Apparatus for diagnosing accumulator based on fluid pressure in its fluid-tightly sealed state

A combination of an accumulator and a diagnosing apparatus for diagnosing said accumulator, said accumulator comprising:

• a housing;
• a bellows disposed in said housing and cooperating with said housing to define an accumulator chamber and a gas chamber on respective opposite sides of said bellows, said accumulator chamber storing a pressurized fluid while said gas chamber being fluid-tightly charged with a pressurized gas having a pressure which is substantially equal to a pressure of said pressurized fluid in said accumulator chamber;
• an accumulator-chamber pressure sensor operable to detect the pressure of the pressurized fluid in said accumulator chamber;
• and
• a sealing device operable to fluid-tightly seal said accumulator chamber when a volume of said accumulator chamber has decreased to a predetermined value,
• said diagnosing apparatus comprising a diagnosing device operable to diagnose said accumulator on the basis of the pressure of the pressurized fluid detected by said accumulator-chamber pressure sensor when said accumulator chamber is fluid-tightly sealed by said sealing device.

An accumulator comprising:

• a housing having an opening;
• a bellows disposed in said housing and cooperating with said housing to define an accumulator chamber and a gas chamber on respective opposite sides of said bellows, said accumulator chamber storing a pressurized fluid which is introduced therein and delivered therefrom through said opening, while said gas chamber being fluid-tightly charged with a pressurized gas having a pressure which is substantially equal to a pressure of said pressurized fluid in said accumulator chamber;
• and
• an accumulator-chamber pressure sensor attached to said housing so as to detect the pressure of the pressurized fluid within said accumulator chamber when said accumulator chamber is fluid-tightly sealed from said opening.