Patent ID: 6457744
Filing Date: 2002-10-01
Classification: B60R

Abstract:
An airbag apparatus for a vehicle, comprising:a case having an opening blocked by a cover capable of being burst open; an airbag having a gas guide port and disposed within the case; and an inflator operative to eject gas through the gas guide port into the airbag disposed inside the case, thereby causing the airbag to expand within the case and burst open the cover so that the airbag deploys inside the vehicle; wherein the airbag branches from the gas guide port to a sub-expansion part having a small capacity and to a main expansion part having a relatively large capacity, the sub-expansion part being disposed at a side of a front window panel positioned at a front portion of a passenger compartment of the vehicle, and the main expansion part being folded up and disposed at a side of a passenger in the passenger compartment of the vehicle the sub-expansion part having a portion juxtaposing with the main expansion part; wherein a gas guide port for the sub-expansion part is kept open by a fixing member fixing the airbag to the case so as to introduce the gas ejected from the inflator first ito the portion of the sub-expansion part juxtaposing with the main expansion part while the main expansion part remains folded-up, thereby deploying the sub-expansion part along a direction in which the gas is ejected before the main expansion part is unfolded in response to the ejected gas; and wherein a vent hole is formed in a position of the main expansion part other than a position which receives a passenger in the passenger compartment.