Inflatable trim panel assembly for safety restraint systems

A trim panel assembly (20) adapted for use in a passenger compartment of a motor vehicle, comprising;

• a skin member (24) secured to a support member (22) to define an enclosed volume therebetween;
• and
• inflator means (26) for supplying gas to cause the skin member to expand, the skin member mounted generally forward of the position of the knees of a seated occupant with the passenger compartment, the skin member partitioned by tether means for controlling the inflated shape of the skin member to receive a respective knee or lower leg portion, the tether means and the skin member cooperating so that the expanded shape of the skin member has an inflated center part and two inflated end parts, each end part and the center part linked by an inflatable, tethered section of lesser depth which creates a respective ualley therebetween for a respective knee or lower leg portion.
• 2.The trim panel assembly of claim 1 wherein the tether means comprises a tether (28) secured between the support member and the skin member.