Vehicle rollover curtain with improved deployment

Abstract

A vehicle occupant restraint system includes a restraint curtain stowed adjacent a roof rail of the vehicle to deploy downwardly adjacent the side wall of the vehicle. The curtain is formed with a slit extending from a lower edge upwardly toward an upper edge to divide the curtain into first and second sections. A short, rod-like connecting member is attached to the curtain adjacent the lower edge and spans the slit, tying the first and second sections together. A ring encircles the connecting member and a flexible tether is attached to the ring. The end of the tether opposite the ring is slidingly engaged with a guide track disposed on a pillar extending downwardly from the vehicle roof. The curtain is placed in the stowed condition by rolling it in a spiral fashion, starting at the lower edge and rolling toward the upper edge in a direction parallel to the slit so that the connecting members remain accessible through the slit even in the stowed condition. The connecting member is free to rotate within the ring so that the curtain may roll and unroll freely without the tether becoming wound up in or otherwise entangled with the curtain. When the curtain is in the stowed condition, the tether is slid to the upper end of the guide track. As the curtain unrolls to the deployed condition the tether travels downwardly along the guide track, holding the lower edge of the curtain close to the pillar.