Swash-plate compressor with leakage passages through the discharge

Abstract

A compressor has a swash (slanting-cam) plate located in a crank chamber and mounted on a drive shaft. The cam plate is tiltable between a maximum inclined angle position and a minimum inclined angle position with respect to a plane perpendicular to an axis of a drive shaft according to a difference between the pressures in the crank chamber and a cylinder bore. The cam plate varies the stroke of a piston in the cylinder bore based on an inclination thereof to control the displacement of the compressor. A shutter member is movable between a first position where the shutter member connects a external circuit with a suction chamber and a second position where the shutter member disconnects the external circuit with the suction chamber in response to the inclination of the cam plate. The cam plate moves the shutter member to the second position when the cam plate is at the minimum inclined angle position to minimize the displacement of the compressor. A valve plate is located between the cylinder bore and a gas chamber. The gas chamber is either the suction chamber or the discharge chamber. The valve plate has a port that connects the cylinder bore with the gas chamber and a valve that has open and shut positions. A passage is defined between the valve plate and the valve when the valve is shut to connect the cylinder bore with the gas chamber.