Patent ID: 7210886

Claim:
A fastener for fixing an airbag-anchor portion of a curtain airbag to a body panel of a vehicle, comprising a screw grommet having a shank adapted to be inserted into respective mounting holes of both the airbag-anchor portion and the body panel and having a flange adapted to press the airbag-anchor portion against the body panel, and a tapping screw, wherein the flange has an opening and the shank has a shank hole continuous to the opening which allow the tapping screw to be driven thereinto, wherein the shank has resilient engagement fingers protruding outward from sides of the shank to engage with edge regions of the mounting hole of the body panel in a temporary fixing state, the resilient engagement fingers being supported on the sides of the shank for movement into the shank hole, having surfaces disposed to engage the tapping screw in the shank hole, and being held in a permanent fixing state by screwing the tapping screw into the shank hole, to prevent the fingers from being moved inward of the shank, and wherein the flange has an outer peripheral edge integrally formed with a partition plate which stands upright therefrom and fixed thereto to partition a flange region having the opening from a main body of the curtain airbag, further including a protective plate detachably attached onto and over the flange of the screw grommet by a pair of lock pawls to protect the flange and enhance the pressing force of a head of the tapping screw against the flange, the lock pawls extending from the flange in a direction opposite to the direction of the shank, being spaced apart to embrace the protective plate between the pawls, being constructed to overlie the protective plate between the pawls, and being constructed with tapers facing one another and oriented to permit the protective plate to be pressed past the pawls into engagement with the flange, whereupon the pawls attach the protective plate to the flange, wherein the protective plate has an opening aligned with the flange opening, and wherein the partition plate extends upright from the flange edge substantially beyond the protective plate and the opening in the protective plate.