Disclosed is a curtain airbag which has at least one expandable portion formed at a front side thereof; and a tether panel which is coupled to the curtain airbag so as to be disposed on one surface of the curtain airbag, and tightened as the curtain airbag is inflated, so as to allow the at least one expandable portion to protrude toward the other surface that is directed toward the inside of an interior of a vehicle.

A front airbag of a vehicle occupant restraint system comprises an outer cover including a front wall and a peripheral wall, wherein a fixing portion (22) for fixing the front airbag tightly to the vehicle is provided on the peripheral wall and the front wall constitutes a baffle for the vehicle occupant and includes a circumferential first peripheral edge (20) which is circumferentially connected at a circumferential second peripheral edge (24) of the peripheral wall to the latter. The length of the two peripheral edges (20, 24) is equal. The front wall includes a cut (12) that is flatly spreadable. The front wall cut (12) has at least one notch (28) starting from the first peripheral edge (20) at two connecting points (32), wherein from each of the connecting points (32) an edge portion (34) of the notch (28) extends into the interior of the front wall cut (12) so that the two edge portions (34) are convergent in V-shape and meet in one point. In the finished front airbag, the two edge portions are connected to each other along their total length so that the connecting points (32) are located in the first peripheral edge (20) and are directly adjacent each other and in the inflated front airbag a bulge is formed in the front wall in the area of the edge portions.

An apparatus for helping to protect a vehicle occupant includes an airbag having primary and secondary chambers fluidly connected by a first passive vent and an active vent having an open condition and a closed condition. The primary chamber has a stored condition and a deployed condition to cover a portion of the vehicle. An interior panel divides the primary chamber into upper and lower inflatable volumes and includes a second passive vent fluidly connecting the upper and lower inflatable volumes. The secondary chamber has a stored condition and a deployed condition to cover portions of the vehicle left uncovered by the primary chamber. An inflator is actuatable to provide inflation fluid to the primary chamber. The active vent is controllable to prevent fluid communication between the primary and secondary chambers in response to occupant penetration into the primary chamber and controllable to allow fluid communication between the primary and secondary chambers in response to occupant penetration into the secondary chamber. The second passive vent automatically closes to prevent fluid flow from the lower inflatable volume to the upper inflatable volume in response to occupant penetration into the secondary chamber.

An airbag system includes an airbag having a main portion having a first periphery. The main portion is inflatable in an inflation direction to a first thickness. An extension extends from the main portion and has a second periphery spaced from the first periphery. The extension is inflatable in the inflation direction to a second thickness. The first periphery and the second periphery define a gap therebetween. A depression is disposed between the main portion and the extension at the gap and the depression has a third thickness in the inflation direction less than the first thickness and the second thickness. The extension and the depression may receive a head of an occupant during an oblique impact, in which the head of the occupant may avoid the main portion of the airbag.

Provided is a curtain airbag apparatus capable of preventing a head of an occupant from being moved forward at the time of an oblique collision of the vehicle. To this end, a curtain airbag apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes: an auxiliary airbag which is coupled to the curtain airbag, is inflated when gas flows into the auxiliary airbag, and protrudes into the interior of a vehicle; and a support panel which is coupled to the curtain airbag and the auxiliary airbag, and supports the protruding auxiliary airbag.

An airbag includes on the rear plane a passenger protection portion for protecting a front seat passenger. The passenger protection portion includes a front-collision arresting plane for protecting a head of the passenger as he moves forward in the event of a frontal collision of the vehicle and an oblique-collision arresting plane that is disposed at least either on the left or on the right of the front-collision arresting plane in such a manner as to protrude rearward out of the front-collision arresting plane for protecting the head of the passenger as he moves diagonally forward in the event of an oblique or offset collision of the vehicle. The passenger protection portion further includes an arresting recess that is disposed between the front-collision arresting plane and oblique-collision arresting plane in such a manner as to be sunken forward for receiving and arresting the head of the passenger.

A front airbag apparatus for a vehicle may include an airbag chamber including front panels, and internal tethers connecting the front panels of the airbag chamber to an airbag housing and dividing the airbag chamber into a plurality of sections, in which lengths of the internal tethers may be smaller than a length of the airbag chamber in a front-rear direction of the vehicle, and when the airbag chamber is fully inflated, joints of the internal tethers on the front panels may be recessed, whereby the front panels may form a prominence-depression shape.

A curtain airbag for a vehicle may include a curtain airbag cushion, a first folding portion formed from an indoor side to a window side of the curtain airbag cushion, at a predetermined distance rearward from a front end of the curtain airbag cushion, a second folding portion formed from the indoor side to the window side of the cushion airbag at a predetermined distance rearward from the first folding portion, a panel tether connecting the first folding portion and the second folding portion to each other on the window side of the curtain airbag cushion, the panel tether being shorter than a length of the window side of the curtain airbag cushion between the first folding portion and the second folding portion, and a protruding portion protruding inward between the first folding portion and the second folding portion of the curtain airbag cushion by tension of the panel tether.

An airbag is configured by six base materials of two side wall configuration panels, a projecting portion configuration panel, a front panel, and two rear panels. Each of the side wall configuration panels configure a left wall portion or a right wall portion facing each other on a side in a rightward-leftward direction in a main body inflation portion, and a projecting portion configuration portion configuring a projecting inflation portion is located in one of the side wall configuration panels. The front panel configures a region from an upper wall portion to a lower wall portion, which face each other on a side in an upward-downward direction in the main body inflation portion. Each of the rear panels configures a rear surface in the main body inflation portion when the main body inflation portion is completely inflated. The projecting portion configuration panel has an external shape substantially coincident with that of the projecting portion configuration portion. The projecting portion configuration panel and the rear panel on the projecting inflation portion side include a recess portion configuration portion configuring a restraining recess portion.

An airbag uses a rear surface side when inflated as an occupant protection section. The occupant protection section includes a frontal collision restriction surface, oblique collision restriction surfaces on left and right sides of the frontal collision restriction surface, and restriction recessed portions between the frontal collision restriction surface and each oblique collision restriction surface. A recessed portion tether links a tip end side of a recess of the restriction recessed portions and a front end side of the airbag to each other to the inside thereof, and when inflated, at the time of dividing the region into two in the left-right direction around the vicinity of the attachment center to the storage part, provides a remote side region on a side away from a driver seat and a driver seat side region. The capacity of the remote side region is smaller than the driver seat side region.