Patent ID: 8020888

Claim:
A post-deployment position-stabilized curtain airbag for installation in a vehicle to protect an occupant in case of side impact or rollover, the airbag comprising: (a) an inflatable passenger safety cushion supportable at a top edge thereof interior of the vehicle for deployment into the passenger compartment of the vehicle between the occupant and the occupant enclosure, the safety cushion has a rear portion with a cushion chamber deploying toward the rear of the passenger compartment and a forward portion remote therefrom; (b) a fill chamber secured to the top edge of the safety cushion in fluid communication therewith, the fill chamber directing pressurized gas from an inflator into the safety cushion to effect deployment thereof; and (c) an inflatable structural member mechanically connected to the safety cushion, the structural member being disposable upon installation in the vehicle for deployment into the passenger compartment between the deployed safety cushion and the occupant enclosure using pressurized gas directed from the fill chamber through the cushion chamber and enters the structural member through an auxiliary passageway communicating with the cushion chamber of the safety cushion, the deployed structural member serving to limit outboard displacement of the deployed safety cushion.