Automotive Technologies International, Inc.

W Thomas Sanders

David S Breed

Richard M Downs, Jr

Scott D Phillips

An airbag module to protect an occupant in the passenger compartment in the event of a crash of the vehicle. In a most basic embodiment, the module includes an elongate housing having a length in the longitudinal direction which is substantially larger than its width or thickness in a direction transverse to the longitudinal direction, an airbag situated within the housing, an inflator arranged in the housing to produce pressurized gas to inflate the airbag, mounting members for mounting the module in the passenger compartment and an initiator for initiating the inflator to produce the pressurized gas in response to the crash of the vehicle. The housing includes a cover for releasably retaining the airbag so that it can deploy upon inflation of the airbag.

Efficient airbag module

A vehicle crush detecting device consists of an electrically conducting tube with an electrically conducting rod concentrically positioned within the tube along with insulating means positioned at at least two points between the rod and the tube to insulate the rod from the tube. The electrically conducting tube is deformed during a vehicle crash by a force greater than a predetermined magnitude which causes the tube to contact the rod in response to the crush of a vehicle of a predetermined amount. The crush sensor is mounted in the crush zone of the vehicle and is used in conjunction with automobile passive restraint systems such as airbags.

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Rockaway, NJ, United States of America

W Thomas Sanders