Patent ID: 7441804

Claim:
A method for folding an airbag cushion into a housing, comprising: obtaining an airbag cushion defined by an upper panel and a lower panel, wherein the airbag cushion is attached to a housing; tucking a first portion of the airbag cushion into a second portion of the airbag cushion such that the upper and lower panels of the first portion are positioned in between the upper and lower panels of the second portion; directly joining at least two adjacent layers of the tucked portion of the airbag cushion together, wherein the step of directly joining at least two adjacent layers is performed after the step of tucking a first portion of the airback cushion into a second portion of the airback cushion; folding the tucked portion until one side of the folded tucked portion is at least approximately even with a first side of the housing; folding a first half of the airbag cushion until a first side of the folded first half of the airbag cushion is at least approximately even with a second side of the housing, wherein the first half of the airbag cushion includes approximately half of the tucked portion, and wherein the step of folding a first half of the airbag cushion is performed after the steps of tucking a first portion of the airbag cushion and folding the tucked portion; folding a second half of the airbag cushion until a first side of the folded second half of the airbag cushion is at least approximately even with a third side of the housing, wherein the second half of the airbag cushion includes approximately half of the tucked portion, and wherein the step of folding a second half of the airbag cushion is performed after the steps of tucking a first portion of the airbag cushion and folding the tucked portion; and folding the folded first and second halves of the airbag cushion into the housing.