Patent ID: 7872480

Claim:
A gas sensor control apparatus for controlling a gas sensor including a gas sensor element comprising a plurality of cells and a heater for heating the plurality of cells, each cell of said plurality of cells comprising an oxygen-ion conductive member and a pair of electrodes formed on the oxygen-ion conductive member, wherein a current corresponding to a specific gas concentration of an object gas flows between the pair of electrodes of one cell of the plurality of cells, the gas sensor control apparatus comprising: resistance detection means for detecting a resistance of an object cell, the object cell being any one of the plurality of cells, and heater control means for controlling energization of the heater in such a manner that the resistance detected by the resistance detection means is a first predetermined resistance corresponding to a first temperature, and subsequently further controlling energization of the heater in such a manner that the resistance detected by the resistance detection means is a second predetermined resistance corresponding to a second temperature, the second predetermined resistance of a resistance value that is higher than that of the first predetermined resistance, such that a time until an output of the gas sensor stabilizes to a value corresponding to a target gas concentration range is shortened as compared with a stabilization time of a gas sensor having a heater controlled so as to maintain a single constant resistance.