Patent 7789634 was granted and assigned to Daikin Industries, Ltd. on September, 2010 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A reed valve and a valve retainer for the reed valve are provided at a discharge port of a compression mechanism that compresses fluid. The valve retainer has a polymer actuator at an end part of a valve fixing part for fixing the reed valve. The polymer actuator expands or contracts in length to change a fixed length of the reed valve, thereby changing a rigidity of the reed valve. This attains appropriate control of responsiveness of the reed valve according to the volume.