Swash-plate type compressor

Claim 1

A swash-plate type compressor comprising: a cylindrical cylinder block having two cylindrical members combined together in axial alignment and horizontally disposed, each of said cylindrical members having an outer end face; a drive shaft extending through said cylinder block along an axis thereof and rotatable relative to said cylinder block; a swash plate secured on said drive shaft; and three pistons arranged within said cylinder block in engagement with said swash plate; said cylinder block including: three cylinder bores within which said pistons are slidably disposed, said cylinder bores being formed within said cylindrical members of said cylinder block in circumferentially spaced relation to each other and extending through said cylinder block axially thereof, two of said cylinder bores being located at upper portions of said cylinder block and one being located at a lower portion thereof; three spaces formed within each one of said cylindrical members of said cylinder block and opening in said outer end face of said each one cylindrical member, each of said spaces being arranged between adjacent ones of said three cylinder bores, one of said spaces being located at an upper portion of said each one cylindrical member and two of said spaces being located at lower portions thereof, said three cylinder bores being arranged in an array of an inverted triangle with the diametric centers of said cylinder bores located at the vertices of said inverted triangle, said three spaces being arranged in an array of a triangle with the diametric centers of said spaces located at the vertices of said triangle; a chamber located at a central portion of said cylinder block, within which said said swash plate is arranged; said two spaces located at said two lower portions of said each one cylindrical member being in communication with said swash plate chamber, said two lower spaces and said swash plate chamber forming an oil reservoir in which lubricating oil is stored; a communication bore communicating said one space located at said upper portion of one of said cylindrical members with said one space located at said upper portion of the other of said cylindrical members; and a vertical partition wall axially extending through said cylinder block, said vertical partition wall dividing said one space located at said upper portion of each of said cylindrical members into a high pressure medium chamber and a low pressure medium chamber, and also dividing said communication bore into two passages; said high pressure chambers in said cylindrical members being communicated with each other by one of said passages of said communication bore, while said low pressure chambers in said cylindrical members being communicated with each other by the other of said passages of said communication bore, said high pressure medium chambers and said one passage of said communication bore serving as a passage for high pressure medium, and said low pressure medium chambers and said other passage of said communication bore serving as a passage for low pressure medium.