Dual volume air bag

An apparatus for helping to protect an occupant of a vehicle, the apparatus comprising:

• an inflatable vehicle occupant protection device having a deflated condition and an inflated condition;
• a first tether having a first segment comprising an anchor tether that is secured to the vehicle and a second segment comprising a trigger tether;
• a second tether comprising a shaping tether secured to a portion of the protection device;
• a releasable connection that connects the second tether to the first tether at a location on the first tether where the segments meet;
• an actuatable device that secures the trigger tether to the vehicle so that the trigger tether becomes tensioned by the shaping tether due to deployment of the protection device, the trigger tether when tensioned rupturing the releasable connection which disconnects the shaping tether from the anchor tether and thereby permits the portion of the protection device to deploy uninhibited;
• the actuatable device being actuatable to release the trigger tether so that the releasable connection maintains the connection between the anchor tether and the shaping tether, the anchor tether and shaping tether in combination restricting deployment of the portion of the protection device.

An apparatus for helping to protect an occupant of a vehicle, the apparatus comprising:

• an inflatable vehicle occupant protection device having a deflated condition and an inflated condition;
• an adaptive tether for selectively shaping the air bag;
• a vent for selectively releasing inflation fluid from the air bag, the vent comprising a vent tether for actuating the vent;
• and
• an actuatable device that secures the adaptive tether and the vent tether to the vehicle, the actuatable device being selectively actuatable to place the protection device in one of three different inflated conditions.