Patent ID: 6986529

Claim:
A vehicle occupant protection apparatus comprising: a seat belt system for helping to protect an occupant of a vehicle seat, said seat belt system having a buckled condition and an unbuckled condition; means for determining the buckled condition of said seat belt system; an inflatable vehicle occupant protection device having a deflated condition and an inflated condition for helping to protect the occupant of the vehicle seat; an inflator actuatable to provide inflation fluid to inflate said inflatable device; means for determining that said inflatable device has been inflated into the inflated condition; an electrically energizable mechanism for venting inflation fluid from said inflatable device; and vehicle electric circuitry for actuating said electrically energizable mechanism to vent inflation fluid from said inflatable device when said seat belt system is determined to be in the buckled condition and after said inflatable device has been determined to have reached the inflated condition.