Patent ID: 8186710

Claim:
A post-deployment position-stabilized curtain airbag for installation in a vehicle to protect an occupant in case of side impact or rollover, the airbag comprising: (a) an inflatable passenger safety cushion supportable at a top edge thereof interior of the vehicle for deployment into the passenger compartment of the vehicle between the occupant and the occupant enclosure; (b) a fill chamber secured to the top edge of the safety cushion in fluid communication therewith, the fill chamber directing pressurized gas from an inflator into the safety cushion to effect deployment thereof; and (c) an inflatable structural member having closed peripheral sides and being mechanically connected to the safety cushion by an auxiliary passageway disposed between the structural member and the safety cushion such that the closed peripheral sides are separate from the safety cushion, the structural member being disposable upon installation in the vehicle for deployment into the passenger compartment between the deployed safety cushion and the occupant enclosure using pressurized gas directed through the fill chamber and the auxiliary passageway, the deployed structural member serving to limit outboard displacement of the deployed safety cushion, wherein the structural member deploys along the top edge of the safety cushion, and the deployed structural member serves to limit pivoting of the deployed safety cushion at the top edge thereof relative to the fill chamber.