Air bag tether release assembly

An air bag assembly for cushioning restraint of an occupant in a vehicle during an impact event, the air bag assembly comprising:

• a housing having an interior and an exterior and including at least one vent opening disposed between the interior and the exterior;
• an inflator disposed within the housing, the inflator including at least one gas outlet opening and being activatable to discharge inflation gas upon the occurrence of predetermined vehicle conditions;
• an inflatable air bag cushion in fluid communication with the inflator such that upon discharge of inflation gas from the inflator the air bag cushion is inflated to a deployed state;
• at least one profile restraining tethering element operatively connected to the air bag cushion, the tethering element further being releasably anchored at a first anchor location within the housing and fixedly anchored at least at a second anchor location;
• and
• a displaceable vent blocking element selectively moveable in response to predetermined occupant conditions to establish a gas blocking barrier between said at least one gas outlet opening in the inflator and said at least one vent opening in the housing, the vent blocking element comprising a leading edge projecting in the direction of movement along the inflator and a wall portion normally disposed adjacent to an end wall of the housing, the wall portion of the displaceable vent blocking element including at least one slotted opening therein for acceptance of a stationary pin element extending inwardly into the housing, the stationary pin element being adapted to extend through a loop element operatively connected to said at least one profile restraining tethering element such that the loop element is normally held over the stationary pin element between the wall portion of the displaceable vent blocking element and said end wall of the housing such that upon movement of the displaceable vent blocking element away from said end wall the stationary pin element is disengaged from said at least one slotted opening within the wall portion of the displaceable vent blocking element whereby the loop element may be pulled away from the stationary pin element as tension is applied to said at least one profile restraining tethering element.

An air bag assembly for cushioning restraint of an occupant in a vehicle during an impact event, the air bag assembly comprising:

• a housing having an interior and an exterior and including at least one vent opening disposed between the interior and the exterior;
• an inflator disposed within the housing, the inflator including at least one gas outlet opening and being activatable to discharge inflation gas upon the occurrence of predetermined vehicle conditions;
• an inflatable air bag cushion in fluid communication with the inflator such that upon discharge of inflation gas from the inflator the air bag cushion is inflated to a deployed state;
• at least one profile restraining tethering element operatively connected to the air bag cushion, the tethering element further being releasably anchored at a first anchor location within the housing and fixedly anchored at a second anchor location;
• and
• a displaceable vent blocking element selectively moveable in response to predetermined occupant conditions to establish a gas blocking barrier between said at least one gas outlet opening in the inflator and said at least one vent opening in the housing, wherein the vent blocking element blocking element is operatively connected to a pin element including a leg portion projecting towards an end wall of the housing, a stationary box channel element being affixed at the end wall of the housing and extending inwardly into the housing in the direction of movement of the displaceable vent blocking element, an expansible clip element being operatively connected to said at least one profile restraining tethering element and adapted to be inserted into the stationary box channel element such that upon insertion of the expansible clip element into the stationary box channel element a pin accepting opening within the expansible clip element is disposed in alignment with an aperture within the stationary box channel element in substantial alignment with the leg portion of the pin element projecting towards the end wall of the housing, the leg portion of the pin element being normally disposed through the aligned aperture within the stationary box channel element and the pin accepting opening within the expansible clip element such that a pair of hooked legs extending away from the pin accepting opening are normally spread in locking relation beneath the stationary box channel element such that the expansible clip element is normally held within the stationary box channel element and such that upon movement of the displaceable vent blocking element away from said end wall, the leg portion of the pin element is disengaged from the expansible clip element and the expansible clip element may be pulled away from the stationary box channel element as tension is applied to said at least one profile restraining tethering element.

An air bag assembly for cushioning restraint of an occupant in a vehicle during an impact event, the air bag assembly comprising:

• a housing having an interior and an exterior and including at least one vent opening disposed between the interior and the exterior;
• an inflator disposed within the housing, the inflator including at least one gas outlet opening and being activatable to discharge inflation gas upon the occurrence of predetermined vehicle conditions;
• an inflatable air bag cushion in fluid communication with the inflator such that upon discharge of inflation gas from the inflator the air bag cushion is inflated to a deployed state;
• at least one profile restraining tethering element operatively connected to the air bag cushion, the tethering element further being releasably anchored at a first anchor location within the housing and fixedly anchored at a second anchor location;
• and
• a displaceable vent blocking element selectively moveable in response to predetermined occupant conditions to establish a gas blocking barrier between said at least one gas outlet opening in the inflator and said at least one vent opening in the housing, the vent blocking element being operatively connected to an upwardly extending forked extension including a first upright bar, a cross bar projecting away from the first upright bar towards an end wall of the housing and away from the direction of movement of the displaceable vent blocking element and a second upright bar extending away from the cross bar at a location closer to the end wall than the first upright bar, the end wall including a pair of stationary pin elements extending inwardly away from the end wall in outboard relation to the forked extension, the stationary pin elements being adapted to extend through a loop element operatively connected to said at least one profile restraining tethering element such that the loop element is normally held around the stationary pin elements and over the cross bar between the first upright bar and the second upright bar such that upon movement of the displaceable vent blocking element away from said end wall the second upright bar pulls the loop element away from the stationary pin elements.

An air bag assembly for cushioning restraint of an occupant in a vehicle during an impact event, the air bag assembly comprising:

• a housing having an interior and an exterior and including at least one vent opening disposed between the interior and the exterior;
• an inflator disposed within the housing, the inflator including at least one gas outlet opening and being activatable to discharge inflation gas upon the occurrence of predetermined vehicle conditions;
• an inflatable air bag cushion in fluid communication with the inflator such that upon discharge of inflation gas from the inflator the air bag cushion is inflated to a deployed state;
• at least one profile restraining tethering element operatively connected to the air bag cushion, the tethering element further being releasably anchored at a first anchor location within the housing;
• and
• a displaceable vent blocking element selectively moveable in response to predetermined occupant conditions to establish a gas blocking barrier between said at least one gas outlet opening in the inflator and said at least one vent opening in the housing, wherein the displaceable vent blocking element is moveable in sliding relation along a side wall of the housing adjacent to said inflator.

An air bag assembly for cushioning restraint of an occupant in a vehicle during an impact event, the air bag assembly comprising:

• a housing having an interior and an exterior and including at least one vent opening disposed between the interior and the exterior;
• an inflator disposed within the housing, the inflator including at least one gas outlet opening and being activatable to discharge inflation gas upon the occurrence of predetermined vehicle conditions;
• an inflatable air bag cushion in fluid communication with the inflator such that upon discharge of inflation gas from the inflator the air bag cushion is inflated to a deployed state;
• at least one profile restraining tethering element operatively connected to the air bag cushion, the tethering element further being releasably anchored at a first anchor location within the housing;
• and
• a displaceable vent blocking element selectively moveable in response to predetermined occupant conditions to establish a gas blocking barrier between said at least one gas outlet opening in the inflator and said at least one vent opening in the housing, wherein the displaceable vent blocking element is moveable in rotating relation at least partially around said inflator in overlying relation to said at least one gas outlet opening and wherein the tethering element is concurrently released from said first anchor location within the housing and extended to an increased operative length.

An air bag assembly for cushioning restraint of an occupant in a vehicle during an impact event, the air bag assembly comprising:

• a housing having an interior and an exterior, the housing comprising at least one vent opening disposed between the interior and the exterior;
• at least one retaining stud projecting inwardly from a wall of the housing;
• an inflator disposed within the housing, the inflator including at least one gas outlet opening and being activatable to discharge inflation gas upon the occurrence of predetermined vehicle conditions;
• an inflatable air bag cushion in fluid communication with the inflator such that upon discharge of inflation gas from the inflator the air bag cushion is inflated to a deployed state;
• at least one profile restraining tethering element operatively connected to the air bag cushion, said at least one profile restraining tethering element further being releasably anchored in sliding relation over said at least one retaining stud;
• and
• a displaceable vent blocking element selectively moveable in response to predetermined occupant conditions to establish a gas blocking barrier between said at least one gas outlet opening in the inflator and said at least one vent opening in the housing, the vent blocking element being operatively connected to a carrier element, said carrier element comprising a first wall and at least a second wall in substantially opposing relation to the first wall such that a gap is disposed between the first wall and the second wall, the carrier element including an acceptance opening for acceptance of said at least one retaining stud such that said at least one retaining stud normally extends across the gap between the first wall and the second wall and wherein said at least one profile restraining tethering element is normally held over said at least one retaining stud between the first wall and the second wall so as to extend outwardly away from the carrier element through the gap, the carrier element being displaceable away from said at least one retaining stud in conjunction with displacement of the vent blocking element such that said at least one profile restraining tethering element is forcibly carried away from said at least one retaining stud substantially in conjunction with the establishment of a gas blocking barrier between said at least one gas outlet opening in the inflator and said at least one vent opening in the housing such that an increased volume of inflation gas is directed into the air bag cushion when said at least one profile restraining tethering element is displaced from said at least one retaining stud and such that said at least one profile restraining tethering element is extended to an increased operative length.