Patent ID: 8414022

Claim:
A passenger airbag system for an automotive vehicle having a passenger compartment, a windshield, and an instrument panel disposed between the passenger compartment and the windshield, the instrument panel having a top portion adjacent the windshield with a surface generally facing the windshield and a mid portion further away from the windshield with a surface generally facing a passenger, the passenger airbag system comprising: an airbag housing mounted in a top portion of the instrument panel, the airbag housing having a folded airbag cushion disposed therein when the airbag cushion is in a non-deployed configuration, the airbag cushion being deployable from the airbag housing through the instrument panel; the airbag cushion having an upper airbag chamber and a lower airbag chamber, the upper airbag chamber being a main airbag chamber and having a substantially larger volume than the lower airbag chamber, the lower airbag chamber being a supporting airbag chamber; a gas generating inflator operable to generate a flow of gas into both the upper and lower chambers; the upper airbag chamber having a front face facing the passenger and a lower face directed downwardly, the lower airbag chamber having a front face facing the passenger, a lower face directed downwardly, and a rear face directed toward the mid portion of the instrument panel, the front face of the lower airbag chamber having an upper edge joined to the lower face of the upper airbag chamber at a connection region such that the front face of the lower airbag chamber extends downwardly from the lower face of the upper airbag chamber; a tether having a rear end attached at or near the airbag housing and a front end attached to the airbag cushion; an upper airbag chamber length being defined as a horizontal distance between the portion of the front face of the upper airbag chamber closest to the passenger and the portion of the mid portion of the instrument panel closest to the passenger; and a lower airbag chamber front offset being defined as a horizontal distance between the portion of the front face of the upper airbag chamber closest to the passenger and the connection region where the front face of the lower airbag chamber joins the lower face of the upper airbag chamber, the lower airbag chamber front offset being at least 25% of the upper airbag chamber length.