Patent ID: 7246485

Claim:
An exhaust gas purifying device for an internal combustion engine, comprising: a filter carrying a NOx absorbent thereon and capable of temporarily capturing fine particles contained in an exhaust gas of the internal combustion engine and of removing the fine particles by oxidation in a prescribed temperature range, the NOx absorbent functioning to absorb NOx contained in the exhaust gas when the exhaust gas flowing into the NOx absorbent exhibits a lean air-fuel ratio and to discharge the absorbed NOx when the exhaust gas flowing into the NOx absorbent exhibits one of a theoretical air-fuel ratio and a rich air-fuel ratio; and a controller that: executes heat-up control of the filter; executes sulfur poisoning recovery for eliminating sulfur poisoning of the NOx absorbent, and adjusts an engine speed of the internal combustion engine to a range where a temperature of the filter can be raised by heat-up control (1) when it is determined that fine-particle removal by oxidation is to be executed or the sulfur poisoning recovery control is to be executed, (2) when it is determined that the temperature of the filter is below a predetermined temperature and (3) when it is determined that the internal combustion engine has been in an extremely low load state for a predetermined period or more, and then executes the heat-up control to raise the temperature of the filter to a predetermined value, thereby executing fine-particle removal by oxidation or executing the sulfur poisoning recovery control for eliminating sulfur poisoning of the NOx absorbent, wherein: the heat-up control is executed by at least one of low-temperature combustion, post-injection, VIGOM-injection, and addition of fuel to an exhaust system according to an operational state of the internal combustion engine, the heat-up control for removing the fine particles by oxidation is executed by at least one of the low-temperature combustion, the post-injection, the VIGOM-injection, and the addition of fuel to the exhaust system, and the heat-up control for recovery from sulfur poisoning is executed by a combination of the low-temperature combustion and the addition of fuel to the exhaust system, and in the heat-up control for removing the fine particles by oxidation, at least the low-temperature combustion is conducted when a coolant temperature of the internal combustion engine is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, and at least the post-injection is conducted when the coolant temperature of the internal combustion engine is less than the predetermined value.