Patent ID: 7648343

Claim:
A method for controlling the amount of electric current from an electrical circuit that is used by an electric motor in a portable electric motor driven reciprocating air compressor unit comprising: reciprocating a piston in a compression cylinder, the piston being driven with a portable electric motor; channeling air into the compression cylinder through an inlet that is connected to the compression cylinder to allow the piston to draw and compress amounts of air during each reciprocation; determining the amount of electric current that is used by the electric motor when each of a plurality of predeterminable amounts of air is permitted to be drawn into the compression cylinder and to be compressed by the piston during each reciprocation of the piston; providing a valve mechanism that is mounted to the inlet and that is adjustable to a plurality of positions, each position of the valve mechanism allowing for one of the plurality of predeterminable amounts of air to be permitted to be drawn into the compression cylinder and to be compressed by the piston during each reciprocation of the piston; and manually adjusting the valve mechanism to control the amount of air that is drawn into the compression cylinder and then compressed by the piston to control the amount of electric current that is used by the electric motor.