The swashplate compressor is a second-generation compressor, belonging to the reciprocating (piston) compressor category. It was first successfully developed by General Motors in the United States in 1962 and applied to automotive air conditioning. The swashplate compressor achieves complete motion balance and quickly replaced crankshaft and connecting rod compressors. In the 1970s, Japan made a series of improvements based on General Motors' products, changing the cast iron material to an all-aluminum structure and increasing the number of cylinders from 6 to 10, significantly advancing the performance of the swashplate compressor. On October 24, 1989, Sanden Corporation of Japan applied for a patent for "Swashplate Compressor with Variable Displacement Mechanism" (CN1043370), which was published on June 27, 1990.
In 1994, FAW Mudanjiang Automotive Air Conditioning Compressor Co., Ltd. of China introduced the five-cylinder swashplate V5 series continuously variable displacement compressor from Delphi Corporation of the United States, and later also introduced the ten-cylinder swashplate SP series compressor from Delphi. In August 2002, Shanghai Guangyu Automotive Air Conditioning Compressor Co., Ltd. was established, beginning the research and development and manufacturing of automotive air conditioning compressor products, including swashplate compressors.
Entering the 21st century, swashplate compressor technology continued to develop, moving towards miniaturization, lightweight design, high speed, and continuously variable displacement control. Domestic and international companies such as Zhejiang Longzhixing Compressor Co., Ltd. (2025), Mahle Electromechanical Technology (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. (2024), and Anhui Dayin Automotive Air Conditioning Co., Ltd. (2022) have all applied for related technology patents.