Patent ID: 8708365

Claim:
A side curtain airbag assembly for protecting an occupant of a vehicle that has a roof rail covered by an upper vehicle trim, the side curtain airbag assembly comprising: an inflatable cushion configured to be installed between the roof rail and the upper vehicle trim and to be deployed from an uninflated state to an inflated state by gas produced from a gas generator, the inflatable cushion including: a side protection panel having an upper perimeter portion and one or more sub chambers which receive the gas when the inflatable cushion is deployed, the one or more sub chambers inflating downward from the upper perimeter portion; a plurality of attachment features disposed adjacent to the upper perimeter portion for attaching the inflatable cushion along the roof rail; an upward deploying chamber in fluid communication with the side protection panel to receive the gas when the inflatable cushion is deployed, the upward deploying chamber inflating upward from a section of the upper perimeter portion that is positioned below the attachment features to inflate above the attachment features between the roof rail and the upper vehicle trim; wherein the inflatable cushion has an inboard side and an outboard side that is opposite the inboard side, the inboard side being positioned toward the occupant of the vehicle when the inflatable cushion is in the inflated state, and wherein the inflatable cushion in the uninflated state has a rolled portion and a folded portion that extends from the rolled portion, a lower section of the side protection panel that is opposite the upper perimeter portion is rolled in a direction towards the outboard side to form the rolled portion, and the folded portion is formed by folding at least the upper perimeter portion back over the rolled portion toward the inboard side of the inflatable cushion; and wherein the upward deploying chamber in the uninflated state extends from the folded portion, is further folded onto itself with the outboard side of the upward deploying chamber facing inward, and is folded back toward the inboard side of the inflatable cushion interposed between the folded portion and the rolled portion, wherein the inboard side of the upward deploying chamber faces the inboard side of the folded portion and the inboard side of the rolled portion on a second side.