Patent ID: 7823910

Claim:
An airbag apparatus comprising: an airbag; an instrument panel including a cover panel portion overlying the airbag and having a first welding surface thereon with the first welding surface having a planar configuration; a first pair of positioning surfaces extending parallel to each other in a first direction either normal or oblique to the first welding surface; an inner case including a door panel portion having a second welding surface thereon with the second welding surface having a planar configuration that extends across the entire extent of the inner case door panel portion so that the second welding surface is configured to bear flush against the first welding surface across the entire extent of the door panel portion; a depending wall of the inner case that extends in a second direction transverse to the first direction; a hinge portion of the inner case that interconnects the door panel portion to the depending wall; and at least a second pair of positioning surfaces of the door panel portion extending parallel to each other in the first direction for cooperating with the first pair of positioning surfaces to keep the first and second welding surfaces bearing flush against each other during vibration welding thereof, the first and second pair of positioning surfaces being arranged so that with the inner case centered relative to the cover panel portion, adjacent ones of the positioning surfaces of the first pair and the second pair of positioning surfaces have a predetermined clearance spacing therebetween.