Fuel injection control method for fuel injection pump

Claim 1

A fuel injection control method for a fuel injection pump having a high pressure chamber which is selectively communicable with fuel injection nozzles of an internal combustion engine, fuel being pressurized in said high pressure chamber and pressurized fuel being pressure delivered from said high pressure chamber to said fuel injection nozzles, a low pressure chamber, a communicating passageway connected to said high pressure chamber and said low pressure chamber, and a solenoid valve for selectively opening and closing said communicating passageway to selectively deliver pressurized fuel from said high pressure chamber to said fuel injection nozzles, and wherein while fuel is pressurized in said high pressure chamber, said solenoid valve is selectively opened and closed at determined timings so that pilot injection and subsequently main injection of fuel into said engine via said injection nozzles are carried out, the method comprising: (1) determining a starting time and a terminating time of pilot injection depending on operation conditions of said engine; (2) determining a first point of time at which a first period of time elapses from said terminating time of said pilot injection as a starting time of said main injection, said first period of time being set at a value depending upon operating conditions of said engine; (3) determining a second point of time at which a second period of time elapses from said starting time of said main injection as a terminating time of said main injection, said second period of time being set independently of said first period of time; and (4) driving said solenoid valve to selectively open and close said solenoid valve to thereby control fuel injection from said fuel injection nozzles, in accordance with (i) said starting time and terminating time of said pilot injection which are determined in step (1), and (ii) said starting time and terminating time of main injection which are determined respectively in steps (2) and (3).