Abstract: Contact between the top portion and the spherical seat of the piston is avoided through a simple arrangement and even if the swash plate angle is increased, a suitable contact portion is obtained. To this end, the top portion of a shoe for swash plate type compressors is composed of a partial spherical surface having a larger radius of curvature than that of the outer peripheral surface which contacts a seat surface formed in the piston, the top portion being smoothly continuous with the outer peripheral surface. Further, the generatrix of the outer peripheral surface of the shoe in contact with the seat surface is an arc whose center of curvature is radially spaced from the centerline of the shoe and whose radius of curvature is shorter than that of the seat surface, whereby the outer peripheral surface of the shoe contacts the seat surface of the piston at a predetermined position; this makes it easier to control the contact of the shoe for swash plate type compressors.