Refrigerant compressor

Abstract

A compressing mechanism includes a slidable section which is constructed by combining a first slidable member made of a cast iron having a Vickers hardness within the range of 200 to 300 with a second slidable member made of a carbon steel having a Vickers hardness within the range of 200 to 300 and an average number of crystalline grains per 1 mm.sup.2 within the range of 2000 to 3200. The slidable section is composed of a shaft and a bearing. Additionally, the slidable section includes a cylinder, a rotor and a piston. Each crystalline grain in the carbon steel constituting the second slidable member has a substantially isotropic shape and a size of the crystalline grain is suitably enlarged to exhibit a coarse structure. As a result, elasticity of the grain structure of the carbon steel is increased and a very small number of crystalline grains are peeled off from the surface of the substrate. Since the slidable section is constructed by combining the first slidable member with the second slidable member in the above-described manner, the second slidable member exhibits excellent wear resistance even under a circumstance wherein the 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane or the 1,1-difluoroethane is used as a refrigerant in the presence of a polyether-based oil, a polyester-based oil or the like each serving as a refrigerator oil.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.