Passive restraint system for vehicle occupants

Claim 2

A confinement having an outer looped assembly comprising a series of longitudinally extending tubular looped inflatable closed compartments in side-by-side parallel relationship, said assembly being formed from a section of double woven fabric interwoven longitudinally at its edges and along spaced parallel areas between its edges, said double woven fabric being looped in such a way that the portions of said fabric which lie between the interwoven areas form said tubular looped inflatable closed compartments, and at least one inflatable closed inner compartment encircled by said outer assembly.

Claim 3

A confinement having an outer assembly comprising a series of longitudinally extending tubular looped inflatable closed compartments in side-by-side parallel relationship, said assembly being formed from a section of double woven fabric interwoven longitudinally at its edges and along spaced parallel areas between its edges, said double woven fabric being looped in such a way that the portions of said fabric which lie between the interwoven areas form said tubular looped inflatable compartments, and at least one inflatable closed inner compartment which is encircled by said outer assembly and is formed by said outer assembly and by cap portions of woven fabric which are bonded to and which extend over the looped interwoven edges of said double woven fabric, said cap portions forming the ends of said inner compartment.

Claim 4

A confinement having an outer assembly comprising a series of longitudinally extending tubular looped inflatable closed compartments in side-by-side parallel relationship, said assembly being formed from a section of double woven fabric interwoven longitudinally at its edges and along spaced parallel areas between its edges, said double woven fabric being looped in such a way that the portions of said fabric which lie between the interwoven areas form said tubular looped inflatable compartments, and at least one inflatable closed inner compartment which is encircled by said outer assembly and is formed by said outer assembly and by cap portions of woven fabric which are bonded to and which extend over the looped interwoven edges of said double woven fabric, said cap portions forming the ends of said inner compartment.

Claim 5

A confinement having an outer looped assembly comprising a series of longitudinally extending tubular looped inflatable closed compartments in side-by-side parallel relationship, said assembly being formed from a section of double woven fabric interwoven longitudinally at its edges and along spaced parallel areas between its edges, said double woven fabric being looped in such a way that the portions of said fabric which lie between the interwoven areas form said tubular looped inflatable closed compartments, and at least one inflatable closed inner compartment which is encircled by said outer assembly and is formed from a tubular object made of woven fabric which is uninterruptedly woven over its entire area encircling gas under pressure when inflated.

Claim 6

A confinement having an outer looped assembly comprising a series of longitudinally extending tubular looped inflatable closed compartments in side-by-side parallel relationship, said assembly being formed from a section of double woven fabric interwoven longitudinally at its edges and along spaced parallel areas between its edges, said double woven fabric being looped in such a way that the portions of said fabric which lie between the interwoven areas form said tubular looped inflatable closed compartments, and at least one inflatable closed inner compartment which is encircled by said outer assembly and is formed from a tubular object made of woven fabric which is uninterruptedly woven over its entire area encircling gas under pressure when inflated.

Claim 7

A confinement having an outer looped assembly comprising a series of longitudinally extending tubular looped inflatable closed compartments in side-by-side parallel relationship, said assembly being formed from a section of double woven fabric interwoven longitudinally at its edges and along spaced parallel areas between its edges, said double woven fabric being looped in such a way that the portions of the said fabric which lie between the interwoven areas form said tubular looped inflatable closed compartments, and two vertically superimposed lOngitudinally extending looped compartments encircled by said outer assembly, each of said encircled compartments being formed of a section of double woven fabric interwoven longitudinally at its edges in such a way that it forms a tubular looped compartment.

Claim 8

A confinement having an outer looped assembly comprising a series of longitudinally extending tubular looped inflatable closed compartments in side-by-side parallel relationship, said assembly being formed from a section of double woven fabric interwoven longitudinally at its edges and along spaced parallel areas between its edges, said double woven fabric being looped in such a way that the portions of the said fabric which lie between the interwoven areas form said tubular looped inflatable closed compartments, and two vertically superimposed lOngitudinally extending looped compartments encircled by said outer assembly, each of said encircled compartments being formed of a section of double woven fabric interwoven longitudinally at its edges in such a way that it forms a tubular looped compartment.

Claim 9

A safety apparatus for protecting an occupant of a vehicle during a collision, said safety apparatus comprising a confinement inflatable from a collapsed condition to an expanded condition in which said confinement is adapted to restrain movement of the occupant relative to the vehicle during a collision, said confinement having an outer looped assembly comprising a series of longitudinally extending tubular looped inflatable closed compartments in side-by-side parallel relationship, said assembly being formed from a section of double woven fabric interwoven longitudinally at its edges and along spaced parallel areas between its edges, said double woven fabric being looped in such a way that the portions of said fabric which lie between the interwoven areas form said tubular looped inflatable closed compartments, and at least one inflatable closed inner compartment encircled by said outer assembly, both ends of each of said tubular looped compartments being connected to a gas diffusor and said inner compartment or compartments also being connected to a gas diffusor.

Claim 10

A safety apparatus for protecting an occupant of a vehicle during a collision, said safety apparatus comprising a confinement inflatable from a collapsed condition to an expanded condition in which said confinement is adapted to restrain movement of the occupant relative to the vehicle during a collision, said confinement having an outer looped assembly comprising a series of longitudinally extending tubular looped inflatable closed compartments in side-by-side parallel relationship, said assembly being formed from a section of double woven fabric interwoven longitudinally at its edges and along spaced parallel areas between its edges, said double woven fabric being looped in such a way that the portions of said fabric which lie between the interwoven areas form said tubular looped inflatable closed compartments, and at least one inflatable closed inner compartment encircled by said outer assembly, both ends of each of said tubular looped compartments being connected to a gas diffusor and said inner compartment or compartments also being connected to a gas diffusor.

Claim 11

A safety apparatus for protecting an occupant of a vehicle during a collision, said safety apparatus comprising a confinement inflatable from a collapsed condition to an expanded condition in which said confinement is adapted to restrain movement of the occupant relative to the vehicle during a collision, said confinement having an outer looped assembly comprising a series of longitudinally extending tubular looped inflatable closed compartments in side-by-side parallel relationship, said assembly being formed from a section of double woven fabric interwoven longitudinally at its edges and along spaced parallel areas between its edges, said double woven fabric being looped in such a way that the portions of said fabric which lie between the interwoven areas form said tubular looped inflatable closed compartments, and at least one inflatable closed inner compartment which is encircled by said outer assembly and is formed by said outer assembly and by cap portions of woven fabric which are bonded to and which extend over the looped interwoven edges of said double woven fabric, said cap portions forming the ends of said inner compartment, both ends of said tubular looped compartments being connected to a gas diffusor and said inner compartment or compartments also being connected to a gas diffusor.

Claim 12

A safety apparatus for protecting an occupant of a vehicle during a collision, said safety apparatus comprising a confinement inflatable from a collapsed condition to an expanded condition in which said confinement is adapted to restrain movement of the occupant relative to the vehicle during a collision, said confinement having an outer looped assembly comprising a series of longitudinally extending tubular looped inflatable closed compartments in side-by-side parallel relationship, said assembly being formed from a section of double woven fabric interwoven longitudinally at its edges and along spaced parallel areas between its edges, said double woven fabric being looped in such a way that the portions of said fabric which lie between the interwoven areas form said tubular looped inflatable closed compartments, and at least one inflatable closed inner compartment which is encircled by said outer assembly and is formed by said outer assembly and by cap portions of woven fabric which are bonded to and which extend over the looped interwoven edges of said double woven fabric, said cap portions forming the ends of said inner compartment, both ends of said tubular looped compartments being connected to a gas diffusor and said inner compartment or compartments also being connected to a gas diffusor.

Claim 13

A safety apparatus for protecting an occupant of a vehicle during a collision, said safety apparatus comprising a confinement inflatable from a collapsed condition to an expanded condition in which said confinement is adapted to restrain movement of the occupant relative to the vehicle during a collision, said confinement having an outer looped assembly comprising a series of longitudinally extending tubular looped inflatable closed compartments in side-by-side parallel relationship, said assembly being formed from a section of double woven fabric interwoven longitudinally at its edges and along spaced parallel areas between its edges, said double woven fabric being looped in such a way that the portions of said fabric which lie between the interwoven areas form said tubular looped inflatable closed compartments, and at least one inflatable closed inner compartment which is encircled by said outer assembly and is formed from a tubular object made of woven fabric which is uninterruptedly woven over its entire area encircling gas under pressure when inflated, both ends of said tubular looped compartments being connected to a gas diffusor and said inner compartment or compartments also being connected to a gas diffusor.

Claim 14

A safety apparatus for protecting an occupant of a vehicle during a collision, said safety apparatus comprising a confinement inflatable from a collapsed condition to an expanded condition in which said confinement is adapted to restrain movement of the occupant relative to the vehicle during a collision, said confinement having an outer looped assembly comprising a series of longitudinally extending tubular looped inflatable closed compartments in side-by-side parallel relationship, said assembly being formed from a section of double woven fabric interwoven longitudinally at its edges and along spaced parallel areas between its edges, said double woven fabric being looped in such a way that the portions of said fabric which lie between the interwoven areas form said tubular looped inflatable closed compartments, and at least one inflatable closed inner compartment which is encircled by said outer assembly and is formed from a tubular object made of woven fabric which is uninterruptedly woven over its entire area encircling gas under pressure when inflated, both ends of said tubular looped compartments being connected to a gas diffusor and said inner compartment or compartments also being connected to a gas diffusor.

Claim 15

A safety apparatus for protecting an occupant of a vehicle during a collision, and safety apparatus comprising a confinement inflatable from a collapsed condition to an expanded condition in which said confinement is adapted to restrain movement of the occupant relative to the vehicle during a collision, said confinement having an outer looped assembly comprising a series of longitudinally extending tubular looped inflatable closed compartments in side-by-side parallel relationship, said assembly being formed from a section of double woven fabric interwoven longitudinally at its edges and along spaced parallel areas between its edges, said double woven fabric being looped in such a way that the portions of said fabric which lie between the interwoven areas form said tubular looped inflatable compartments, and two inflatable closed vertically superimposed longitudinally extending looped compartments encircled by said outer assembly, each of said encircled compartments being formed of a section of double woven fabric interwoven longitudinally at its edges in such a way that it forms a tubular looped compartment, both ends of said tubular looped compartments which constitute said outer assembly being connected to a gas diffusor and both ends of said encircled compartments also being connected to a gas diffusor.

Claim 16

A safety apparatus for protecting an occupant of a vehicle during a collision, and safety apparatus comprising a confinement inflatable from a collapsed condition to an expanded condition in which said confinement is adapted to restrain movement of the occupant relative to the vehicle during a collision, said confinement having an outer looped assembly comprising a series of longitudinally extending tubular looped inflatable closed compartments in side-by-side parallel relationship, said assembly being formed from a section of double woven fabric interwoven longitudinally at its edges and along spaced parallel areas between its edges, said double woven fabric being looped in such a way that the portions of said fabric which lie between the interwoven areas form said tubular looped inflatable compartments, and two inflatable closed vertically superimposed longitudinally extending looped compartments encircled by said outer assembly, each of said encircled compartments being formed of a section of double woven fabric interwoven longitudinally at its edges in such a way that it forms a tubular looped compartment, both ends of said tubular looped compartments which constitute said outer assembly being connected to a gas diffusor and both ends of said encircled compartments also being connected to a gas diffusor.