Patent ID: 7971899

Claim:
An inflatable cushion for a side of a vehicle, the inflatable cushion, comprising: a first cushion section formed from a first material, the first cushion section having a plurality of separate substantially isolated inflatable cells each of which having only an inlet opening for receipt of an inflation gas; an internal passageway formed in the first cushion section, the internal passageway linking and fluidly coupling to each of the plurality of separate substantially isolated inflatable cells via the inlet opening of each of the plurality of separate substantially isolated inflatable cells; a diffuser member disposed in the internal passageway, the diffuser member being configured to supply the inflation gas to each of the plurality of separate substantially isolated inflatable cells, wherein the diffuser member consists essentially of a non-rigid fabric member formed from a permeable material, the non-rigid fabric member is independent of the first material used to form the first cushion section and the permeable material of the non-rigid fabric member is the main source of fluid flow into each inlet opening of each of the plurality of separate substantially isolated inflatable cells such that the inflation gas must pass through the permeable material of the diffuser member in order to inflate each of the plurality of separate substantially isolated inflatable cells; and means for restricting fluid flow between each of the plurality of separate substantially isolated inflatable cells by limiting fluid flow between an exterior portion of the diffuser member and an interior surface of the internal passageway proximate to an edge of the inlet openings of the plurality of separate substantially isolated inflatable cells such that a predetermined effective flow area is provided between a loaded cell of anyone of the plurality of separate substantially isolated inflatable cells and the remaining plurality of separate substantially isolated inflatable cells, wherein the effective flow area causes an inflated cell of one of the plurality of separate substantially isolated inflatable cells to have an increased internal pressure when it is impacted by an object and wherein the increased internal pressure will prevent the object from striking through the cell with the increased internal pressure and wherein the inflated cell has an internal pressure greater than 20 kilopascals and less than 40 kilopascals prior to its impact by the object.