Air bag with uninflated pocket

Abstract

An inflatable vehicle occupant protection device (14) is provided for being inflated with inflation fluid towards a seat (22) of the vehicle (12). The protection device includes a front portion (70) presented towards the vehicle seat (22) and helping to define an inflatable volume (54). The front portion (70) includes a pair of extensions (344, 444) overlaid on one another and interconnected to form a pocket (100) defining a collapsed volume (120) outside the inflatable volume (54). The pocket (100) extends horizontally across the front portion (70) and towards the inflatable volume (54). A tether (500) has a first end portion (502) secured to both interconnected extensions (344, 444) and a second end portion (504) secured to a portion of the protection device such that the size of the pocket (100) remains larger than a predetermined amount when the protection device is fully inflated.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.