exhaust valves


29


of the rich-burn operated cylinder


21


, so that the overall output torque of the engine


1


does not suffer from an undesirable variation.




While the second embodiment of

FIGS. 6-8

is adapted to use the same cylinder


21


of the engine


1


as the rich-burn operated cylinder


21


, all or a plurality of the cylinders


21


may be sequentially used as the rich-burn operated cylinder


21


at predetermined intervals. This modification is effective to prevent undesirable deposits from remaining in the rich-burn operated cylinder


21


, or prevent smoking of the spark plug


25


of the rich-burn operated cylinder


21


.




A third embodiment of this invention will be next described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.


9


. The third embodiment is different from the first and second embodiments, only in the purification assisting control performed by the CPU


401


.




The first and second embodiments are arranged to operate the selected cylinder


21


with a fuel-rich air-fuel mixture having a relatively low air/fuel ratio so that hydrocarbon (HC) that is contained in a relatively large amount in the exhaust gases emitted from the rich-burn operated cylinder


21


is supplied as a reducing agent to the occlusion-reduction type NOx catalyst


46


. On the other hand, the third embodiment is arranged to supply the NOx catalyst with reducing agents in the form of hydrogen (H


2


) and carbon monoxide (CO) having a higher ability of reducing nitrogen oxides (NOx) than hydrocarbon (HC).




The CPU


401


executes a rich-burn cylinder control routine illustrated in the flowchart of

FIG. 9

according to a control program stored in the ROM


402


, when it becomes necessary to perform a rich-burn operation of the selected cylinder


21


with a fuel-rich air-fuel mixture for the purpose of recovering the NOx catalyst


46


into a state suitable for reducing and removing the nitrogen oxides.




The rich-burn cylinder control routine of

FIG. 9

is initiated with step S


901


to determine whether the occlusion-reduction type NOx catalyst


46


is required to be supplied with the reducing agents, to recover its original NOx occluding or absorbing ability.




If it is determined in step S


901


that the NOx catalyst


46


is not required to be supplied with the reducing agents for recovering its original NOx occluding ability, one cycle of execution of the routine of

FIG. 9

is terminated.




If it is determined in step S


901


that the NOx catalyst


46


is required to be supplied with the reducing agents for recovering its original NOx occluding ability, the CPU


401


executes step S


902


.




In step S


902


, the CPU


401


determines whether the revolving speed of the engine


1


is equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold, or the load acting on the engine


1


is equal to or larger than a predetermined threshold.




If it is determined in step S


902


that the revolving speed of the engine


1


is equal to or higher than the threshold, and/or the load of the engine


1


is equal to or larger than the threshold, the control flow proceeds to step S


903


in which the moment of opening of the exhaust valves


29


of the rich-burn operated cylinder


21


is advanced.




Regarding the opening timing of the exhaust valves


29


of the rich-burn operated cylinder


21


, it is noted that hydrogen (H


2


) is produced as a result of thermal decomposition upon combustion of hydrocarbon (HC) contained in the air-fuel mixture, and the thus produced hydrogen is bonded with oxygen and carbon to produce water (H


2


O) and hydrocarbon (HC) as the combustion further progresses. By opening the exhaust valves


29


in the process of combustion of the air-fuel mixture, the emitted exhaust gases contain a comparatively large amount of hydrogen (H


2


). When the NOx catalyst


46


is exposed to the emitted exhaust gases containing such a large amount of hydrogen, nitrogen oxides (NOx) stored in the NOx catalyst


46


are efficiency reduced in a short time with the hydrogen.




If it is determined in step S


902


that the engine speed is lower than the threshold and the engine load is smaller than the threshold, the control flow proceeds to step S


904


in which the moment of opening of the exhaust valve


29


of the rich-burn operated cylinder


21


is retarded.




Hydrocarbon (HC) remaining in the rich-burn operated cylinder


21


after the combustion of the air-fuel mixture is oxidized at a high temperature and in an oxidizing atmosphere, to produce carbon monoxide (CO). Therefore, the exhaust gases emitted from the rich-burn operated cylinder


21


contain a comparatively large amount of carbon monoxide (CO), when the moment of opening of the exhaust valve


29


is retarded to a suitable point of time after the termination of combustion of the air-fuel mixture.




Since the exhaust gases emitted from the rich-burn operated cylinder


21


contain a large amount of carbon monoxide (CO) having a higher reducing ability than hydrocarbon (HC), the nitrogen oxides (NOx) stored in the NOx catalyst


46


are efficiently reduced in a short time with the carbon monoxide when the NOx catalyst


46


is exposed to the emitted exhaust gases.




Thus, the rich-burn cylinder control routine executed by the CPU


402


enables the NOx catalyst


46


to recover its original NOx occluding ability by reduction of nitrogen oxides with hydrogen (H


2


) or carbon monoxide (CO), in a shorter time than in the case where hydrocarbon (HC) is used as the reducing agent. Accordingly, the required time of the rich-burn operation of the selected cylinder


21


for the purpose of recovering the original NOx occluding ability can be further shortened, leading to further reduction of the required amount of consumption of the fuel.




A fourth embodiment of this invention will be described referring to the flowchart of FIG.


10


. The fourth embodiment is different from the first through third embodiments, only in the purification assisting control performed by the CPU


401


.




While the first through third embodiments are arranged to recover the original NOx occluding ability of the NOx catalyst


46


by reducing and removing the nitrogen oxides (NOx) stored in the NOx catalyst


46


, the fourth embodiment is arranged to remove SOx poisoning of the occlusion-reduction type NOx catalyst


46


.




When the exhaust gases to which the NOx catalyst


46


is exposed are fuel-lean, the NOx catalyst


46


occludes or absorbs nitrogen oxides (NOx) contained in the exhaust gases. However, the NOx catalyst


46


also occludes or absorbs a sulfur component contained in the exhaust gases, in the same manner as the nitrogen oxides, whereby the NOx occluding ability of the NOx catalyst


46


is reduced. This phenomenon is a so-called “SOx poisoning” of the NOx catalyst


46


.




Described in detail, sulfur oxides (SOx) such as SO2 and SO3 are produced as a result of combustion of the sulfur (S) component contained in the fuel used in the engine


1


. Therefore, the exhaust gases to which the NOx catalyst


46


is exposed contain the sulfur component.




When the exhaust gases are fuel-lean, oxygen O


2







or O


2−


are deposited on the surface of platinum (Pt) carried on the substrate of the NOx catalyst


46


, so that the sulfur oxides (SOx) contained in the exhaust gases react with oxygen O


2







or O


2−


to form SO


3







or SO


4







.




The SO


3







or SO


4







formed on the platinum (Pt) of the NOx catalyst


46


are further oxidized on the platinum, and are absorbed in the NOx catalyst


46


as sulphate ion (SO


4




2−


). The sulphate ion (SO


4




2−


) absorbed in the NOx catalyst


46


are bonded with barium oxide (BaO) to form barium sulfate (BaSO


4


).




Barium sulfate (BaSO


4


) has properties that it is decomposed with more difficulty and more easily agglomerated than nitrogen oxides (NOx). Accordingly, barium sulfate is more likely to remain in the NOx catalyst


46


since barium sulfate is unlikely to be decomposed even when the NOx catalyst


46


is exposed to fuel-rich exhaust gases.




Therefore, the amount of barium sulfate (BaSO


4


) in the NOx catalyst


46


increases with the time, so that the amount of barium oxide (BaO) which serves to enable the NOx catalyst


46


to occlude nitrogen oxides (NOx) is reduced, resulting in reduction in the NOx occluding ability of the NOx catalyst


46


.




To remove the SOx poisoning of the occlusion-reduction type catalyst


46


, the temperature of the atmosphere in which the NOx catalyst


46


exists must be raised to a considerably high level (e.g., 500-700° C.), and the exhaust gases to which the NOx catalyst


46


is exposed must be fuel-rich, i.e., have a considerably low air/fuel ratio.




That is, barium sulfate (BaSO


4


) produced within the NOx catalyst


46


is thermally decomposed into SO


3







or SO


4







when the temperature of the atmosphere of the NOx catalyst


46


is raised. When the exhaust gases to which the NOx catalyst


46


is exposed are fuel-rich at that time, SO


3







or SO


4







react with hydrocarbon (IC) and carbon monoxide (CO) contained in the fuel-rich exhaust gases, and are reduced into gaseous SO


2







, whereby sulfur dioxides (SOx) are released from the NOx catalyst


46


.




For example, the atmosphere to which the NOx catalyst


46


is exposed can be controlled to be hot and fuel-rich, by supplying the NOx catalyst


46


with fuel-rich exhaust gases containing large amounts of unburned fuel components and oxygen, so that the unburned fuel components are burned by reaction with oxygen.




The exhaust gases containing large amounts of unburned fuel components and oxygen can be produced, for instance, by either of the following two methods: (1) operating the engine


1


with a fuel-rich air-fuel mixture so that the exhaust gases are fuel-rich, and introducing additional air into the exhaust passage at a point upstream of the NOx catalyst


46


, so that the exhaust gases contain unburned fuel components and oxygen; and (2) operating at least one of the cylinders


21


of the engine


1


with a fuel-rich air-fuel mixture, while at the same time operating the other cylinder or cylinders


21


with a fuel-lean air-fuel mixture, so that fuel-rich exhaust gases containing a large amount of unburned fuel components and oxygen-rich exhaust gases containing a large amount of oxygen are mixed together. In the present embodiment, however, the following method is employed in the light of the function of the electromagnetic valve drive mechanisms


30


,


31


capable of controlling the opening and closing timings of the intake and exhaust valves


28


,


29


as needed.




Namely, when it becomes necessary to remove the SOx poisoning of the NOx catalyst


46


, the CPU


401


controls the fuel injector valve


32


of each cylinder


21


of the engine


1


for operating each cylinder


21


with a fuel-rich air-fuel mixture, and advance the moment of opening of the exhaust valves


29


to a point in the expansion stroke, so that the air-fuel mixture in the process of combustion is discharged from the cylinder


21


as exhaust gases.




The above arrangement provides exhaust gases having a higher temperature and larger amounts of unburned fuel components and oxygen than exhaust gases that are discharged from the relevant cylinder


21


after the air-fuel mixture has been completely burned.




The amounts of unburned fuel components and oxygen contained in the exhaust gases may also be increased by retarding the ignition timing of the spark plug


25


of each cylinder


21


so as to retard the combustion of the air-fuel mixture.




When the air-fuel mixture in the process of combustion is emitted from each cylinder


21


, the combustion pressure in each cylinder


21


is lowered, and the efficiency of conversion of the compression pressure into the torque of the crankshaft


23


is lowered, resulting in reduction of the output torque of the engine


1


.




To prevent the reduction of the engine output, the CPU


401


changes the opening and closing timings of the intake valves


28


of each cylinder


21


so as to increase the intake air amount, and increases the fuel injection amount. The amount of intake air to be drawn into each cylinder


21


can be increased by increasing the opening of the throttle valve


39


, in addition to changing the opening and closing timings of the intake valves


28


.




The purification assisting control according to the fourth embodiment of this invention will be described in detail.




To perform the purification assisting control, the CPU


401


operates to execute a purification assisting control routine illustrated in the flowchart of

FIG. 10

, according to a control program also stored in the ROM


402


. This control routine is repeatedly executed with a predetermined cycle time (for instance, each time the crankshaft position sensor


51


generates a pulse signal).




The purification assisting control routine of

FIG. 10

is initiated with step S


1001


in which the CPU


401


determines the degree of SOx poisoning of the occlusion-reduction type NOx catalyst


46


. This determination in step S


1001


can be effected, for instance, on the basis of the output signal of the NOx sensor


49


disposed downstream of the NOx catalyst


46


, when the exhaust gases to which the NOx catalyst


46


is exposed are fuel-lean. Alternatively, the degree of the SOx poisoning of the NOx catalyst


46


can be estimated on the basis of the cumulative time of operation of the engine


1


with a fuel-lean air-fuel mixture, the cumulative amount of intake air that have been drawn into the engine


1


, and/or the cumulative amount of fuel injection into the engine


1


.




Step S


1001


is followed by step S


1002


in which the CPU


401


determines whether the degree of the SOx poisoning of the NOx catalyst


46


is larger than a predetermined threshold. This threshold is obtained by experimentation and stored in the ROM


402


.




If it is determined in step S


1002


that the degree of the SOx poisoning of the NOx catalyst


46


is not larger than the threshold, the CPU


401


determines that it is not necessary to execute further steps for removing the SOx poisoning of the NOx catalyst


46


. In this case, one cycle of execution of the routine of

FIG. 10

is terminated.




If it is determined in step S


1002


that the degree of the SOx poisoning of the NOx catalyst


46


is larger than the threshold, the CPU


401


determines that it is necessary to execute the further steps for removing the SOx poisoning of the NOx catalyst


46


, and the control flow proceeds to step S


1003


.




In step S


1003


, the CPU


401


reads from the RAM


403


the revolving speed of the engine


1


and the operating amount of the accelerator pedal


42


represented by the output signal of the accelerator position sensor


43


, and calculates a required output torque of the engine


1


on the basis of the engine speed and the operating amount of the accelerator pedal


42


.




In the next step S


1004


, the CPU


401


determines desired opening and closing timings of the intake valves


28


and the exhaust valves


29


, a required amount of fuel injection and a desired ignition timing of the spark plugs


25


, so that the NOx catalyst


46


is exposed to the exhaust gases containing unburned fuel components and oxygen, while the engine


1


is enabled to produce the required output torque calculated in step S


1003


.




Described in detail, the CPU


401


first calculates the desired air/fuel ratio of an air-fuel mixture to be burned in each cylinder


21


, and then determines the desired opening timing of the exhaust valves


29


and the desired ignition timing of the spark plug


25


such that the moment of opening of the exhaust vale


28


is advanced and the ignition timing is retarded, for the air-fuel mixture in the process of combustion to be exhausted from each cylinder


21


.




Then, the CPU


401


determines the required intake air amount and the required fuel injection amount so that the actual output torque of the engine


1


operated according to the determined desired air/fuel mixture, desired opening timing of the exhaust valves


29


and desired ignition timing coincides with the determined required output torque. The CPU


401


then determines the opening and closing timings of the intake valves


28


on the basis of the determined required intake air amount.




Step S


1004


is followed by step S


1005


in which the CPU


401


controls the intake valve driver circuit


30




a


, exhaust valve driver circuit


31




a


, fuel injector valve


32


and spark plug


25


of each cylinder


21


, according to the desired opening and closing timings of the intake valves


28


, desired opening and closing timings of the exhaust valves


29


, required fuel injection amount and desired ignition timing, which were determined in step S


1004


, so that the SOx poisoning of the NOx catalyst


46


is removed.




As a result, the engine


1


emits the hot exhaust gases containing large amounts of unburned fuel components and oxygen, while providing the required output torque. The NOx catalyst


46


is exposed to the emitted exhaust gases flowing through the exhaust manifold


45


. Accordingly, the NOx catalyst


46


is heated by the heat of the exhaust gases, and the unburned fuel components react with oxygen on the platinum (Pt) of the NOx catalyst


46


, so that the NOx catalyst


46


is further heated by heat generated in the reaction.




When the atmosphere surrounding the NOx catalyst


46


is held at a high temperature, barium sulfate (BaSO


4


) in the NOx catalyst


46


is thermally decomposed into SO


3







or SO


4







, which in turn are reduced to SO


2







by reaction with hydrocarbon (HC) and carbon monoxide (CO) contained in the exhaust gases, and SO


2







is released from the NOx catalyst


46


.




Step S


1005


is followed by step S


1006


in which the CPU


401


determines whether the SOx poisoning of the NOx catalyst


46


has been removed. This determination may be made by determining whether the cumulative time of rich-burn operation of the engine


1


in step S


1005


is long enough to remove the SOx poisoning. To make this determination, a predetermined relationship between the degree of SOx poisoning of the NOx catalyst


46


and a sufficient SOx removal time is obtained by experimentation and stored in the ROM


402


. The determination as to whether the SOx poisoning has been removed is made by determining whether the cumulative rich-burn operation of the engine


1


has increased to the sufficient SOx removal time that is determined on the basis of the degree of SOx poisoning and according to the predetermined relationship. Alternatively, an SOx sensor is attached to the exhaust pipe


47


downstream of the NOx catalyst


46


, and the determination as to whether the SOx poisoning of the NOx catalyst


46


has been removed is made by determining whether the SOx concentration of the exhaust gases in the exhaust pipe


46


as represented by the output signal of the SOx sensor has been reduced to a predetermined value.




If it is determined in step S


1006


that the SOx poisoning of the NOx catalyst


46


has not been removed yet, the control flow returns to step S


1005


.




If it is determined in step S


1006


that the SOx poisoning has been removed, the control flow proceeds to step S


1007


in which the CPU


401


controls the intake valve driver circuits


30




a


, exhaust valve driver circuits


31




a


and the spark plugs


25


, to establish the normal opening and closing timings of the intake and exhaust valves


28


,


29


and the normal ignition timing, and controls the fuel injector valves


32


to establish the normal fuel injection amount.




According to the purification assisting control described above, the exhaust gases emitted from the engine


1


can be controlled to be hot and to contain large amounts of unburned fuel components and oxygen, by controlling the opening and closing timings of the intake and exhaust valves


28


,


29


. As a result, the required time for removing the SOx poisoning can be significantly reduced, that is, the required time for the rich-burn operation of the engine for removing the SOx poisoning can be reduced, thus minimizing deterioration of the vehicle driveability and an increase in the amount of consumption of the fuel.




Although the fourth embodiment is arranged to remove the SOx poisoning of the NOx catalyst


46


by operating the engine


1


with a fuel-rich air-fuel mixture while the opening timing of the exhaust valves


28


is advanced for easy cylinder


21


, it is possible to supply the NOx catalyst


46


with an unburned fuel, by operating the fuel injector valve


32


of each cylinder


21


while the intake and exhaust valves


28


,


29


are both open, so that the unburned fuel is burned at the NOx catalyst


46


, for efficiently controlling the atmosphere surrounding the NOx catalyst


46


to be sufficiently hot and fuel-rich.




Referring next to

FIGS. 11-15

, there will be described a fifth embodiment of this invention as applied to an internal combustion engine provided with a variable valve control system.




The internal combustion engine with the intake and exhaust systems is schematically shown in FIG.


11


. Since this internal combustion engine is almost identical with that of FIG.


1


and

FIG. 2

to which the first embodiment is applied, only the aspects of the engine


1


of

FIG. 11

that are different from the engine of FIG.


1


and

FIG. 2

will be described.




In the engine


1


of

FIG. 2

according to the first embodiment, each fuel injector valve


32


is attached to the cylinder head


1




a


, at a position near the point of connection of the corresponding branch intake pipe to the cylinder head


1




a


, such that the fuel outlet of the fuel injector valve


32


is open to the intake ports


26


of the corresponding cylinder


21


. In the engine


1


of

FIG. 11

according to the fifth embodiment, each fuel injector valve


32


is attached to the cylinder head


1




a


such that the fuel outlet is open to the combustion chamber


24


of the corresponding cylinder


21


so that the fuel is injected from the fuel injector valve


32


directly into the combustion chamber


24


.




As in the first embodiment, the two intake ports


26


and the two exhaust ports


27


are open to the combustion chamber


24


of each cylinder


21


. In the present embodiment, one of the two intake ports


26


is a straight port extending straight to the combustion chamber


24


, and the other intake port


26


is a swirl port in the form of a helical port which is formed so as to cause a swirl of the intake air drawn into the combustion chamber


24


.




The intake manifold


33


having four branch intake pipes is attached to the cylinder head


1




a


, and the intake ports


26


of the cylinders


21


are respectively connected to the branch intake pipes of the intake manifold


33


.




In each branch pipe of the intake manifold


33


that communicates with each straight intake port


26


, there is provided a swirl control valve


17


for controlling the rate of flow of the intake air through that branch pipe. The swirl control valve


17


is provided with an SCV actuator


17




a


and a SCV position sensor


17




b


. The SCV actuator


17




a


includes a stepping motor for controlling the angle or amount of opening of the swirl control valve


17


according to an amount of electric current applied to the stepping motor. The SCV position sensor


17




b


generates an output signal indicative of the amount of opening of the swirl control valve.




A casing


46




b


that is connected to the exhaust manifold


45


houses an occlusion-reduction type NOx catalyst


46




a


similar to the NOx catalyst


46




a


used in the preceding embodiments. The NOx catalyst


46




a


has both a three-way catalytic function and an occlusion-and-reduction function. The three-way catalytic function is a function of reducing or removing hydrocarbon (HC), carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) contained in exhaust gases which are emitted from the engine


1


when the emitted exhaust gases have the stoichiometric air/fuel ratio or an air/fuel ratio close to the stoichiometric value. The occlusion-and-reduction function is a function of occluding or absorbing nitrogen oxides (NOx) contained in exhaust gases which are fuel-lean, namely, have an air/fuel ratio higher than the stoichiometric value, and releasing the nitrogen oxides (NOx) occluded or absorbed in the NOx catalyst


46




a


when the emitted exhaust gases are stoichiometric or fuel-rich, namely, have the stoichiometric air/fuel ratio or an air/fuel ratio lower than the stoichiometric value. The occlusion-and-reduction function further includes a function of immediately reducing the emitted nitrogen oxides (NOx) into nitrogen (N


2


) by reaction of the nitrogen oxides with unburned hydrocarbon (HC) and carbon monoxide (CO) contained in the stoichiometric or fuel-rich exhaust gases.




Therefore, the NOx catalyst


46




a


disposed in the exhaust passage of the engine


1


is capable of reducing or removing HC, CO and NOx contained in exhaust gases emitted from the engine


1


as a result of operation of the engine with a fuel-lean air-fuel mixture, by suitably controlling the air-fuel ratio of the emitted exhaust gases. In the present embodiment, the amount of NOx which has been occluded in the NOx catalyst


46




a


is estimated on the basis of the operating hysteresis or the past operating condition of the engine


1


, and the exhaust gases to which the NOx catalyst


46




a


is exposed are temporarily controlled to be in a fuel-rich state when the estimated amount of NOx occluded in the NOx catalyst


46




a


has increased to a predetermined upper limit, so that the occluded NOx is released from the NOx catalyst


46


and reduced into N


2


. The manner of controlling the emitted exhaust gases to be fuel-rich in the present embodiment will be described in detail.




In the present embodiment, the air/fuel ratio of the exhaust gases is interpreted to mean a ratio of a total amount of air introduced into the combustion chamber


24


through the intake passage and air introduced into a portion of the exhaust passage upstream of the NOx catalyst


46




a


, to a total amount of a fuel (hydrocarbon) injected into the combustion chamber


24


and a fuel introduced into the above-indicated upstream portion of the exhaust passage. Where none of a fuel, a reducing agent and air is introduced in the upstream portion of the exhaust passage upstream of the NOx catalyst


46




a


, the air/fuel ratio of the exhaust gases is the same as the air/fuel ratio of an air-fuel mixture introduced into the combustion chamber


24


.




In the fifth embodiment, the exhaust pipe


47


is provided with an exhaust gas temperature sensor


50


for detecting the temperature of the exhaust gases. This temperature is used as the temperature at the substrate of the NOx catalyst


46




a.






The cross-sectional view of

FIG. 12

shows the electromagnetic exhaust valve drive mechanism


31


provided for each exhaust valve


29


for each cylinder


21


. This mechanism


31


is substantially identical in construction with the electromagnetic intake valve mechanism


30


for each intake valve


28


, which is shown in

FIG. 3. A

further description of the mechanism


31


is deemed unnecessary.




As in the first embodiment, the engine


1


is controlled by the electronic control unit (ECU)


20


, as shown in FIG.


13


.




The ECU


20


is constituted by a digital computer incorporating the CPU


401


, ROM


402


, RAM


403


and input and output ports


405


,


406


which are connected to each other through the bidirectional bus


400


, and further incorporating the A/D converter


407


, as in the first embodiment.




The A/D converter


407


receives analog output signals of the sensors such as the SCV position sensors


17




b


, throttle position sensor


41


, accelerator position sensor


43


, air flow meter


44


, air/fuel ratio sensor


48


, exhaust gas temperature sensor


50


, coolant temperature sensor


52


and valve lift sensors


317


. These analog output signals are converted by the A/D converter


407


into respective digital signals, which are applied to the input port


405


. The input port


405


directly receives a digital output signal of the crankshaft position sensor


51


.




To the output port


406


of the ECU


20


, there are electrically connected the SCV actuator


16




a


, igniters


25




a


, intake valve driver circuits


30




a


, exhaust valve driver circuits


31




a


, exhaust valve driver circuits


31




a


, fuel injector valves


32


and throttle actuator


40


.




The ROM


402


of the ECU


20


stores various application programs such as programs for executing a fuel injection amount control routine for determining the amount of fuel injection into the cylinders


21


, a fuel injection timing control routine for determining the timing of fuel injection into the cylinders


21


, an ignition timing control routine for determining the ignition timing of the igniters


25




a


(spark plugs


25


), a throttle valve opening control routine for determining the opening of the throttle valve


39


, and an SCV opening control routine for determining the amount of opening of the swirl control valve


17


of each cylinder


21


. The ROM


402


further stores programs for executing an intake valve timing control routine for determining the opening and closing timing of the intake valves


28


, an exhaust valve timing control routine for determining the opening and closing timing of the exhaust valves


29


, an intake valve driver current control routine for determining the amounts of electric current to be applied from the intake valve driver circuits


30




a


to the solenoid coils of the electromagnetic intake valve drive mechanisms


30


, and an exhaust valve driver current control routine for determining the amounts of electric current to be applied from the exhaust valve driver circuits


31




a


to the solenoid coils of the electromagnetic exhaust valve drive mechanism


31


.




The ROM


402


of the ECU


20


further stores various data maps, in addition to the application programs described above. The stored data maps include: various fuel injection amount control data maps representative of predetermined relationships between the operating state of the internal combustion engine


1


and the amount of fuel injection; a fuel injection timing control data map representative of a predetermined relationship between the operating state of the engine


1


and the timing of fuel injection; an ignition timing control data map representative of a predetermined relationship between the operating state of the engine


1


and the ignition timing of each spark plug


25


; a throttle valve opening control data map representative of a predetermined relationship between the operating state of the engine


1


and the opening of the throttle valve


39


; an SCV opening control data map representative of a predetermined relationship between the operating state of the engine


1


and the amount of opening of the swirl control valve


17


; an intake valve timing control data map representative of a predetermined relationship between the operating state of the engine


1


and the opening and closing timing of the intake valves


28


; an exhaust valve timing control data map representative of a predetermined relationship between the operating state of the engine


1


and the opening and closing timing of the exhaust valves


29


; and a valve driver current control data map representative of predetermined relationships between the operating state of the engine


1


and the amounts of electric current to be applied to the electromagnetic intake and exhaust valve drive mechanisms


30


,


31


.




The RAM


403


is provided to temporarily store the output signals of the various sensors, and results of arithmetic operations performed by the CPU


401


, such as the operating speed of the engine


1


as calculated on the basis of the output signal of the crankshaft position sensor


51


. The signals and data stored in the RAM


403


are updated each time the ECU


20


receives the output signal of the crankshaft position sensor


51


.




The backup RAM


404


is a non-volatile memory which retains data even after the operation of the engine


1


is stopped. The backup RAM


404


stores various data which are updated by learning.




The CPU


401


operates according to the application programs stored in the ROM


402


, to execute the various control routines such as the fuel injection control routine, ignition timing control routine, throttle valve opening control routine, swirl control routine, intake valve timing control routine and exhaust valve timing control routine.




The CPU


401


determines or detects the operating condition of the engine


1


on the basis of the output signals of the crankshaft position sensor


51


and the accelerator position sensor


43


or the air flow meter


44


, and controls the engine


1


according to the determined operating condition.




The graph of

FIG. 14

indicates a relationship between the operating state (as represented by the load and speed) of the engine


1


and the combustion state in the combustion chambers


24


. The combustion in the combustion chambers


24


of the engine


1


will be explained by reference to FIG.


14


.




When the CPU


401


determines that the engine


1


is in a low-load operating state indicated by region A in

FIG. 14

, the engine


1


is controlled to effect stratified charge combustion in each combustion chamber


24


. To this end, the CPU


401


transmits a control signal to the SCV actuator


17




a


so as to reduce the angle or amount of the swirl control valve


17


, and transmits a control signal to the throttle actuator


40


so as to substantially fully close the throttle valve


39


. The CPU


401


further controls the fuel injector valve


32


in the compression stroke of each cylinder


21


, to inject the fuel during the compression stroke.




In this case, air is introduced into the combustion chamber


24


of each cylinder


24


primarily through the helical intake port


26


during the intake stroke, so that a strong swirl of air is produced in the combustion chamber


24


. In the following compression stroke, the fuel injected from the fuel injector valve


32


into the combustion chamber


24


is moved with the air swirl toward the spark plug


25


and reaches a position near the spark plug


25


at a given moment. Thus, a combustible air-fuel mixture is formed near the spark plug


25


, and the formed air-fuel mixture is surrounded by the air, such that the combustible air-fuel mixture and the adjacent layers of the air cooperate to form a stratified charge, which as a whole is an extremely fuel-lean air-fuel atmosphere. The CPU


401


controls the igniter


25




a


to energize the spark plug


25


for igniting the air-fuel mixture. As a result, the atmosphere near the spark plug


25


(including the combustible air-fuel mixture and the adjacent air layers) is burned with the ignition of the combustible air-fuel mixture near the spark plug


25


.




The amount of the fuel to be injected into the combustion chamber


24


for the stratified charge combustion indicated above is determined on the basis of the operating amount of the accelerator pedal


42


and the engine speed. To determine the amount of the fuel injection (the fuel injection time), the CPU


401


uses the first fuel injection amount control data map representative of the predetermined relationship between the fuel injection amount and the engine operating state as represented by the operating amount of the accelerator pedal


42


(represented by the output signal of the accelerator position sensor


43


) and the engine speed.




The air/fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture for the stratified charge combustion is selected within a range of 25-50, and the first fuel injection amount control data map for the stratified charge combustion is determined to correspond to this range of the air-fuel ratio.




When the CPU


401


determines that the engine


1


is in a medium-load operating state indicated by region C in

FIG. 14

, the engine


1


is controlled to effect uniform charge lean-burn combustion in each combustion chamber


24


. To this end, the CPU


401


controls the SCV actuator


17




a


so as to reduce the angle of opening of the swirl control valve


17


, and controls the fuel injector valve


32


in the intake stroke of each cylinder


21


, to inject the fuel during the intake stroke. In this case, a fuel-lean air-fuel mixture consisting of fresh air and a fuel uniformly mixed together is formed over a substantially entire space in the combustion chamber


24


of each cylinder, and the fuel-lean air-fuel mixture is uniformly burned in the combustion chamber


24


.




The fuel injection amount and the intake air amount for the uniform charge lean-burn combustion indicated above are determined on the basis of the operating amount of the accelerator pedal


42


and the engine speed. To determine the fuel injection amount or fuel injection time, the CPU


401


uses the second fuel injection amount control data map representative of the predetermined relationship among the output signal value of the accelerator position sensor


43


(the operating amount of the accelerator pedal


42


), the engine speed and the fuel injection amount. To determine the intake air amount (the opening of the throttle valve


39


), the CPU


401


uses the throttle valve opening control data map representative of the predetermined relationship among the output signal value of the accelerator position sensor


43


(operating amount of the accelerator pedal


42


), the engine speed and the intake air amount (the opening of the throttle valve


38


).




The air/fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture for the uniform charge lean-burn combustion is selected within a range of 15-23, and the second fuel injection amount control data map and the throttle valve opening control data map for the uniform charge lean-burn combustion are determined to correspond to this range of the air-fuel ratio.




When the CPU


401


determines that the engine


1


is in a high-load operating state indicated by region D in

FIG. 14

, the engine


1


is controlled to effect uniform charge stoichiometric combustion in each combustion chamber


24


, with an air-fuel mixture having the stoichiometric air/fuel ratio or an air/fuel ratio close to the stoichiometric value. To this end, the CPU


401


controls the SCV actuator


17




a


so as to fully open the swirl control valve


17


, and controls the throttle actuator


40


so that the opening of the throttle valve


39


corresponds to the operating amount of the accelerator pedal


42


(as represented by the output signal of the accelerator position sensor


43


). Further, the CPU


401


controls the fuel injector valve


32


in the intake stroke of each cylinder


21


, to inject the fuel during the intake stroke. In this case, a stoichiometric air-fuel mixture which consists of fresh air and a fuel uniformly mixed together and the air/fuel ratio of which is equal or close to the stoichiometric value is formed over a substantially entire space in the combustion chamber


24


of each cylinder, and the stoichiometric air-fuel mixture is uniformly burned in the combustion chamber


24


.




The fuel injection amount for the uniform charge stoichiometric combustion indicated above is determined on the basis of the operating amount of the accelerator pedal


42


and the engine speed. To determine the fuel injection amount or fuel injection time, the CPU


401


uses the third fuel injection amount control data map representative of the predetermined relationship among the output signal of the accelerator position sensor


43


(the operating amount of the accelerator pedal


42


), the engine speed and the fuel injection amount.




The air/fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture for the uniform charge stoichiometric combustion is selected within a range of 12-14.6, and the third fuel injection amount control data map for the stoichiometric combustion is determined to correspond to this range of the air-fuel ratio.




When the CPU


401


determines that the engine


1


is in a low/medium-load state indicated by region B in

FIG. 14

, which is interposed between the low-load region A and the medium-load region C, the engine


1


is controlled to effect semi-stratified charge combustion in each combustion chamber


24


. To this end, the CPU


401


controls the SCV actuator


17




a


so as to establish an appropriate amount of opening of the swirl control valve


17


, and controls the fuel injector valve


32


in the compression and intake strokes of each cylinder


21


, to inject the fuel in the compression and intake strokes. In this case, a combustible air-fuel mixture is formed near the spark plug


25


, and a fuel-lean air-fuel mixture is formed so as to surround the combustible air-fuel mixture, so that a semi-stratified charge is formed in the combustion chamber


24


of each cylinder. The semi-stratified charge combustion permits a smooth transition from the stratified charge combustion to the uniform charge lean-burn combustion or vise versa, without a variation in the output torque of the engine


1


. The air/fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture for the semi-stratified charge combustion is selected within a range of 20-30.




When the engine


1


is operated with a fuel-lean air-fuel mixture for the stratified charge combustion, semi-stratified charge combustion or uniform charge lean-burn combustion, the exhaust gases emitted from the engine


1


are in a fuel-lean state, and nitrogen oxides (NOx) contained in the emitted exhaust gases are occluded or absorbed in the NOx catalyst


46




a


. During a long operation of the engine


1


with the fuel-lean air-fuel mixture, the NOx occluding capacity of the NOx catalyst


46


is saturated, and the nitrogen oxides contained in the exhaust gases may be released into the atmosphere without being reduced or removed by the NOx catalyst


46




a.






In view of the above, the CPU


401


estimates the amount of NOx which has been absorbed in the NOx catalyst


46




a


, on the basis of the past operating condition of the engine


1


. When the amount of the NOx stored in the NOx catalyst


46




a


has increased to a predetermined upper limit, the CPU


401


controls the engine


1


to cause the exhaust gases to which the NOx catalyst


46




a


is exposed, to be fuel-rich, namely, to effect the so-called “rich spike control”, for the purpose of releasing the absorbed NOx from the NOx catalyst


46




a


and reducing the NOx into nitrogen N


2


.




In the fifth embodiment, the exhaust valves


28


of each cylinder


21


are opened before the moment of initiation of the normal exhaust stroke, to discharge from the combustion chamber a portion of fuel gas containing unburned combustibles, so that the NOx catalyst


46




a


is exposed to the fuel-rich exhaust gases containing hydrocarbon (HC).




Referring to

FIG. 15

, a control operation to cause the emitted exhaust gases to be fuel-rich will be described in which the engine


1


is operated in the stratified charge combustion mode by opening the exhaust valves


29


twice.




The timing chart of

FIG. 15

indicates the timing with which the intake and exhaust valves


28


,


29


are opened and closed during the operation of the engine


1


in the stratified charge combustion mode. More specifically, the opening and closing timing of the intake valves


28


is indicated at (a) in

FIG. 15

, and the opening and closing timing of the exhaust valves


29


in the normal lean-burn operation of the engine


1


(with the NOx being occluded in the NOx catalyst


46




a


) is indicated at (b), while the opening and closing timing of the exhaust valves


29


in the rich-spike control (with the NOx being released from the NOx catalyst


46




a


) is indicated at (c).




In the stratified charge combustion mode, the CPU


401


controls the electromagnetic intake valve drive mechanism


30


such that each intake valve


28


is opened at a point of time immediately before the moment of termination of the exhaust stroke of the piston


22


, and is held open up to a point immediately after the moment of termination of the intake stroke (immediately after the moment of initiation of the compression stroke), as indicated at (a) in

FIG. 15

, for introducing air into each cylinder


21


. Further, the CPU


401


controls each fuel injector valve


32


for injecting the fuel into the combustion chamber


24


, such that the fuel injector valve


32


is opened at a point of time immediately before the moment of termination of the compression stroke of the piston


22


, as also indicated at (a). The CPU


401


further controls the igniter


25




a


for energizing the spark plug


25


at a point immediately after the moment of injection of the fuel. Further, the CPU


401


controls the electromagnetic exhaust valve driver mechanism


31


such that the exhaust valves


29


are opened at a point of time immediately before the moment of termination of the compression stroke and is held open up to a point immediately after the moment of termination of the exhaust stroke (immediately after the moment of initiation of the intake stroke), as indicated at (b) in

FIG. 15

, so that the exhaust gases produced as a result of combustion of the air-fuel mixture are discharged from the combustion chamber


24


. In the normal stratified charge combustion mode, the exhaust valves


29


of each cylinder


29


are opened and closed only once in each cycle of operation of the engine


1


.




When the CPU


401


determines that the “rich spike control” is necessary because the amount of NOx occluded in the NOx catalyst


46




a


during the operation of the engine


1


in the stratified charge combustion mode has increased to the predetermined upper limit, the CPU


401


controls the exhaust valve drive mechanism


31


so that the exhaust valves


29


are open for a very short time just after the moment of injection of the fuel into the combustion chamber


24


and immediately before the moment of termination of the compression stroke, as well as being held open for the relatively long period as described above, as indicated at (c) in FIG.


15


.




By opening the exhaust valves


29


just after the moment at which the fuel is injected from the fuel injector valve


32


into the combustion chamber


24


, a portion of the fuel injected into the combustion chamber


24


is discharged, before the combustion of the air-fuel mixture, from the combustion chamber


24


into the exhaust ports


27


through the exhaust valves


29


. As a result, the NOx catalyst


46




a


is exposed to fuel-rich unburned gases containing a large amount of hydrocarbon HC. Thus, the rich spike control is conducted. Consequently, the NOx occluded in the NOx catalyst


46




a


is released and reduced into N


2


.




Thus, the rich spike control can be readily conducted when needed, by opening the exhaust valves


29


at two different times. This arrangement is effective to reduce the deterioration of the fuel economy of the engine


1


and to improve the efficiency of reduction and removal of the NOx, as compared with the conventional gradual change of the air/fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture.




For the purpose of exposing the NOx catalyst


46




a


to unburned gases, the exhaust valves


29


are preferably opened before the ignition of the air-fuel mixture by the spark plug


25


.




While the present embodiment is arranged to open the exhaust valves just after the moment of the fuel injection for conducting the rich spike control, it is possible to control the opening and closing timing of the exhaust valves


29


such that the opening action of the exhaust valves


29


is initiated just before or during the fuel injection, and such that the exhaust valves


19


are subsequently closed during or just after the fuel injection, provided that a portion of the fuel injected into the combustion chamber


24


is discharged from the combustion chamber


24


before the fuel is completely burned, desirably before the spark plug


25


is energized to ignite the air-fuel mixture.




The period of time during which the exhaust valves


29


are held open for the rich spike control may be prolonged with an increase in the engine speed or load.




Although the fifth embodiment is arranged to open twice all of the exhaust valves


29


for conducting the rich spike control, the exhaust valves


29


of selected at least one cylinder


21


may be opened twice while the remaining exhaust valves


29


are inhibited from being opened twice. Further, only one of the two exhaust ports


27


of each of selected at least one cylinder


21


may be opened twice by opening the corresponding exhaust valve


29


.




While the rich spike control described above is conducted during operation of the engine


1


in the stratified charge combustion mode, at least one exhaust valve


29


may be similarly opened twice for the rich spike control during an operation of the engine


1


in the semi-stratified charge combustion mode or uniform lean-burn combustion mode.



Claims
  • 1. An apparatus, comprising:an internal combustion engine of a lean-burn type adapted for burning an oxygen-rich air-fuel mixture, the internal combustion engine including an intake valve and an exhaust valve for each of a plurality of cylinders thereof; an NOx catalyst disposed in an exhaust passage of the internal combustion engine; a variable valve control system adapted for changing the opening and closing timing of the exhaust valve for said each cylinder of the engine; and a controller configured to control the variable valve control system so as to temporarily place the exhaust valve in an open position for a period of time before a moment of initiation of an exhaust stroke of a corresponding one of the cylinders, when an exhaust gas emitted from the corresponding cylinder is desired to contain a reducing component for reducing NOx, and place the exhaust valve in the open position again during the exhaust stroke.
  • 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the period before the moment of initiation of the exhaust stroke is a period after a moment of fuel injection and before the moment of initiation of the exhaust stroke.
  • 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the period before the moment of initiation of the exhaust stroke is a period after a moment of fuel injection and before a moment of ignition of an air-fuel mixture by a spark plug in the corresponding cylinder.
  • 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the period before the moment of initiation of the exhaust stroke is a period between a moment before the fuel injection and a moment during the fuel injection.
  • 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the period before the moment of initiation of the exhaust stroke is a period between a moment during the fuel injection and a moment after the fuel injection.
  • 6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a fuel is temporarily injected into the corresponding cylinder and the exhaust valve is temporarily opened after a moment of termination of an intake stroke and before the moment of initiation of the exhaust stroke.
  • 7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the variable valve control system comprises an electromagnetic valve drive mechanism provided for the exhaust valve of each of the plurality of cylinders of the engine, the electromagnetic valve drive mechanism being adapted for changing the opening and closing timing of the exhaust valve by means of an electromagnetic force.
  • 8. A method of controlling an exhaust gas emitted from an internal combustion engine of a lean-burn type having a variable valve control system, the internal combustion engine including an intake valve and an exhaust valve for each of a plurality of cylinders thereof, the variable valve control system being adapted for changing the opening and closing timing of the exhaust valve for said each cylinder of the engine, comprising the steps of:placing an NOx catalyst in an exhaust passage of the internal combustion engine; and controlling the variable valve control system so as to temporarily place the exhaust valve in an open position for a period of time before a moment of initiation of an exhaust stroke of a corresponding one of the cylinders, when an exhaust gas emitted from the corresponding cylinder is desired to contain a reducing component for reducing NOx, and place the exhaust valve in the open position again during the exhaust stroke.
Priority Claims (2)
Number Date Country Kind
2000-078986 Mar 2000 JP
2000-107101 Apr 2000 JP
Parent Case Info

This is a Division of application Ser. No. 09/808,203 filed Mar. 15, 2001 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,519,933. The entire disclosure of the prior application is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

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