Patent ID: 7988185

Claim:
A knee-protecting airbag apparatus adapted to be mounted on a steering column of vehicle projecting rearward from an instrument panel and equipped with a steering wheel at a rear end thereof and an adjusting mechanism for adjusting the disposition of the steering wheel at least vertically, the airbag apparatus comprising: a column cover having a tubular contour and mounted on the steering column for covering the steering column, the column cover being set in an installation opening on the instrument panel for installing the column cover with an allowance gap left between the column cover and a peripheral region of the installation opening on a rear side of the instrument panel for allowing the movement of the column cover together with the steering column by operation of the adjusting mechanism; an airbag folded and housed in a lower area inside the column cover and emerging from the column cover for deployment when fed with inflation gas upon activation of the airbag apparatus, the airbag having such a contour as to cover at least a lower side of the column cover projected from the instrument panel and an area of the rear side of the instrument panel on lower, left and right sides of the column cover when fully inflated and deployed in front of driver's knees; and a door section formed on an area of the column cover ranging from the lower side to left and right sides of the column cover, the door opening up when pushed by the airbag for providing a single airbag emergence opening, the door section comprising a lower door disposed on the lower side, a left door disposed on the left side, and a right door disposed on the right side, of the column cover, wherein: at least the lower door of the door section opening forward and away from the column cover from a rear edge region thereof and locating the rear edge region to abut on a rear side of the instrument panel or on a lower area of the peripheral region of the installation opening on the rear side of the instrument panel for blocking the allowance gap formed between an outer circumference of the column cover moved by the adjusting mechanism and the lower area of the peripheral region of the installation opening on the rear side of the instrument panel from the rear such that the airbag is prevented from entering into the allowance gap.