Patent ID: 7917281

Claim:
An apparatus for controlling, in a multiple injection mode, an injector to spray a quantity of fuel into an internal combustion engine in a former injection, and after a target interval period has elapsed, controlling the injector to spray a quantity of fuel into the internal combustion engine in a latter injection, the apparatus comprising: a storing unit configured to store therein a reference fuel spray characteristic of the injector relative to a variable of a target interval period within a usable range determined for the target interval period, the target interval period representing an interval between a stop of a spray of fuel by the injector in the former injection and start of spraying fuel by the injector in the latter injection, the reference fuel spray characteristic at least depending on a quantity of fuel actually sprayed from the injector in the latter injection; an actual fuel spray characteristic obtaining unit configured to obtain an actual fuel spray characteristic of the injector relative to the variable of the target interval period within at least one section in the usable range; a shift quantity calculating unit configured to tentatively shift the reference fuel spray characteristic toward the obtained actual fuel spray characteristic in a phase direction and a magnitude offset direction while monitoring a distance between the reference fuel spray characteristic and the obtained actual fuel spray characteristic therebetween, and to calculate a shift quantity between the reference fuel spray characteristic and a shifted reference fuel spray characteristic in the phase direction, the shifted reference fuel spray characteristic minimizing the monitored distance between the reference spray characteristic and the actual fuel spray characteristic; and a phase correcting unit configured to shift the reference fuel spray characteristic by the calculated shift quantity in the phase direction to thereby correct the reference fuel spray characteristic.