Patent ID: 7774115

Claim:
An airbag system in or for a vehicle having a plurality of occupant seats, comprising a plurality of airbag modules, each located at an associated occupant seat and positioned to protect an occupant of the associated seat from injury in the event of a crash of the vehicle, each airbag module comprising an airbag, an inflator for delivering gas into the airbag to inflate the airbag, and an electronics unit for activating the inflator, a control module located separate and apart from the airbag modules for determining that a vehicle crash has occurred and transmitting a deployment signal to each electronics unit in response to the crash determination to activate each inflator to inflate its associated airbag; and wherein each electronics unit has an assigned address and the control module is arranged to transmit the deployment signal to each electronics unit based on the address assigned to the electronics units; wherein each electronics unit is configured to respond to the deployment signal directed to it using its address by activating its associated inflator; and wherein the inflator of at least one of the airbag modules comprises: a gas generator that produces the pressurized gas to inflate the associated airbag, and an aspiration mechanism that combines gas from the passenger compartment with the pressurized gas from the gas generator and directs the combined flow of gas into the associated airbag, the aspiration mechanism comprises: a nozzle ending at a mixing chamber, the pressurized gas flowing from the gas generator through the nozzle into the mixing chamber, and an aspiration inlet port, the gas from the passenger compartment flowing through the aspiration inlet port into the mixing chamber, the nozzle is arranged relative to the aspiration inlet port such that only the pressurized gas from the gas generator flows through the nozzle and the pressurized gas is mixed with the gas from the passenger compartment only after the pressurized gas exits from the nozzle.