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. 27, 2009
Filed:
Jul. 27, 2006
Colleen Kalczynski, Shelby Township, MI (US);
Alex Meduvsky, Romeo, MI (US);
Colleen Kalczynski, Shelby Township, MI (US);
Alex Meduvsky, Romeo, MI (US);
TRW Vehicle Safety Systems, Inc., Washington, MI (US);
Abstract
An apparatus () for helping to protect an occupant () of a vehicle () includes an inflatable vehicle occupant protection device () that is inflatable to an inflated condition for helping to protect the vehicle occupant. The protection device () includes a panel () of material that helps define an inflatable volume () of the protection device. The panel () includes a vent opening () that has an open condition for venting inflation fluid from the inflatable volume (). The vent opening () is in the open condition during initial deployment of the protection device (). A channel () encircles the vent opening (). The channel () is at least partially defined by a peripheral portion () of the panel () that extends along a periphery () of the vent opening (). A tether () has a portion () that extends through the channel (). The tether () draws together the peripheral portion () of the panel () to reduce the size of the vent opening () when the protection device () deploys a predetermined distance toward the inflated condition.