Patent ID: 8573643

Claim:
An active bolster for protecting a person in a passenger seating area in an automotive vehicle during a crash event, comprising: an expandable inner wall for bearing against a reaction surface of the vehicle, wherein the inner wall includes a bay having first and second opposing ends and a central bowl; an expandable outer wall overlying the inner wall and providing an interior trim surface of the vehicle, wherein the outer wall and the inner wall have outer peripheral edges joined together to provide a main cavity therebetween, and wherein the bay in the inner wall extends away from the outer wall; and an inflator mounted at least partially within the bay and having an outlet nozzle with a plurality of outlet passages for radially discharging an inflation gas against the bay and the outer wall in response to the crash event to inflate the main cavity; wherein the inner wall of the central bowl includes a plurality of first dispersion ribs protruding from the inner wall toward the nozzle, the first dispersion ribs being substantially parallel with one another and following arcuate paths to provide at least one gas channel with opposite ends emptying from the central bowl into the main cavity; and wherein the outer wall includes a plurality of second dispersion ribs protruding from the outer wall toward the central bowl, the second dispersion ribs being oriented to channel inflation gas from the central bowl toward the outer peripheral edges.