Patent ID: 7177759

Claim:
A control apparatus for an internal combustion engine, wherein the engine includes a crankshaft, a camshaft for actuating a valve of the engine, a crank position sensor that outputs a crank signal every time the crankshaft rotates a predetermined crank angle, a rotating electrical machine that is coupled to one of the crankshaft and the camshaft, and a computer that, based on the crank signal from the crank position sensor, controls the engine every time the crankshaft rotates a predetermined crank angle, wherein the rotating electrical machine includes a rotor and a plurality of rotation sensors, each sensor outputting a signal corresponding to induced voltage generated by rotation of the rotor, wherein the computer controls the rotating electrical machine based on the signals from the rotation sensors, and wherein, when the crank position sensor malfunctions, the computer controls the engine every time the crankshaft rotates a predetermined crank angle based not on the crank signal but on a rotation pulse train generated based on the signals from the rotation sensors.