Patent ID: 7661700

Claim:
A knee airbag device comprising a knee airbag that is disposed in a folded state inside a steering column cover, wherein: when the knee airbag receives gas, the knee airbag is inflated and deployed from an inside of the steering column cover toward knees; outer portions of the knee airbag, which are positioned outside centers of the knees when the knee airbag is deployed, protrude toward a rear of a vehicle as compared to knee front portions of the knee airbag, which are positioned in front of the knees when the knee airbag is deployed, so that the outer portions expand toward areas outside the knees when the knee airbag is deployed; the knee airbag includes an instrument panel-side foundation cloth positioned close to an instrument panel when the knee airbag is deployed, an occupant-side foundation cloth positioned close to the occupant when the knee airbag is deployed, and tethers that connect the instrument panel-side foundation cloth and the occupant-side foundation cloth, and regulate a thickness of the knee airbag; first connections at which the tethers are connected to the instrument panel-side foundation cloth are set to be outside second connections at which the tethers are connected to the occupant-side foundation cloth, with respect to a center of the knee airbag in a vehicle-width direction; a length between the first connections in the vehicle-width direction is set to be longer than a length between the second connections in the vehicle-width direction; the second connections are positioned outside the centers of the knees; and when the knee airbag is inflated and deployed, the gas is supplied to a general portion in which the knee front portions are positioned, and then the gas is supplied from the general portion to the outer portions so that the outer portions are deployed toward right and left sides in the vehicle-width direction while rear portions of the outer portions are slack due to regulation by the tethers, and then the outer portions expand toward the rear of the vehicle.