Patent ID: 7210700

Claim:
An inflatable restraint apparatus having a deployable airbag, the apparatus comprising: an interior panel; an airbag deployment door formed in the interior panel and designed to break free from the interior panel upon deployment of the airbag; an airbag chute suitably supported behind the deployment door and directing deployment of the airbag outwardly towards the deployment door; a metal hinge connecting the airbag chute and the deployment door, the hinge including a first hinge portion connected to the deployment door, a second hinge portion adjacent to the air bag chute and a third hinge portion connected to the air bag chute, the hinge having a first transition area and a second transition area independent of one another, the first transition area interconnecting the first hinge portion and the second hinge portion, the second transition area being spaced inwardly from the first transition area and the deployment door and interconnecting the second hinge portion to the third hinge portion; the first transition area structured to promote rotation of the first hinge portion relative to the second hinge portion; the second transition area structured to promote outward translation of the second hinge portion relative to the third hinge portion without significant rotation of the second hinge portion relative to the third hinge portion; and the deployment door first moving outwardly and then rotating upon deployment of the airbag.