Shoulder airbag and method of controlling deployment thereof

A shoulder airbag comprising:

• a collision detection sensor configured to detect a collision direction of a vehicle;
• an airbag cushion including chambers configured to be inflated and deployed to cover a front portion, a side portion, and an upper portion of each of shoulders of an occupant;
• a controller configured to variably control an amount of inflation of each of the chambers covering the front portion, the side portion, and the upper portion of each of the shoulders of the occupant based on the collision direction of the vehicle when a collision accident occurs;
• a tether provided in each of the chambers that extends in at least one direction to regulate a deployment shape of each of the chambers, respectively;
• and
• a tether release device configured to selectively release the tether in response to a signal received from the controller,
• wherein each of the chambers is selectively inflated while being expanded in a release direction of the tether in response to the release of the tether for the chamber.

A method of controlling deployment of a shoulder airbag, the method comprising:

• detecting, by an occupant detection sensor, a posture and a body type of an occupant sitting in a seat;
• and
• variably controlling, by a controller, an amount of inflation of an airbag cushion, the airbag cushion including chambers that are deployed to cover a front portion, a side portion, and an upper portion of each of shoulders of the occupant, the amount of inflation being controlled based on occupant information determined from the posture and the body type of the occupant when a vehicle collision accident occurs,
• wherein the shoulder airbag comprises:
• a tether provided in each of the chambers that extend in at least one direction to regulate a deployment shape of the chambers;
• and
• a tether release device configured to selectively release the tether in response to a signal received from the controller and cause each of the chambers to be selectively inflated while being expanded in a release direction of the tether.