Airbag device for a front passenger seat

An airbag device for a front passenger seat adapted to be mounted on an instrument panel of a vehicle in front of a front passenger seat, the airbag device comprising a housing adapted to be disposed in the instrument panel and an airbag housed in the housing in a folded-up configuration and being inflatable with an inflation gas for rearward deployment, the airbag comprising:

• a main inflatable section deployable rearward out of the housing and comprising a rear plane that forms a front-collision arresting face for protecting a head of a passenger in the event of a frontal collision of the vehicle;
• an auxiliary inflatable section that is deployable on a left or right side of the main inflatable section;
• a protruding inflatable section that is deployable at the rear of the auxiliary inflatable section in such a manner as to protrude further rearward than the main inflatable section, the protruding inflatable section comprising a near-side wall that rises rearward out of the front-collision arresting face and faces towards the front-collision arresting face at airbag deployment and a far-side wall that is opposed to the near-side wall at airbag deployment, the near-side wall forming an oblique-collision arresting face for protecting the head of the passenger as he moves diagonally forward in the event of an oblique collision or an offset collision of the vehicle;
• an arresting recess that is formed between the front-collision arresting face and the oblique-collision arresting face in such a manner as to be recessed forward for receiving and arresting the head of the passenger;
• a recess-pulling tether that joints, in an interior of the airbag, a leading end of the arresting recess and a front end portion of the airbag as deployed in order to deploy the arresting recess generally along a moving direction of the head of the passenger moving diagonally forward;
• and
• a regulating tether that prevents a rear end portion of the protruding inflatable section from drawing away from the main inflatable section when the head of the passenger is caught in the arresting recess at airbag deployment, the regulating tether extending from the leading end of the arresting recess towards the far-side wall of the protruding inflatable section and jointing the leading end of the arresting recess and the far-side wall of the protruding inflatable section, wherein a position of a joint of the regulating tether to the far-side wall is such a position that would produce a pulling force which pulls the protruding inflatable section towards a rear portion of the main inflatable section when the arresting recess catches the head of the passenger and the leading end of the arresting recess moves forward.