Patent ID: 6899078

Claim:
A starting device for an internal combustion engine which is provided with fuel injection valves for directly injecting fuel into a plurality of cylinders, and spark plugs for igniting fuel in said respective cylinders, said starting device comprising: piping for connecting between said respective cylinders; communication control valves for controlling the states of communication between said respective cylinders and said piping; an electronic engine control unit for controlling said starting device; a crank angle detector for detecting the crank angle of a crankshaft of said internal combustion engine; and a compression/expansion identification part for identifying the compression stroke or the expansion stroke of each of said cylinders; wherein said electronic engine control unit includes: a basic operation control part for controlling said fuel injection valves and said spark plugs; a stroke identification part for identifying the stroke of each of said cylinders from said crank angle position and an identification result of the compression stroke or the expansion stroke of each cylinder; and a communication state control part for controlling said communication control valves; and wherein in a cylinder which is identified to be on the expansion stroke by said stroke identification part, fuel is injected into said expansion stroke cylinder and ignited therein under the control of said electronic engine control unit, and said expansion stroke cylinder is placed in communication with a cylinder on the exhaust stroke by means of said communication state control part for a prescribed period of time after the ignition thereof, after which said expansion stroke cylinder is further placed in communication with a cylinder on the compression stroke for a prescribed period of time.