The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 20, 1998
Filed:
Jul. 03, 1996
Vance L Behr, Albuquerque, NM (US);
James M Nelsen, Albuquerque, NM (US);
Kenneth W Gwinn, Cedar Crest, NM (US);
Precision Fabrics Group, Inc., Greensboro, NC (US);
Sandia Corporation, Albuquerque, NM (US);
Abstract
An apparatus and method for making an inflatable protective device made of lightweight material that can withstand the initial stress from inflation and enhance radial inflation. The device includes a cushion and an inflator port. The invention further includes several stacks of folded cushion material including a combination of full-width stacks and half-width stacks: a first full-width stack defined by one or more fan folds in a first lateral half of the cushion wherein the folds are substantially centered above a first center line and are substantially over the inflator port; a second full-width stack defined by one or more fan folds in a second lateral half of the cushion wherein the folds are substantially centered above the first center line and substantially over the inflator port in the first full-width stack; a first half-width stack defined by a plurality of fan folds in the bottom of the cushion where neither edge of each fold extends substantially over the second center line; and a second half-width stack defined by a plurality of fan folds in the top of the cushion wherein neither edge of each fold extends substantially over the second center line.