Patent ID: 8201406

Claim:
A control apparatus for an internal combustion engine, the control apparatus comprising: a supercharger; supercharger switching means for switching the supercharger between a supercharger nonoperating state and a supercharger operating state, the nonoperating state making the supercharger substantially inoperative when an operating point of the internal combustion engine is within a low-rotation-speed and low-load region, the operating state making the supercharger operative when the operating point is within a high-rotation-speed and high-load region; charging efficiency enhancement means for exercising charging efficiency enhancement control in the supercharger nonoperating state, wherein a valve overlap period is provided during which an intake valve open period and an exhaust valve open period overlap and a trough of exhaust pressure pulsation is adjusted to be present within the valve overlap period; boost pressure prediction means for preliminarily predicting, before switching from the supercharger nonoperating state to the supercharger operating state, whether the supercharger will build up boost pressure quickly or slowly depending on the rotation speed of the supercharger; and degree-of-charging-efficiency-enhancement control means which, when the boost pressure is predicted to build up slowly, causes the charging efficiency enhancement means to provide a lower degree of charging efficiency enhancement than when the boost pressure is predicted to build up quickly.