Patent ID: 7823912

Claim:
A vehicle seat assembly, comprising: a frame for mounting the seat assembly to a vehicle; a seat pad disposed proximate the frame, the frame lying outside the seat pad; a trim cover disposed over at least a part of the seat pad and including a seam adjacent a side of the seat pad; an airbag assembly, including an airbag and an inflator configured to supply gas to the airbag, thereby facilitating deployment of the airbag, the airbag assembly also including a clamshell housing at least partially surrounding the airbag to facilitate deployment of the airbag along the deployment channel; and a pad shield covering at least a portion of the seat pad for protecting the seat pad during the deployment of the airbag, the pad shield being sewn to the trim cover at the seam and including inner and outer panels and forming a deployment channel that extends continuously to the seam therebetween for the airbag, the pad shield being located between the frame and the seam, wherein the inner and outer panels of the pad shield each include one end attached to the trim cover at the seam and a second end that is attached to separated wire frame members wherein a link plate extends from a distal end of the clamshell housing and an ear extends from a wire frame member, the link plate engaging the ear to secure the inner panel thereto so that the second ends of the inner and outer panels are open behind the airbag, thus facilitating mounting thereof and lowering airbag insertion forces applied during assembly.