Patent ID: 7357412

Claim:
A vehicle seat assembly, comprising: a frame for mounting the seat assembly to a vehicle; a seat pad proximate the frame; a trim cover disposed over the seat pad and including a seam adjacent a side of the seat pad; an airbag assembly, including an airbag and an inflator configured to supply gas to the airbag, thereby facilitating deployment of the airbag, the airbag assembly further including a housing at least partially surrounding the airbag prior to the deployment of the airbag, the housing including a front generally oriented toward a front of the seat assembly, and a side adjacent a side of the trim cover, the side of the housing including a frangible portion disposed to facilitate deployment of the airbag along a deployment path; and a pad shield covering at least a portion of the seat pad and including a first portion sandwiched between the seat pad and the side of the trim cover such that the deployment path for the airbag is formed between the first portion of the pad shield and the side of the trim cover.