Variable volume vessel with over-travel protection and/or anti-binding features

A variable volume vessel, comprising:

• an outer housing;
• a bellows positioned within the outer housing, the bellows comprising a plurality of bellow sections provided in series with one another, with each bellow section of the plurality of bellow sections being formed by a bellow component extending axially between an adjacent pair of upper and lower guide rings, the bellow component of each bellow section being configured to expand and contract such that a distance defined between the adjacent pair of upper and lower guide rings increases and decreases with expansion and contraction of the bellow component, respectively, wherein each guide ring comprises a plurality of mounting holes and a plurality of pass-through holes, the plurality of pass-through holes having an outer dimension greater than an outer dimension of the plurality of mounting holes, wherein a first mounting hole of the lower guide ring is axially aligned with a second mounting hole of the upper guide ring;
• and
• at least one travel limit rod provided in association with a respective bellow section of the plurality of bellow sections, the at least one travel limit rod being configured to prevent over-travel of the respective bellow section, wherein the at least one travel limit rod comprises:
• an upper head end and a lower head end, wherein at least one of the upper head end or lower head end has an outer dimension that is less than the outer dimension of the plurality of pass-through holes, and
• a contraction control section extending axially between the upper and lower head ends and having an outer dimension greater than the outer dimension of the mounting holes, wherein an axial length of the contraction control section corresponds to a minimum contraction distance of the respective bellow section, and wherein, as the respective bellow section contracts to the minimum contraction distance, the at least one of the upper head end or lower head end of the at least one travel limit rod passes through a pass-through hole of a guide ring of a bellow section of the plurality of bellow sections positioned adjacent to the respective bellow section.