Patent ID: 7428945

Claim:
A hydraulic power steering apparatus comprising: a hydraulic actuator generating a steering assist force by a working fluid supplied from a hydraulic pump; a hydraulic control valve controlling a supply and a discharge of the working fluid with respect to the hydraulic actuator; a check valve arranged in a supply oil path of the working fluid from the hydraulic pump to the hydraulic control valve and regulating a back flow of the working fluid from the hydraulic actuator to the hydraulic pump side; and the check valve having a valve body provided with a valve seat, and a valve element slidably accommodated within the valve body so as to freely seat on the valve seat, wherein the valve element has a plurality of guide portions provided in a base body portion of the valve element so as to extend along a center axis and protrude to an outer side in a diametrical direction from the base body portion at an interval in a peripheral direction, a valve internal oil path in which the working fluid circulates is formed in the valve element by a pair of the guide portions adjacent in the peripheral direction, each of the guide portions is constituted by a slidable contact portion having an outer peripheral surface structuring a sidable contact surface which is surface contacted with an inner peripheral surface of the valve body, a coupling portion extending to an outer side in the diametrical direction from the base body portion and coupling the base body portion and the slidable contact portion, and a width in the peripheral direction of the slidable contact surface is larger than a width in the peripheral direction of the coupling portion.