| US 7,607,689 B2 | ||
| Air bag vent with tether | ||
| Colleen Kalczynski, Shelby Township, Mich. (US); and Alex Meduvsky, Romeo, Mich. (US) | ||
| Assigned to TRW Vehicle Safety Systems, Inc., Washington, Mich. (US) | ||
| Filed on Jul. 27, 2006, as Appl. No. 11/494,346. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2008/0023950 A1, Jan. 31, 2008 | ||
| Int. Cl. B60R 21/239 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 280—739 [280/743.2] | 18 Claims |
| 18. An apparatus for helping to protect an occupant of a vehicle, the apparatus comprising:
an inflatable vehicle occupant protection device inflatable to an inflated condition for helping to protect the vehicle occupant,
the protection device comprising a panel of material that helps define an inflatable volume of the protection device, the
panel including a vent opening that has an open condition for venting inflation fluid from the inflatable volume, the vent
opening being in the open condition during initial deployment of the protection device; and
a tether having a portion that encircles the vent opening, the tether being configured to draw closed the vent opening when
the protection device deploys a predetermined distance toward the inflated condition;
the panel being subjected to tensile forces resulting from fluid pressures in the inflatable volume, the tether being coupled
to the panel such that the tensile forces acting on the panel are imparted to the tether to cause the vent to reopen.
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