Control method and control device of internal combustion engine

A control device of an internal combustion engine, comprising:

• a fuel injection valve having a plurality of injection holes and adapted to directly inject a fuel into a cylinder via a plurality of fuel sprays injected from the plurality of injection holes;
• an ignition plug adapted to ignite the injected fuel;
• and
• a controller, wherein
• the fuel injection valve is adapted to inject the fuel through each of the plurality of injection holes so that cross sections of the plurality of fuel sprays, when cut in a plane perpendicular to a central axis of the fuel injection valve, line up in a circular pattern,
• the fuel injection valve and the ignition plug are disposed so that a discharging region of the ignition plug is sandwiched by a first fuel spray and a second fuel spray of the plurality of fuel sprays, the first fuel spray and the second fuel spray being injected from two of the plurality of injection holes that are adjacent, and wherein the ignition plug is disposed so that a plane including a central axis of the first fuel spray and a central axis of the second fuel spray passes between a center electrode and an outer electrode of the ignition plug;
• an angle formed by the first fuel spray and the second fuel spray sandwiching the discharging region is smaller than:
• an angle formed between a third fuel spray and the first fuel spray wherein the third fuel spray is adjacent to the first fuel spray in a circumferential direction, and
• an angle formed between a fourth fuel spray and the second fuel spray wherein the fourth fuel spray is adjacent to the second fuel spray in the circumferential direction;
• and
• the controller is adapted to perform spark ignition by the ignition plug while fuel injection is performed during an expansion stroke and while a turbulence in an air flow is generated by the fuel injection during the expansion stroke.