Axial multi-piston compressor having rotary valve for allowing residual part of compressed fluid to escape

An axial multi-piston compressor comprising:

• a drive shaft;
• a cylinder block having cylinder bores formed therein and surrounding said the drive shaft;
• a plurality of pistons slidably received in the respective cylinder bores;
• a conversion means for converting a rotational movement of said drive shaft into a reciprocation of each piston in the corresponding cylinder bore such that a suction stroke and a discharge stroke are alternatively executed therein, a fluid being introduced into said cylinder bore during the suction stroke, and during the compression stroke, the introduced fluid being compressed and discharged from said cylinder bore such that a residual part of the compressed fluid remains in said cylinder bore when the compression stroke is finished;
• and
• a valve means for allowing the introduction of fluid into each of said cylinder bores during the suction stroke thereof;
• and
• an escaping means associated with said valve means for allowing the residual part of the compressed fluid to escape from a cylinder bore, in which the compression stroke is just finished, into a cylinder bore in which an associated piston in a compression stroke has passed bottom dead center by a predetermined distance.