Patent ID: 6918868

Claim:
A supplemental inflatable restraint system comprising: an air beg including a forward face and a rearward contact face for contacting a vehicle occupant; a steering wheel cover including an inflator operable to inflate said air bag and open an openable portion of said steering wheel cover; said air bag including opposing lateral edges forming side edges of said contact face; said air bag including opposing top and bottom edges extending between said opposing lateral edges of said contact face; said air bag including first and second series of final folds being configured as a modified fan/accordion fold, each series of final folds including outer terminal folds and a plurality of intermediate folds foldable onto a portion of said contact face to fit within the steering wheel cover with said outer terminal folds outer sufficient outwardly escapably positioned between intermediate folds as modified so that the outer terminal folds escape from the steering wheel cover before the intermediate folds; and wherein the operation of said inflator causes said air bag to open said openable portion of said steering wheel cover to outer terminal folds of the air bag to escape said steering wheel cover upwardly and downwardly from said portion of said contact face during subsequent inflation of the air bag so as to initially present the first and second series of final folds as a generally vertical surface substantially parallel to the torso of said occupant.