Patent ID: RE39852

Claim:
A charge control apparatus for a reciprocating internal combustion engine, the reciprocating internal combustion engine having at least one cylinder in which a piston is reciprocably moved by crankshaft, the cylinder having at least one intake conduit and an intake valve which opens and closes the intake conduit as a function of the rotation of the crankshaft and having at least one outlet conduit and an outlet valve which opens and closes the outlet conduit as a function of the rotation of the crankshaft, the charge control apparatus comprising: a rotary disc valve disposed in the intake conduit upstream of the intake valve, the rotary disc valve having a rotatable member rotatably mounted in a housing and connected to an electric motor operable to move the rotatable member between a position in which the rotatable member closes the intake conduit and a position in which the rotatable member permits flow along the intake conduit to the intake valve; and a control unit for controlling the operation of the electric motor as a function of the engine performance demand indicated by an engine performance demand element to thereby effect movement of the rotatable member of the rotary disc valve such that the closing time point of the rotary disc valve at which the rotatable member closes flow through the intake conduit is set increasingly ahead of the closing time point of the intake valve as a function of decreasing engine performance demands.