Patent ID: 6719320
Filing Date: 2004-04-13
Classification: B60R

Abstract:
An airbag door construction for airbag deployment comprising:a hard instrument panel having an integrally formed airbag door, said airbag door having an area of reduced cross-section outlining at least a portion of the periphery thereof; a reaction plate attached to the underside of said panel at said airbag door location including a slot; a deployment chute attached to the underside of said panel, said deployment chute attached to said panel in at least a portion of an area lying just outside of said area of reduced cross-section; a tether assembly wherein said assembly comprises a tether having two ends wherein the first end passes through said slot and is attached to a rod wherein said rod is located between said reaction plate and said airbag door, including reinforcing ribs in the reaction plate wherein said rod is slidably engaged between said ribs in said reaction plate and wherein said second end of said tether is secured to limit travel of said airbag door whereupon airbag deployment said airbag door and said reaction plate may at least partially detach from said instrument panel and be retained by said tether.