Patent ID: 7677593

Claim:
In an inflatable passenger protection system for a vehicle having a structural front pillar frame member to be covered by a separate interior trim component, and a side curtain airbag to be positioned in a stowed condition between the front pillar frame member and an inner surface of the interior trim component, the interior trim component having at least a portion movable between a covered position enclosing the side curtain airbag in the stowed condition and an opened position in response to inflation of the side curtain airbag to the deployed condition, the improvement comprising: an extruded support bracket having an inner surface engageable with the front pillar frame member, a guide surface that extends outward from the inner surface to an outer surface that is spaced from the inner surface and the front pillar member and is engageable with the interior trim component, the bracket having a primary attachment point formed on the outer surface thereof and a secondary attachment point formed on the outer surface thereof for supporting the interior trim component, and the outer surface of the bracket being substantially continuous and in continuous contact with the inner surface of the interior trim component between the primary attachment point and the secondary attachment point.