Patent ID: 7748732

Claim:
A tear seam in a cover of an airbag, comprising: a plurality of non-intersecting slits defined in a woven fabric of a cover that is woven with weft yarns oriented generally parallel to a longitudinal axis and warp yarns oriented generally transverse thereto, wherein the plurality of slits are diagonal with respect to the longitudinal axis, wherein the plurality of slits are positioned such that adjacent slits have a pair of overlapping end portions, wherein each pair of overlapping end portions defines a connected portion therebetween in which the warp yarns do not continue beyond the respective pair of overlapping end portions and some of the weft yarns continue beyond the respective pair of overlapping end portions below one adjacent slit and above the other adjacent slit, and wherein inflation of an airbag against the cover results in the separation of the weft yarns from the warp yarns along the plurality of slits without similarly separating the weft yarns from the warp yarns at the connected portions, thereby forming a plurality of tears.