Method of controlling reciprocating four-stroke internal combustion engines

A method for load control of an internal combustion four-stroke engine wherein the load of the engine is controlled by the amount of fresh air and fuel supplied to the combustion chamber, the engine having at least one combustion chamber provided with intake means together with an intake line having invariable flow area dimensions outside said intake means, and exhaust means together with an exhaust line having invariable flow area dimensions outside said exhaust means by which both the opening and closing times of the inlet and exhaust means are adjustable entirely independently from each other and from the crank position, and wherein the method comprises;

• for the purpose of load control, indirectly controlling the amount of fresh air and fuel supplied to the combustion chamber by retaining a predetermined amount of exhaust gas in the combustion chamber after completion of the charge exchange cycle so as to reduce available combustion chamber volume for receiving said amount of fresh air and fuel during the induction process, the amount of fresh air and fuel and the amount of exhaust gas being exclusively controlled by coordinating the opening and closing times of the intake means with the opening and closing times of the exhaust means.