Patent ID: 7543848

Claim:
An air bag module, comprising: a housing having at least one vent opening; an inflatable cushion being stored in an un-deployed position in the housing; an inflator for inflating the inflatable cushion, the inflator being in fluid communication with the inflatable cushion and having a plurality of inflation openings for allowing an inflation gas to pass therethrough, at least one of the plurality of inflation openings being in fluid communication with the at least one vent opening; a system for controlling an inflation output of the inflator, the system comprising: a first sensing device, the first sensing device being an electronic sensing device configured to detect the presence of an object proximate to the air bag module, when the inflatable cushion is in an un-inflated state, the first sensing device providing a suppression signal when an object is detected within an area proximate to the air bag module; a second sensing device, the second sensing device being a mechanical sensing device configured to detect whether a leading edge of the inflatable cushion has made contact with an object prior to the leading edge reaching a predetermined distance from the air bag module during inflation of the inflatable cushion, the second sensing device being disposed within the inflatable cushion and is configured to cause the inflation output provided to the inflatable cushion to be varied when the leading edge of the inflatable cushion has made contact with an object prior to the leading edge reaching the predetermined distance from the air bag module, the mechanical sensing device comprising a tether having a vent opening disposed within a portion of the tether, the vent opening aligning with the at least one vent opening in the housing when the leading edge of the inflatable cushion has made contact with the object prior to the leading edge reaching the predetermined distance from the air bag module during inflation of the inflatable cushion; and a sensing and diagnostic module for receiving the suppression signal and an activation signal, wherein the activation signal corresponds to an event that requires inflation of inflatable cushion in absence of the suppression signal and the sensing and diagnostic module is configured to determine whether the inflation output is to be provided to the inflatable cushion.