Variable Capacity Single Headed Piston Swash Plate Type Compressor Having Piston Abrasion Preventing Means

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a variable capacity single headed piston-swash plate type refrigerant compressor mainly used for an air-conditioner for a car. More particularly, it relates to a variable capacity single headed piston-swash plate type compressor provided with a motion converting mechanism for converting a rotation of the swash plate into a reciprocation of the single headed pistons and effectively preventing a local abrasion of the reciprocating pistons and/or cylinder bores of the compressor to thereby obtain a reliable and long-life compression operation of the variable capacity compressor.

2. Description of the Related Art

A typical conventional variable capacity single headed piston-swash plate type compressor is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined ( Kokai ) Patent publication No. 60-175783 published on Sep. 9, 1985, by the Japanese Patent Office, whose corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 4,664,604.

FIG. 8 illustrates a compressor corresponding to the compressor of this publication. The compressor of FIG. 8 has a cylinder block 82 encased in a cylindrical shell 80, and provided with a plurality of cylinder bores 81. The cylindrical shell 80 defines a closed crank chamber 83 therein located axially in front of an inner end of the cylinder block 82. The crank chamber 83 is closed by a front housing 84 holding a radial bearing to support an outer portion Of a drive shaft 89. Rear ends of the cylinder block 82 and the cylindrical shell 80 are commonly closed by a rear housing 86 via a valve plate 85. The rear housing 86 is provided with an annularly extended suction chamber 87, and a cylindrical discharge chamber 88 communicated with the plurality of cylinder bores 81 of the cylinder block 82. The cylinder block 82 is centrally formed with a shaft bore in which a radial bearing is seated to rotatably support an inner end of the shaft 89. The drive shaft 89 has a central portion thereof on which a rotary support 90 is mounted to be rotated with the shaft 89 about the axis of the drive shaft 89 within the crank chamber 83. The rotary support 90 is connected with a swash plate 93 via a hinge mechanism 91, which includes an elongated aperture 91a formed in the rotary support 90, and a hinge pin 93b fixed to a swing plate 93a to be engaged in the elongated aperture 91a; The swing plate 93a is projected from a front face 93d of the swash plate 93, a rear face 93c of which faces an inner end of the cylinder block 82. As shown in FIG. 9, the swash plate 93 is slidably mounted on a spherical sleeve element 92 axially slidably mounted on the drive shaft 89. Namely, the swash plate 93 can be rotated together with the drive shaft 89 and slide on the spherical sleeve element 92 to change an angle of inclination with respect to a plate vertical to the drive shaft 89. The swash plate 93 is engaged with each of pistons 94 slidably fitted in the cylinder bores 81, via a pair of shoes 95 having a half-sphere shape. Each of the pair of shoes 95 has a flat face 95a engaged with the front or rear face 93d or 93c of the swash plate 93 and a spherical portion 95b slidably engaged with a spherical recess 94a formed in a frontmost portion of the piston, as shown in FIG. 9.

The cylinder block 82 is provided with a passageway 96 for providing a fluid communication between the crank chamber 83 and the suction chamber 87, and the passageway 96 can be closed and opened by a control valve 97.

When the drive shaft 89 is rotated by a drive force such as a force given by a car engine, the swash plate 93 is rotated together, and the pistons 94 are driven to perform a reciprocating movement in the cylinder bores 81. Namely, the rotation of the swash plate 93 is converted to a reciprocatory sliding movement of the piston 94 in the cylinder bore 81 by the pair of shoes 95 performing a complicated movement between the swash plate 93 and the piston 94. Namely, during the rotation of the swash plate 93, each shoe 95 slides, at the flat face 95a thereof, on the front or rear face 93d or 93c of the swash plate 93 along an ellipsoidal locus, and turns, at the spherical portion 95b thereof, in the spherical recess 94a of the piston 94 about the center of the spherical recess 94a of the piston 94. The sliding movement of the shoe 95 taking the ellipsoidal locus includes a first circumferential sliding movement relative to a plane lying in the front or rear face 93d or 93c of the swash plate 93, indicated by an arrow "A" in FIG. 9, and a second radial sliding movement relative to the same plate, indicated by an arrow "C" in FIG. 9. The rotating movement of the shoe 95 in the spherical recess 94a of the piston 94 is indicated by an arrow "B". The combination of the sliding and rotating movements of the shoe 95 contributes to the conversion of the rotation of the swash plate 93 into the reciprocation of each piston 94, and thus the reciprocation of the respective pistons 94 compresses a refrigerant gas pumped from the suction chamber 87 into the cylinder bores 81, and delivers the compressed refrigerant gas from the cylinder bores 81 toward the discharge chamber 88, from which the compressed refrigerant gas is further discharged toward an air-conditioning or refrigerating circuit.

The entire amount of the refrigerant gas discharged from the compressor, i.e., the whole compression capacity of the compressor, is controlled by adjusting a pressure level in the crank chamber 83 due to controlling operation of a capacity control valve 97.

When the capacity control valve 97 is moved to a position establishing a fluid communication between the crank chamber 83 and the suction chamber 87 via the passageway 96, the pressure level in the crank chamber 83 acting as a back pressure against the pistons 94 is lowered, and thus the angle of inclination of the swash plate 93 is made larger. Consequently, the hinge pin 93b of the hinge mechanism 91 is moved in the elongated aperture 91a to a position radially farthest from the drive shaft 89, and the sleeve element 92 is axially slid on the drive shaft 89 toward the front side of the compressor to thereby turn the swash plate 93 to a position having a larger angle of inclination. Accordingly, the ellipsoidal locus of the sliding movement performed by the respective shoes 95 is made to lengthen the long diameter thereof, and the stroke of the respective pistons 94 is extended. Accordingly, the compression capacity of the compressor becomes large.

When the capacity control valve 97 is moved to a position preventing the fluid communication between the crank chamber 83 and the suction chamber 87 via the passageway 96, the pressure level in the crank chamber 83 is raised by a blow-by gas leaking from the cylinder bores 81 into the chamber 83, and thus the pressure acting as a back pressure against the pistons 94 is made high to reduce the angle of inclination of the swash plate 93 with respect to a plane perpendicular to the axis of the drive shaft 89. Accordingly, the hinge pin 93b of the hinge mechanism 91 is moved in the elongated aperture 91a to a position radially approaching the drive shaft 89, and the sleeve element 92 is slid on the drive shaft 89 toward the rear side of the compressor. Therefore, the swash plate 93 is turned toward an erect position thereof, and thus the ellipsoidal locus of the sliding movement performed by the respective shoes 95 is made to shorten the long diameter thereof, and the stroke of the respective pistons 94 is shortened. As a result, the compression capacity of the compressor becomes small.

With the above-mentioned reciprocation-drive mechanism of the pistons 94 of the variable capacity single-headed swash plate type compressor, since each of the shoes 95 is held in the spherical recess 94a of the piston 94, it is prevented from performing a random displacement. Nevertheless, as previously stated, the shoe 95 is permitted to slide on the front or rear face 93d or 93c of the swash plate 93 at the flat face 95a thereof along the ellipsoidal locus, and this ellipsoidal sliding movement of the shoe 95 results in a radial displacement thereof relative to the axis of the drive shaft 89 of the compressor. Therefore, when the compression of the refrigerant gas is performed by the piston 94 in the cylinder bore 81, and when the piston 94 receives a pressure of the compressed gas, the piston 94 transmits a corresponding force to the swash plate 93 via each shoe 95, which always includes an axial force component, and a radial force component transmitted in the radial direction with respect to the axis of the drive shaft 89 from the piston 94 to the swash plate 93 via the shoe 95. The extent of the latter radial force component changes depending on the angle of inclination of the swash plate 93, and due to the radial force from the piston 94 acting on the swash plate 93 via each shoe 95, the single headed piston 94 supported by the wall of the cylinder bore 81 at the cylindrical body portion thereof, but not supported at the frontmost portion thereof, comes into a tight contact with the wall of the cylinder bore 81 at a given portion thereof, and thus a local abrasion of the piston 94 and/or the wall of the cylinder bore 81 of the cylinder block 82 necessarily occurs, whereby a reliable long operation life of the compressor is prevented.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to obviate the problem of the local abrasion encountered by the prior art variable capacity single headed piston-swash plate type compressor.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a variable capacity single-headed piston swash plate type refrigerant compressor provided with a novel motion conversion mechanism, i.e., a rotation-to-reciprocation conversion mechanism for pistons thereof.

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a variable capacity single headed piston-swash plate type compressor provided with an axially extended cylinder block having front and rear ends thereof and a plurality of axial cylinder bores formed therein, a front housing connected to the front end of the cylinder block and defining a sealed crank chamber therein extending in front of the front end of the cylinder block, a rear housing connected to the rear end of the cylinder block and defining therein a suction chamber for a refrigerant gas before compression and a discharge chamber for the refrigerant gas after compression, a drive shaft rotatably held by the cylinder block and the front housing to have an axis thereof axially extended through the crank chamber, a rotary support mounted on the drive shaft to be rotated with the drive shaft in the crank chamber, a swash plate hinged to the rotary support to be rotated together with the drive shaft and slidably mounted on the drive shaft via a sleeve element to be slid in the axial direction of the drive shaft to be capable of turning about an axis perpendicular to the axis of the drive shaft, and a plurality of reciprocatory single headed pistons fitted in the cylinder bores of the cylinder block and engaged with the swash plate via a motion conversion means including spherical shoes for converting a rotation of the swash plate into a reciprocation of the single headed pistons in the cylinder bores, and a valve means for adjusting a fluid communication between the crank chamber and the suction chamber to control a capacity of the compressor through changing a pressure differential between the crank and suction chambers, wherein the motion converting means comprises means for preventing a local abrasion of at least the single headed pistons during reciprocating thereof in the cylinder bores. The local abrasion preventing means comprises first means for preventing a radial displacement of each of the spherical shoes at face thereof engaging the swash plate, and a second means for permitting a radial displacement of each of the shoes at a spherical face thereof engaged with the single headed piston.

Preferably, the first means comprises an annularly extended engaged portion formed in the swash plate, and an arcuate engaging portion formed in each of the spherical shoes and engaging the annularly extended engaged portion of the swash plate in manner such that each of the shoes is permitted to perform only a circumferential displacement thereof. The second means comprises a cylindrical support recess formed in the piston for supporting the spherical face of each of the shoes.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be made more apparent from the ensuing description of the preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings thereof wherein:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a variable capacity single headed piston-swash plate type compressor provided with a motion converting means incorporating therein a local piston-abrasion preventing means, according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view, on an enlarged scale, of the motion converting means of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a similar exploded perspective view, on an enlarged scale, of the motion converting means according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a similar exploded perspective view, on an enlarged scale, of the motion converting means according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a variable capacity single headed piston-swash plate type compressor provided with a motion converting menas incorporating therein a local piston-abrasion preventing means, according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view, on an enlarged scale, of the motion converting means of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a cross-section taken along the line VII--VII of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a variable capacity single headed piston-swash plate type compressor according to the prior art; and,

FIG. 9 is a partial perspective view of the motion converting means of the compressor of FIG. 8.

Referring to FIG. 1, a variable capacity, single headed piston, swash plate type refrigerant compressor has a cylinder block 1 having a plurality of cylinder bores 1a, and front and rear ends of the cylinder block 1 are sealingly closed by front and rear housings 2 and 3. The cylinder block 1 and the front housing 2 define an airtightly sealed cylindrical crank chamber 2a therebetween, for housing a later-described swash plate-operated compressing mechanism. A valve plate 12 is located between the rear end of the cylinder block 1 and the rear housing 3 having formed therein an annularly extending suction chamber 3a and a central discharge chamber 3b which can be communicated with the cylinder bores 1a of the cylinder block 1 via suction and discharge valve mechanisms, respectively. An axial drive shaft 4 is centrally arranged to extend through the front housing 2 and the cylinder block 1, and rotatably supported by bearings mounted in the front housing 2 and the cylinder block 1. A front end of the drive shaft 4 is outwardly extended from the front housing 2 to be connectable to a drive source such as a car engine, and a rear end thereof is rotatably supported by the bearing in the cylinder block 1.

A rotary support 5 is fixedly mounted on the drive shaft 4 in the crank chamber 2a to be rotatable with the drive shaft 4. The rotary support 5 is axially supported by a thrust bearing seated on an inner end of the front housing 2, and has an rearwardly extended support arm 6 for supporting a cylindrical rotary drive element 11 via a hinge mechanism generally designated by "K". Namely, the support arm 6 of the rotary support 5 has formed therein a through-hole 6a in which a race member 8 having a spherical socket for movably receiving a ball element 9 is tightly fitted. The race member 8 and the ball element 9 form a ball and socket joint, and the ball element 9 has formed therein a through-bore 9a in which is slidably engaged a guide pin 10 press-fitted in a through-bore 11a of the rotary element 11. The cylindrical rotary drive element 11 is extended toward an axially rear end of the crank chamber 2a to form an cylindrical mount on which a swash plate 15 of the swash plate-operated compression mechanism is mounted and tightly held by a threaded ring 16.

As best illustrated in FIG. 2, the swash plate 15 in the shape of a circular plate has formed in both faces thereof annularly extended engaged portions 15c recessed at the peripheral portion of the plate member to have the same diameter with regard to the center of the swash plate 15. The swash plate 15 is mounted on the drive element 11 in a manner such that the center of the swash plate 15 is positioned on the axis of the drive shaft 4. A pair of shoes 17 in the shape of a semi-sphere member is engaged in the annular engaged portions 15c to be displaceable in only a circumferential direction (a direction shown by an arrow "A" in FIG. 2 ). Each of the pair of shoes 17 is provided with a flat face 17a to be kept in contact with an annular bottom of the engaged portion 15c, an inner arcuate side 17b to be kept in contact with an inner annular side wall of the engaged portion 15, and an outer arcuate side 17c to be in contact with an outer annular side wall of the engaged portion 15. The shoe 17 is also provided with a spherical face 17d on the back thereof. The pair of shoes 17 are arranged between the swash plate 15 and one of single-headed pistons 19 axially slidably fitted in the cylinder bores 1a. Each shoe 17 is engaged with the piston 19 to be moved in a direction indicated by an arrow "B", and displaced in a direction indicated by an arrow "C" in FIG. 2, relative to the piston 19. The single headed piston 19 includes a cylindrical body having a compressing head at an end thereof, and a neck portion axially extending from the opposite end of the cylindrical body and having formed therein a deep cutout 19a through which the swash plate 15 is rotated together with the rotary drive element 11. The neck portion of the piston 19 is provided with a pair of mutually confronting cylindrical support walls 19b between which the above-mentioned cutout 19a is defined. The confronting cylindrical walls 19b have the same radius of curvature as the spherical face 17d of the shoe 17 and are extended in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the piston 19, so that the pair of shoes 17 engaged in the annular engaged portions 15c of the swash plate 15 are turnably and displaceably held by the cylindrical walls within the cutout 19a of the piston 19. Therefore, the respective pistons 19 engaged with the swash plate 15 via corresponding pairs of shoes 17 are held in the respective cylinder bores 1a, to thereby implement a stable and smooth reciprocation in the cylinder bores 1a. Namely, the shoes 17 contribute to an accurate conversion of the rotation of the swash plate into the reciprocation of the single headed pistons 19.

In FIG. 1, the rotary drive element 11 is mounted around the drive shaft 4 via a slidable sleeve element 13. The sleeve element 13 is supported on the drive shaft 4 and subjected to axially opposite spring forces of a pair of springs 18 and 20 wound around the drive shaft 4. The sleeve element 13 is provided with a pair of lateral trunnion pins 14 fixed thereto and laterally projected to be engaged with the rotary drive element 11 at outer ends thereof. Therefore, the swash plate 15 mounted on the rotary drive element 11 is rotated with the drive shaft 4 about the axis of the shaft 4 via the rotary support 5 and the rotary drive element 11, and turned about the trunnion pins 14 via the hinge mechanism K and the slidable sleeve element 13 to thereby change an angle of inclination thereof with respect to a plane perpendicular to the axis of the drive shaft 4.

The compressor of FIG. 1 is further provided with two fluid control valves 21 mounted in the rear housing 3 to control a pressure level in the crank chamber 2a.

When the compressor is connected to a drive source, i.e., a car engine, the drive shaft 4 is rotated to thereby rotate the swash plate 15, and in turn, the single headed pistons 19 are reciprocated in the cylinder bores 1a by the above-described rotation-to-reciprocation conversion mechanism including the shoes 17. The refrigerant gas before compression is pumped from the suction chamber 3a of the rear housing 3 into the cylinder bores 1a, and the refrigerant gas after compression by the pistons 19 is delivered into the discharge chamber 3b.

During the compressing operation of the compressor, each of the shoes 17 of the rotation-to-reciprocation conversion mechanism is engaged with the swash plate 15 via the engagement of the flat face 17a, and the inner and outer arcuate sides 17b and 17c of the shoe 17 and the annular engaged portion 15c of the swash plate 15, so that the shoe 17 is permitted to move circumferentially relative to the rotating swash plate 15, as illustrated in FIG. 2. Nevertheless, the shoe 17 is prevented from being shifted in a radial direction of the swash plate 15 due to the above-mentioned engagement. The shoe 17 is, however, permitted to turn about the center of the spherical face 17d kept in line contact with the cylindrical support wall 19b of the piston 19 in the direction indicated by the arrows C in FIG. 2. Thus, the force acting on the piston 19 against the compression of the refrigerant gas is transmitted from the cylindrical support wall 19b of the piston 19 to the shoe 17, and in turn, transmitted to the swash plate 15. At this stage, since the engagement of the inner and outer arcuate sides 17b and 17c of the shoe 17 and the recessed engaged portion 15c of the single headed swash plate 15 does not allow any random play of the shoe 17 relative to the piston 19, and accordingly, the piston 19 is always maintained at an accurate axial posture to smoothly reciprocate in the axial cylinder bore 1a, a strong contact of a part of the piston 19 with the wall of the cylinder bore 1a does not occur. Accordingly, a local abrasion of the piston 19 and/or the wall of the cylinder bore 1a can be prevented.

When the swash plate 15 is turned about the trunnion pins 14 to change an angle of inclination thereof, each of the shoes 17 can be relatively displaced in the cutout 19a of the piston 19 (the direction of the arrow "C") while turning about the center thereof (the direction of the arrow "B") by the guide of the cylindrical wall 19b of the piston 19.

The compression capacity of the compressor, i.e., the entire amount of the refrigerant gas discharged from the cylinder bores 1a toward the discharge chamber 3b during one complete revolution of the drive shaft is adjustably changed by controlling the pressure level in the crank chamber 2a by the fluid control valves 21.

For example, when the control valves 21 are operated to establish a fluid communication between the crank chamber 2a and the suction chamber 3a, the back pressure acting on the respective pistons 19 is lowered to increase the angle of inclination of the swash plate 15 from the erect position thereof. Namely, the ball element 9 and the race member 8 of the hinge mechanism K are moved to turn the rotary drive element 11 about the trunnion pins 14 via the guide pin 10 in the clockwise direction in FIG. 1, and the sleeve element 13 is axially slid on the drive shaft 4 toward the front side of the compressor. Thus, the swash plate 15 is turned toward a position where an angle of inclination of the swash plate is large. During the turning of the swash plate 15 toward the large inclination angle position, each shoe 19 of the rotation-to-reciprocation conversion mechanism is gradually turned and displaced in the cutout 19a of the piston 19 under the guide of the cylindrical support wall 19b of the piston 19 to thereby permit a stable increase of the stroke of the piston 19.

To the contrary, when the capacity control valves 21 are operated to prevent a fluid communication between the crank chamber 2a and the suction chamber 3a, the pressure level in the crank chamber 2a is raised by a blow-by gas leaking from the respective cylinder bores la to thereby increase the back pressure action on the pistons 19. Thus, the swash plate 15 is turned toward a position where the angle of inclination of the swash plate 15 is smaller. Namely, the hinge mechanism K causes a turning of the rotary drive element 11 about the trunnion pins 14 in a counter clockwise direction in FIG. 1 and an, axial slide of the sleeve element 13 toward righthand direction in FIG. 1. Therefore, the swash plate 15 is turned toward the erect position thereof having the smallest inclination angle. Each shoe 17 is displaced and turned in the cutout 19a of the piston 19 by the guide of the cylindrical support wall 19a of the piston toward inside the cutout 19a to thereby permit a stable decrease of the stroke of the piston 19.

In the described embodiment of FIG. 1, the engaged portions 15c of the swash plate 15 are annular recesses easily formed by a machine tool, and each of the pair of shoes 17 can be identical mechanical elements. Accordingly, the motion conversion mechanism of the compressor can be produced at a rather low manufacturing cost.

FIG. 3 illustrates a different motion conversion mechanism, i.e., a rotation-to-reciprocation conversion mechanism according to another embodiment of the present invention, which can be incorporated in a variable capacity single headed piston, swash plate type compressor. In FIG. 3, a swash plate 31 is substantially identical with the swash plate 15 of the first embodiment, and has a pair of engaged portions 31c in the shape of annularly extended recesses formed in the peripheral portion of the opposite faces of the swash plate 31. The engaged portions 31c of the swash plate 31 have a radial width narrower than those of the first embodiment.

Each of a pair of shoes 32 is provided with a projection engaged with the engaged portion 31c of the swash plate 31, and a spherical face 32d to be fitted in the cutout 19a of the piston 19 (FIG. 1 ). The projection of the shoe 32 has a flat face 32a to be in contact with the bottom face of the engaged portion 31c, and inner and outer arcuate sides 32b and 32c to be in contact with inner and outer annular side walls of the engaged portion 31c of the swash plate 31, respectively.

The operation of the motion conversion mechanism, including the above-mentioned swash plate 31 and the shoes 32 is identical with that of FIG. 2 of the first embodiment, and therefore, a detailed description thereof is omitted.

FIG. 4 illustrates a further different embodiment of a motion conversion mechanism, i.e., a rotation-to-reciprocation conversion mechanism able to be accommodated in a variable capacity single headed piston, swash plate type compressor. The motion conversion mechanism of FIG. 4 includes a swash plate 41 and a plurality of pairs of shoes 42 (only one pair of shoes is shown in FIG. 4 ) to be held between the swash plate 41 and respective pistons similar to those shown in FIG. 2. The swash plate 41 is provided with annularly extended engaged portions 41c on both faces thereof, to be engaged with a recess of each shoe 42. The recess of the shoe 42 has a annular flat face 42a to be in contact with an uppermost face of the engaged portion 41c of the swash plate 41, and inner and outer arcuate side walls 42b and 42c to be in contact with inner and outer sides of the engaged portion 41c of the swash plate 41. The shoe 42 is also provided with a spherical face 42d to be in contact with the cutout 19 a of the piston 19 (FIG. 2) when assembled in the compressor. It will be easily understood that the operation and advantage of the motion conversion mechanism according to the embodiment of FIG. 4 is substantially the same as that of the embodiments of FIGS. 2 and 3. Namely, the motion conversion mechanism of FIG. 4 can effectively prevent a local abrasion of the single headed reciprocatory pistons 19 of the variable capacity swash plate type refrigerant compressor, and accordingly, can contribute to a long operation life of the compressor per se.

FIG. 5 illustrates a variable capacity single headed piston, swash plate type compressor according to a further embodiment of the present invention. Although the external appearance of the compressor of this embodiment is slightly different from that of FIG. 1, the basic internal construction and the operation of the compressor of FIG. 5 is identical with those of the compressor of FIG. 1. Therefore, elements of the compressor of FIG. 5 identical with or the same as those of the compressor of FIG. 1 are designated by reference numerals corresponding to the reference numerals of FIG. 1, plus "100".

In the compressor of FIG. 5, a plurality of pistons 119 slidably fitted in cylinder bores 101a of a cylinder block 101 are reciprocated by a rotation-to-reciprocation mechanism arranged in an airtightly closed crank chamber 102a of the cylinder block 101, and including a plurality of pairs of shoes 117 intervened between a swash plate 115 mounted on a rotary drive element 111 and the respective pistons 119 as typically shown in FIG. 6. The rotation of the swash plate 115 is driven by a drive shaft 104 via a rotary support element 105 and the rotary drive element 111, and a turning of the swash plate 115 about trunnion pins 114 is caused by a change in a pressure level in the crank chamber 102a, which pressure level is adjustably controlled by a pair of flow control valves 121. A hinge mechanism K including a ball element 109, a race element 108, and a guide pin 110 is provided in the crank chamber 102a for permitting the turning of the rotary drive element 111 and the swash plate 115. A rear housing 103 has formed therein a suction chamber 103a for a refrigerant gas before compression, and a discharge chamber 103b for the refrigerant gas after compression, and these chambers 103a and 103b are communicatable with the cylinder bores 101a of the cylinder block 101.

A description of the characteristic construction and operation of the compressor of FIG. 5 will be further provided below with reference with FIGS. 6 and 7 in addition to FIG. 5.

As best illustrated in FIG. 6, each of the single headed pistons 119 is provided with an axial neck portion 119e and a cylindrical head portion 119d integral with the neck portion 119e. A back face 119f is a boundary portion of the neck and head portions 119e and 119d. The neck portion 119e of the piston 119 has a partial cylindrical surface radially remote from the drive shaft 104, and a cutout 119a radially opening toward the drive shaft 104. The partial cylindrical surface of the neck portion 119e has the same diameter as that of the head portion 119d of the piston 119, and accordingly the partial cylindrical surface is formed as an extension of the head portion 119d of the piston. The cutout 119a of the neck portion 119e has a bottom face 119c and a pair of confronting cylindrical support walls 119b to permit passage of the swash plate 115 during the rotation of the swash plate 115 and to hold a pair of shoes 117 operative to convert the rotation of the swash plate 115 into the reciprocation of the piston 119 in the cylinder bore 101a. Each of the pair of shoes 117 includes an outer shoe element 118a slidably and turnably fitted in the cylindrical support wall 119b, and an inner shoe element 117a received by the outer shoe element 118a and having an arcuate groove slidably engaged with one of annularly extended engaged portions 141c of the swash plate 115. Namely, the rotation-to-reciprocation mechanism of FIG. 6 has substantially the same construction as that of the afore-described embodiment of FIG. 4. Thus, the rotation-to-reciprocation mechanism of FIG. 6 can provide the respective pistons 119 with an accurate and stable support to perform an axial reciprocation in the cylinder bore 101a without permitting any radial play of the pistons 119. Accordingly, the respective pistons 119 can continue a smooth reciprocation to compress a refrigerant gas for a long operation life of the compressor without causing a local abrasion thereof and of the wall of the cylinder bore 101a.

Further, in the compressor of FIG. 5, the cylinder block 101 has a thin cylindrical wall portion 101b at a front side thereof, and a thick cylindrical wall portion 101c at a central portion thereof. The thick cylindrical wall portion 101c of the cylinder block 101 has formed in an inner cylindrical surface thereof a plurality of partly circular recesses 101d extended axially from the respective cylinder bores 101a. FIG. 7 illustrates a cross-section of the cylinder block 101, clearly showing the shape of the plurality of equiangularly arranged partly circular recesses 101d, e.g., seven recesses 101d in the present embodiment for the compressor incorporating therein seven single headed pistons 119. These partly circular recesses 101d are provided for presenting the neck portions 119e of the respective single headed pistons 119 with an axial guide during the reciprocation of the pistons. Namely, the partly circular recesses 101d can prevent random play of the pistons 119 when they are subjected to a non-axial force such as a radial force or side force, as indicated in FIG. 7, during the operation of the rotation-to-reciprocation conversion mechanism. As a result, the respective single headed pistons 119 will always perform an accurate axial reciprocation in the cylinder bores 101a, and thus a local abrasion thereof can be prevented. A local abrasion of the wall of the cylinder bores 101a can be also prevented. The axial length of the part circular recesses 101d of the cylinder block 101 preferably should be sufficient for presenting an axial guide to at least a part of the neck portions 119e of the respective pistons 119 even when each piston is slid to the bottom dead center thereof under a condition where the swash plate 115 is turned toward the largest inclination angle position.

From the foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention it will be understood that, according to the present invention, a local abrasion of the single headed pistons incorporated in a variable capacity swash plate type refrigerant compressor can be effectively prevented during the reciprocation thereof, and accordingly, a long operation life of the single headed pistons and the compressor per se can be obtained.