Air bag tether construction

Abstract

The present invention relates to air bag tethers and to a pattern-wise arrangement of such tethers in relation to air bag panels on a fabric blank, thus resulting in increased fabric utilization per tether and an overall cost savings per finished air bag. The air bag tether system of the present invention is comprised of two congruent tether panels that are joined to one another and to a respective air bag panel. In a preferred embodiment, the tether panel that is attached to the face panel of the air bag is cut in alignment with the warp and the fill of the fabric blank, while the rear tether panel that is attached to the rear panel of the air bag is cut on the bias with respect to the warp and the fill of the fabric blank. The two tether panels are then connected to one another to form a functional tether system. This two-piece construction, with one bias-cut piece, decreases the amount of fabric that is used in the manufacture of the air bag and tethers, while providing sufficient elongation for the tether system to be functional.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . Apparatus comprising: 
 an airbag cushion having a tether system;    wherein said airbag cushion may contain a volume of at least 52 Liters of gas in an inflated state and wherein a burst pressure of said airbag cushion is at least about 13 Psi, and wherein less that 1.69 square yards of fabric are used to manufacture said airbag cushion.    
     
     
         2 . The apparatus set forth in  claim 1 , wherein 1.42 square yards of fabric or less are used to manufacture said airbag cushion.  
     
     
         3 . The apparatus set forth in  claim 1 , wherein 1.36 square yards of fabric or less are used to manufacture said airbag cushion.  
     
     
         4 . The apparatus set forth in  claim 1 , wherein said tether system comprises at least two tether panels.  
     
     
         5 . The apparatus set forth in  claim 1 , wherein said burst pressure is at least about 13 Psi.  
     
     
         6 . Apparatus comprising: 
 an airbag cushion having a tether system, and wherein the ratio between gas volume in liters and the fabric usage in square yards of fabric is at least about 31:1.    
     
     
         7 . The apparatus set forth in  claim 5 , wherein said ratio is between about 38.2:1 and 36.7:1.  
     
     
         8 . The apparatus set forth in  claim 5 , wherein said airbag cushion has a burst pressure of at least 13 Psi.  
     
     
         9 . The apparatus set forth in  claim 5 , wherein said airbag cushion has a burst pressure of at least 23 Psi.