Patent ID: 7722077

Claim:
In a vehicle having a windshield, an airbag configuration, comprising: an instrument panel having a front instrument-panel wall region adjacent to the windshield and a head-impact instrument panel wall region adjoining said front instrument panel wall region in a direction away from the windshield and toward a vehicle interior, said front instrument panel wall region being configured as an instrument-panel-side airbag outlet wall region, said head-impact instrument panel wall region having a potential head impact region; an airbag disposed behind said instrument-panel-side airbag outlet wall region when said airbag is in an unactivated, folded-up basic state; said airbag, when in an activated state, being inflated such that said airbag deploys through an airbag outlet opening to be formed in said instrument-panel-side airbag outlet wall region and such that said airbag is inflated in the vehicle interior in front of said instrument panel, said airbag having an initial filling pressure at a beginning of an airbag activation; said airbag outlet opening, to be formed in said front instrument panel wall region when said airbag is inflated, being disposed at a given safety distance from said potential head impact region, the given safety distance being provided such that said airbag, after advancing in a direction toward the vehicle interior by a distance corresponding to the given safety distance between said airbag outlet opening and said potential head impact region, has a filling pressure which is reduced with respect to the initial filling pressure in accordance with given limit values; said potential head impact region of said instrument panel being made from a deformable material, said deformable material being configured to absorb energy when being deformed; and said instrument panel providing a deformation space in a region below said potential head impact region such that, when a head impacts against said potential head impact region, said potential head impact region can be deformed in an unobstructed manner into said deformation space with energy being absorbed.