Patent ID: 8813485

Claim:
A hydraulic accumulator system for providing pressurized oil to a transmission in a vehicle comprising: a transmission oil storage chamber configured to store oil at a predetermined level; a hydraulic accumulator mounted in the oil storage chamber and including an accumulator piston, the accumulator piston mounted below the predetermined level of oil, separating an accumulator oil area from a remainder of the oil storage area and movable to increase and decrease the amount of oil in the accumulator oil area, and a spring configured to engage the accumulator piston and bias the piston toward the accumulator oil area; and a hydraulic assembly including a first oil passage for removing the oil from the remainder of the oil storage area, a second oil passage for directing oil into and out of the accumulator oil area below the predetermined oil level and a hydraulic circuit configured to selectively direct the oil from the first oil passage into the second oil passage.