The invention is concerned with a compressor for an air-conditioning system of a motor vehicle to the mechanism for driving the feed mechanism of the compressor, and to the connections within the drive system of the compressor.
Compressors of the type described here, which are also referred to as air-conditioning compressors, are familiar. They are powered by a belt in the compressor guided over a belt pulley, referred to in the following as a drive wheel. The belt in turn is powered by the crankshaft of the internal combustion engine. A relatively large electromagnetic clutch is integrated into the drive wheel of these compressors so that frequently the compressor cannot be built into small engine compartments. The clutch consists of a friction plate secured by a sprung component on the drive shaft of the compressor, such that in the event of the air-conditioning compressor jamming, the drive belt continues moving and the operation of components relevant to the safety of the motor vehicle that are also driven by this belt can be safeguarded.
Familiar air-conditioning compressors are designed as axial piston machines comprising at least one movable piston in a cylinder block. The piston conveys the medium to be compressed from an intake region into a compression region. The reciprocating action of the piston is effected by a swash plate rotating about an axis of rotation. This acts in conjunction with a take-up plate linked to at least one piston, the plate being positioned in the compressor housing such that it cannot rotate and is held by a support on a nonrotatable thrust bearing. The purpose of the thrust bearing is to take up the torque that is transmitted from the rotating swash plate to the take-up plate. It transpires that compressors of the traditional type are of complex construction in the region of the supporting member of the take-up plate, involving a large number of parts. Also the supporting member often gives rise to a weakening of the take-up plate. Furthermore, it is evident that traditional compressors require a relatively large space. This is brought about amongst other things by the fact that a driver--by means of which the swash plate is coupled to the drive shaft--grips the drive shaft or the torque is transmitted from the drive shaft to the swash plate by means of pins or by compression.