Patent ID: 6419266
Filing Date: 2002-07-16
Classification: B60R

Abstract:
An assembly for protecting an occupant of a motor vehicle, comprising:a gas generator comprising a body which has two ends and a side wall bearing discharge orifices distributed around the side wall, the side wall having a circular cross section and an outside circumference with a length L; an air bag initially folded around the gas generator; and an external deflector comprising a single expanding element, for deflecting gases released from the gas generator throughout the air bag during inflation, wherein, the discharge orifices are initially covered by the external deflector which closely surrounds the side wall, the external deflector is made using a deformable metal strip which is between 1.5L and 2.5L long, the deformable metal strip has at least one expanding region intended to be deployed when the gases are released by the generator and the expanding region is obtained by folding the strip in at least four symmetric folds, each fold being folded at an angle of 180Â° and with a minimum radius of 0.2 mm.