Patent ID: 8894380

Claim:
A reciprocating compressor, comprising: a closed vessel; a cylinder installed inside the closed vessel; a linear motor that linearly reciprocates a piston; a controller that applies a symmetrical voltage to the linear motor; a gas spring that elastically supports the piston in a motion direction by a refrigerant gas filled inside the closed vessel; and a mechanical spring that elastically supports the piston in the mourn direction, the mechanical spring having an elastic coefficient that allows the piston to perform both a top dead center operation and a resonance operation even if a load condition varies, wherein the elastic coefficient of the mechanical spring and an initial position of the piston are set in accordance with a maximum load condition, and wherein a stroke length of the piston required to provide a maximum flow rate is two times larger than a distance of the initial position of the piston from a center point and is equal to or smaller than a sum of two times the distance of the initial position of the piston from the center point and a distance that the piston is shifted due to a flow rate of a refrigerant, and therefore the stroke of the piston is maximum under the maximum load condition.