Patent ID: 8002309

Claim:
An airbag apparatus for a vehicle, comprising: an inflator; a housing installed in a roof; and a cushion contained in the housing and configured to be deployed downwards by a gas discharged from the inflator to protect an occupant in the vehicle; wherein an upper surface of the cushion is supported by the roof when the cushion is in a deployed state, and a front surface of the cushion extends in a rear direction of the vehicle in an arcuate shape to form a recess to prevent interference with a seatback of the front seat while the cushion is deployed downwards; wherein the housing is installed between a front seat and a rear seat; wherein the cushion is -shaped when the cushion is completely deployed; wherein the cushion is configured to have locally-different gas pressures therein; wherein a gas pressure in a front upper portion of the cushion is higher than a gas pressure in a rear lower portion of the cushion and the gas pressure in the rear lower portion of the cushion is higher than a gas pressure in a rear upper portion thereof; wherein a gas passage through which a gas flows is formed in the cushion so that a gas supplied from the inflator in the front upper portion of the cushion flows along an inner surface of the recess around the rear lower portion of the cushion and then charged into the rear upper portion of the cushion; and wherein the cushion is partitioned into a plurality of chambers by diaphragms, at least one chamber being disposed in the front upper portion of the cushion, at least one chamber being disposed in the rear lower portion thereof to fluid-communicate with the at least one chamber disposed in the front upper portion of the cushion, and at least one chamber being disposed in the rear upper portion thereof to fluid-communicate with the at least one chamber disposed in the rear lower portion of the cushion.