Patent ID: 7966869

Claim:
An apparatus for detecting a cam phase of an engine provided with a variable valve timing mechanism capable of varying a rotating phase of a camshaft relative to a crankshaft of the engine, comprising: a cam angle sensor which outputs a cam angle signal cyclically at each time when the camshaft rotates by a unit angle, and has a configuration such that an output cycle of the cam angle signals is set to have an angle from one to a coming cam angle signal that is differentiated from the unit angle in one portion per one rotation of the camshaft; a crank angle sensor which outputs a crank angle signal at a predetermined angle position of the crankshaft during a rotation thereof; and a rotating phase detecting device which receives the cam angle signal and the crank angle signal, respectively, as an input thereto, and detects, through detection of the one portion at which the output cycle of the cam angle signal is set to have the angle differentiated from the unit angle, a cam angle position to which an individual cam angle signal corresponds, to thereby detect the rotating phase based on correlation between the detected cam angle position and a crank angle position detected based on the input of the crank angle signal.