Patent ID: 8355235

Claim:
A drive control apparatus of a variable valve lift mechanism for continuously variably controlling a valve lift amount of an engine valve by driving an electric actuator, comprising: a lift control device including: a drive circuit of the electric actuator; a control circuit which controls the drive circuit to operate and stop; and a CPU which computes a manipulated variable so that the valve lift amount of the engine valve is a target valve lift amount, outputs the manipulated variable to the drive circuit, and outputs a binary signal which differs between when a calculation function of an operation amount is normal and when the calculation function of the operation amount is abnormal; and a fuel injection control device which computes at least a fuel injection amount of an engine, and outputs an injection pulse signal in accordance with the fuel injection amount to a fuel injection valve, wherein the fuel injection control device receives a signal of an actual valve lift amount from the CPU of the lift control device, judges whether a control function of the CPU of the lift control device is normal or abnormal on a basis of deviation between the target valve lift amount and the actual valve lift amount, and outputs a binary signal which differs between when the control function of the CPU of the lift control device is normal and when the control function of the CPU of the lift control device is abnormal, wherein the lift control device receives the binary signal outputted from the CPU and the binary signal outputted from the fuel injection control device, wherein the lift control device further comprises a stop instruction circuit for outputting a signal which instructs the control circuit to stop the drive circuit when at least one of the binary signal outputted from the CPU and the binary signal outputted from the fuel injection control device is a signal indicating abnormality, wherein the electric actuator is an electric motor, and when the stop instruction circuit outputs the signal which instructs the control circuit to stop the drive circuit, the control circuit shuts off power supplied to the drive circuit.