Exhaust gas cleaning apparatus of an internal combustion engine

Claim 1

An exhaust gas cleaning apparatus for an internal combustion engine, said apparatus comprising: a three-way catalytic converter arranged in the exhaust system of the engine, which converter effectively eliminates toxic components remaining in the exhaust gas when the air fuel ratio is kept near a stoichiometric value; air pump means driven by the crankshaft of the engine; pipe means connected, on one end thereof, to the air pump means for receiving secondary air from the pump means and connected, on the other end thereof, to the exhaust system at a position located upstream of the catalytic converter for introducing secondary air into the exhaust system; a flow control valve disposed in the pipe means for controlling an amount of the secondary air directed toward the exhaust system via the pipe means, which valve having a diaphragm for forming a vacuum chamber on one side thereof, and the opening of the flow control valve being controlled in accordance with the vacuum pressure level in the vacuum chamber; a vacuum switching valve of an electromagnetic type having a common port, a first switching port and a second switching port, the valve being capable of switched between a first position in which the common port communicates with the first port and a second position in which the common port communicates with the second port; pressure signal conduit means for connecting the common port with the vacuum chamber; first pressure signal conduit means for introducing a first pressure signal into the first port, which signal is one of an atmospheric pressure signal from the atmosphere and a vacuum pressure signal from the intake system of the engine; second pressure signal conduit means for introducing a second pressure signal into the second port, which signal is the other of said atmospheric pressure signal and said vacuum pressure signal; a sensor means in the form of an oxygen concentration-cell which is arranged in the exhaust system and which detects a predetermined value of air-fuel ratio which is higher than said stoichiometric air-fuel value; a control unit for operating the electromagnetic valve in such a manner that electromagnetic the valve is in its first position when an electric signal, which indicates that the air fuel ratio is smaller than the predetermined value, is received by the unit to cause a first pressure signal to be transmitted into the vacuum chamber for moving the diaphragm in a first direction to increase the amount of secondary air passed through the flow control valve, and in such a manner that the electromagnetic valve is in its second position when another electric signal, which indicates that the air-fuel ratio is larger than said predetermined value, is received by the unit to cause a second pressure signal to be transmitted into the vacuum chamber to move the diaphragm in a second direction opposite to said first direction to decrease the amount of secondary air passed through the flow control valve; a first means for controlling the rate of movement of the diaphragm in said first direction to increase the amount of secondary air, and; a second means for controlling the rate of movement of the diaphragm in said second direction to decrease the amount of secondary air in such a manner that the rate of decreasing the amount of secondary air is higher than the rate of increasing the amount of secondary air, whereby the difference between the stoichiometric value and the predetermined value is compensated, which compensation causes the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas to be effectively kept near the stoichiometric value.