RECIPROCATING COMPRESSOR

PURPOSE:To reduce dead space in a reciprocating compressor well suited for cooling devices and provided with an intercooler near its discharge valve by forming a circular refrigerant passage and an operating gas passage in the intercooler at a specified arrangement. CONSTITUTION:With a reciprocating compressor 10 in which a piston 15 is fitted and reciprocated in a bore 11a of a cylinder 11 by a crank mechanism 12, a circular, tabular intercooler 18 is provided in an opening on one end of the cylinder 11 airtightly through a sealing member 17. In this instance, in the intercooler 18 a circular refrigerant passage 18a is formed around an axis of the bore 11a, and an operating gas passage 21 consisting of thin wall tubings whose ends are open toward a compression space R is circularly provided in the refrigerant passage 18a at right angles to the flow direction of the refrigerant so that it extends through the refrigerant passage. An inlet valve 22 is then provided in the bore 18b of the intercooler 18 so that it is directed to the compression space R, and plural discharge valves 26 are provided on the opposite side of the compression space R in the operating gas passage 21.