Bellows-type hydraulic accumulator

A bellows-type hydraulic accumulator comprising:

• a shell which defines a pressure space;
• a bellows unit capable of extending and contracting and disposed within the pressure space, one end of the bellows unit being fixedly secured to one end wall of the shell in order to divide the pressure space into an outer chamber serving as a gas chamber, in which a pressurized gas is enclosed, and an inner chamber serving as a liquid chamber communicating with a liquid inlet/outlet port formed in the end wall of the shell;
• a stay having a communication port formed therein and disposed within the bellows unit in order to restrict the degree of contraction of the bellows unit and to divide the liquid chamber into a fixed-volume liquid chamber having a fixed volume and a variable-volume liquid chamber whose volume is variable and which communicates with the fixed-volume liquid chamber via the communication port;
• and
• a pipe inserted into the liquid inlet/outlet port in order to form an inflow passage inside the pipe and an outflow passage outside the pipe, a tip end of the pipe being located within the communication port of the stay with a predetermined radial clearance formed between the tip end and a wall surface of the communication port, to thereby enable pressurized liquid to be supplied to the variable-volume liquid chamber from the tip end of the pipe and to be discharged from the variable-volume liquid chamber to the fixed-volume liquid chamber via the radial clearance.