Patent ID: 7011337

Claim:
An occupant restraint system comprising: an airbag for placement in a folded state along an upper edge of a door opening of a vehicle body; and an inflator that is adapted to generate a gas when the vehicle is involved in a collision, the gas inflating the airbag so that it is deployed into a curtain shape along an inner face of a side of an occupant compartment; and a gas supply pipe for routing gas from the inflator into the interior of the airbag in the event of a collision, the gas supply pipe having a first diameter; wherein the airbag comprises stitching defining a plurality of separate inflatable cells and a gas communication passage, the gas communication passage is formed from a part of said stitching so as to extend along the upper edge of the airbag, the gas communication passage having an inlet portion which receives said gas supply pipe therethrough and openings which communicate with the plurality of separate inflatable cells, and the gas communication passage having a second diameter significantly larger than said first diameter, a pipe support is formed from a part of said stitching at a longitudinally intermediate portion of said gas communication passage spaced apart from said inlet portion of said gas communication passage, including an upper pipe support portion extending significantly downwardly from the part of the stitching forming the gas communication passage and a lower pipe support portion extending significantly upwardly from the part of the stitching forming the gas communication passage so that the gas supply pipe is clamped between the upper and lower pipe support portions, a portion of the gas supply pipe is supported by the pipe support, and each of said cells includes an opening in communication with said gas supply pipe via the gas communication passage in said folded state of the airbag.