Patent ID: 7641449

Claim:
An air compressor, comprising: a tank unit storing compressed air; a compressed air generator generating the compressed air to be supplied to the tank unit; a drive portion including a motor for driving the compressed air generator; and a controller portion controlling the drive portion, wherein the motor is controlled to run at one of multiple levels of rotational speeds, the levels including rotational speeds of N0, N1, N2 and N3 where N0=0, and N0<N1<N2<N3, said controller portion being adapted to control the drive portion at different operating modes, the operating modes including at least two operating modes selected from a group consisting of a silent mode operating the motor at a rotational speed of N0 or N1, a powerful mode operating the motor at a rotational speed of N0, N2 or N3, and an automatic mode operating the motor at a rotational speed of N0, N1, N2 or N3; and an operating mode selection switch that selects one of said at least two operating modes of the group of the silent mode, the powerful mode and the automatic mode.