Patent ID: 7059842

Claim:
A variable capacity rotary compressor, including a hermetic casing, a housing installed in the hermetic casing to define therein first and second compression chambers having different capacities, and a compressing unit, placed in the first and second compression chambers, to execute a compression operation in either the first or second compression chamber according to a rotating direction of a rotating shaft which drives the compressing unit, the variable capacity rotary compressor comprising: a pressure controller to apply an outlet pressure of the compressor to either the first or second compression chamber where an idle operation is executed, the pressure controller comprising: a path control chamber provided at a portion of the housing outside the first and second compression chambers, first and second inlet channels to connect both ends of the path control chamber to inlet ports of the first and second compression chambers, respectively, a communicating channel to connect an interior of the hermetic casing of the compressor to a middle portion of the path control chamber, and a valve unit provided in the path control chamber to control an internal path of the path control chamber so that the communicating channel communicates with either the first or second inlet channel.