Patent ID: 7848869

Claim:
A controller which controls an internal combustion engine: wherein the internal combustion engine comprises: an injector which injects fuel into a combustion chamber; an ignition plug for igniting the fuel injected into the combustion chamber; an intake valve that can control actuation timing; the intake valve being provided on the intake side of a cylinder which forms a part of the combustion chamber; and an exhaust valve that can control actuation timing; the exhaust valve being provided on the exhaust side of the cylinder; wherein the controller comprises: a throttle drive circuit for driving a throttle; an injector drive circuit for driving the injector; a valve drive circuit for driving the intake valve and the exhaust valve; an ignition output circuit which outputs an ignition signal to the ignition apparatus; and control circuit which controls the internal combustion engine by controlling at least one of the injector drive circuit, the valve drive circuit, the ignition output circuit, and the throttle drive circuit based on inputted information about operating conditions of the internal combustion engine; wherein the control circuit includes: a first operation mode for controlling at least one of the injector drive circuit, the valve drive circuit, the ignition output circuit, and the throttle drive circuit so as to ignite and combust fuel injected from the injector by the ignition apparatus to actuate the internal combustion engine; a second operation mode for controlling at least one of the injector drive circuit, the valve drive circuit, the ignition output circuit, and the throttle drive circuit so as to combust fuel injected from the injector by a pressure rise in the cylinder to actuate the internal combustion engine; and a third operation mode for controlling at least one of the injector drive circuit, the valve drive circuit, the ignition output circuit, and the throttle drive circuit so as to ignite fuel injected from the injector by the ignition apparatus to combust a part of the fuel and at the same time ignite and combust the remaining fuel by a pressure rise in the cylinder after combustion; and wherein the control circuit selects the first, second, or third operation mode according to information about operating conditions of the internal combustion engine, and wherein: when the third operation mode is performed, the variable valve drive circuit is controlled such that the amount of negative overlap becomes larger than that in the first operation mode and smaller than that in the second operation mode; the throttle drive circuit is controlled such that a throttle opening becomes larger than that in the first operation mode and smaller than that in the second operation mode; and the ignition output circuit is controlled such that ignition is performed earlier than an ignition timing of the first operation mode.