Patent ID: 11865996
Assignee: ZF PASSIVE SAFETY SYSTEMS US INC.
Field: Transport (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 0:
1. A restraint system for helping to protect an occupant of a vehicle having a roof and a cabin with a seat for the occupant, comprising:
an airbag having a stored condition within a seat base of the vehicle seat and being inflatable to a deployed condition extending across the width of the seat in front of the occupant from outboard of the vehicle seat to inboard of the vehicle seat, wherein the airbag is configured to utilize the vehicle seat as a reaction surface for restraining the movement of the airbag in response to occupant penetration into the airbag;
at least one tether having a first end connected to the airbag and a second end connected to a seatback of the vehicle seat, the at least one tether being configured to transmit the energy of the occupant penetrating the airbag to the vehicle seatback; and
at least one tether actuation unit that connects the second end of the at least one tether to the seatback, wherein the at least one tether actuation unit is configured to release the at least one tether in response to detecting an oblique vehicle crash to allow the airbag to shift laterally in response to the occupant penetrating into the airbag.