Patent ID: 7318415

Claim:
A controller for an in-cylinder injection internal combustion engine, which pressurizes fuel to high pressure and supplies the fuel to a fuel injection valve with a high-pressure pump, the fuel injection valve injecting the fuel directly into a cylinder of the engine, the controller comprising: a fuel pressure sensor that senses pressure of the fuel supplied to the fuel injection valve; a fuel pressure controlling device that controls a discharge amount of the high-pressure pump to conform the fuel pressure sensed by the fuel pressure sensor to target fuel pressure; a fuel pressure correcting device that calculates a final injection period by correcting a basic injection period corresponding to an operating state of the engine with a fuel pressure correction coefficient corresponding to the fuel pressure at predetermined timing before an injection start; an injection setting device that sets injection start timing and the injection period at the predetermined timing before the injection start; and an injection controlling device that performs injection by driving the fuel injection valve at the injection start timing for the injection period set by the injection setting device; wherein: the fuel pressure correcting device performs estimated fuel pressure correction for estimating the fuel pressure to occur at the injection start and for setting the fuel pressure correction coefficient based on the estimated fuel pressure; the fuel pressure correcting device selectively performs the estimated fuel pressure correction when the fuel discharge of the high-pressure pump occurs before the injection start, and the fuel pressure correcting device selectively sets the fuel pressure correction coefficient based on the fuel pressure sensed by the fuel pressure sensor without performing the estimated fuel pressure correction when the fuel discharge from the high-pressure pump does not occur before the injection start.