Air conditioner equipped with an inverter-driven scroll compressor

摘要

An air conditioner includes a scroll-type refrigerant compressor driven at a speed variable in accordance with the thermal load on the air conditioner. The compressor has stationary and orbiting scroll members assembled together to define compression chambers in which a refrigerant gas is compressed and finally discharged into a discharger chamber through a discharge port formed in the center of the end plate of the stationary scroll member. At least one bypass port and an associated check valve are provided in and on the end plate of the stationary scroll member at such a position that the check valve opens to allow the gas to be directly discharged from an associated compression chamber into the discharge chamber when the compressor is operated under such a condition that the ratio of the operation pressure ratio to the design pressure ratio of the compressor falls within a range between 0.5 and 0.75.