Bladder surge suppressor

A bladder surge suppressor comprising:

• a container having an internal chamber;
• a gas-filled bladder disposed within the chamber and including a valve stem connected thereto and extending through an opening in the container;
• a first attachment member disposed in the chamber and having an opening extending therethrough, wherein a section of the valve stem adjacent the bladder extends axially through the first attachment member opening;
• a second attachment member positioned on top of the first attachment member and having an opening, wherein a section of the valve stem that extends outwardly away from the first attachment member opening and outside of the container is disposed in the second attachment member opening, the second attachment member being a one-piece construction comprising a section that is disposed in the container opening radially interposed between the valve stem and the container opening and a section that is disposed outside of the container opening;
• and
• wherein a rotational position of the valve stem relative to the container is fixed by registration of a surface feature of the valve stem with a surface feature of the second attachment member.

A method for rotatably fixing the position of a bladder valve stem relative to a container comprising a chamber that encloses the bladder, the method comprising the steps of:

• installing a first attachment member over a portion of the valve stem adjacent the bladder so that the valve stem extends axially through an opening of the first attachment member, wherein the first attachment member is disposed in the chamber and a portion of the valve stem extends through an opening of the container;
• and
• installing a second attachment member over a portion of the valve stem projecting from the first attachment member so that a portion of the valve stem is disposed within an opening in the second attachment, wherein the second attachment member is in the form of a one-piece construction comprising a first portion that is disposed outside of the container opening and a second portion that extends axially away from the first portion inside of the container opening;
• wherein during the step of installing the second attachment member, a surface feature of the valve stem engages and registers with a surface feature of the second attachment member opening to rotatably fix the position valve stem relative to the second attachment member.