Patent ID: 6942243

Claim:
An instrument panel air bag deployment door mechanism for a vehicle comprising: a molded plastic instrument panel retainer having an internal surface adjacent to which an air bag is stored prior to deployment and an outer surface that faces the passenger compartment of the vehicle; a foam layer disposed on the outer surface of the instrument panel retainer; a pliant external layer overlaying the foam layer; a deployment door molded integral with the instrument panel retainer, the deployment door having a physical attachment of a selected strength to the remainder of the instrument panel retainer so that the physical connection between the deployment door and the instrument panel retainer is severed upon the application of sufficient force from an inflating air bag; and a tear initiator molded integral with the molding of the deployment door, the tear initiator having a base flexibly attached to the deployment door and a free end adjacent to one edge of the deployment door, the free end having a pointed piercing in portion that extends normally towards the external layer, the tear initiator further having an actuator portion that protrudes towards a stored air bag such that an inflating air bag contacts the actuator portion and pivots the tear initiator causing the pointed piercing portion to pierce through the foam layer and the external layer prior to severing the physical connection between the deployment door and the instrument panel retainer, wherein a groove is provided at the base of the tear initiator to facilitate flexing of the tear initiator relative to the deployment door.