Swash plate type variable displacement compressor

A swash plate type variable displacement compressor for compressing a refrigerant, comprising:

• a housing defining therein a cylinder bore, a crank chamber, a suction chamber and a discharge chamber;
• a piston reciprocatably accommodated in the cylinder bore and defining a compression chamber in the cylinder bore;
• a drive shaft driven by an external drive source and rotatably supported by the housing;
• a lug plate supported by the drive shaft in the crank chamber so as to rotate with the drive shaft;
• a swash plate supported by the drive shaft in the crank chamber;
• a hinge mechanism provided between the lug plate and the swash plate, the swash plate being rotatable with and inclinable relative to the drive shaft through the lug plate and the hinge mechanism for reciprocating the piston through shoes;
• and
• a control mechanism operable to control a pressure in the crank chamber thereby to vary an amount of the refrigerant discharged from the compression chamber into the discharge chamber by the reciprocation of the piston based on an inclination angle of the swash plate,
• wherein the hinge mechanism includes a restraining hinge element that is located on a suction side with respect to a first imaginary plane that includes a top position of the swash plate corresponding to a top dead center position of the piston and an axis of the drive shaft for restraining the lug plate and the swash plate from rotating relative to each other and the swash plate to move away from the lug plate, the hinge mechanism further including a non-restraining hinge element that is located on a discharge side with respect to the first imaginary plane for not restraining the swash plate from moving away from the lug plate.