Patent ID: 7695005

Claim:
A side airbag device for use in a vehicle having a forward end, a rearward end, and a pair of sides disposed therebetween, comprising: an inflatable cushion for deployment from an unexpanded state to an expanded state, said inflatable cushion being configured to traverse a portion of one of the pair of sides of the vehicle in said expanded state, said inflatable cushion comprising an inflation opening, a securement portion for attachment to the vehicle and a deploying edge, said inflatable cushion further comprising a traversing portion and a packet of parallel pleats, said packet of parallel pleats including a first end pleat spaced from the securement portion, a second end pleat adjacent the securement portion and a series of middle pleats disposed therebetween, said first end pleat being disposed remote from the securement portion relative to the second end pleat, said traversing portion extending from the securement portion to the first end pleat and traversing the series of middle pleats, and said deploying edge extending from the second end pleat toward the first end pleat opposite the traversing portion and about the first end pleat; an inflator for inflating said inflatable cushion; wherein said inflatable cushion is folded in a manner that causes said deploying edge to deploy as a first leading edge as said inflatable cushion is inflated to said expanded state by said inflator.