Control for internal combustion engine provided with cylinder deactivating mechanism

摘要

A control for an internal combustion engine having a fuel injection valve for directly injecting fuel to a combustion chamber of the engine, an ignition device for burning an air-fuel mixture containing the fuel injected from the fuel injection valve, and a variable cylinder management mechanism that is capable of changing the number of operating cylinders is provided. The control includes making a transition to an operating mode where the number of operating cylinders is decreased through the variable cylinder management mechanism. It is predicted based on an operating condition of the engine that an air-fuel ratio of an exhaust atmosphere of the engine becomes lean due to a stop of the fuel injection into one or more cylinders to be halted by the transition. If it is predicted that the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust atmosphere of the engine becomes lean, additional fuel is injected from the fuel injection valve to the one or more cylinders to be halted after ignition performed by the ignition device in a combustion cycle where the prediction is made.