Air bag for vehicle safety device

Claim 1

A safety air bag device, for installation behind a dash panel of an automotive vehicle, comprising: a housing having an opening provided behind the dash panel; a gas generator installed in said housing for generating a pressurized gas when the automotive vehicle undergoes a collision; and an air bag, including a pair of opposite side portions and a pair of upper and lower surfaces extending between said opposite side portions, installed in said housing and inflatable by the pressurized gas generated by said gas generator to expand through the opening in the housing and into an interior of the automotive vehicle so that a width of said air bag is larger than a width of the opening, said air bag being folded first, in zigzag fashion, into lengthwise pleat-folds extending in a lengthwise direction of said air bag, each of said opposite side portions of said air bag including a plurality of said lengthwise pleat-folds located between said upper and lower surfaces, said lengthwise pleat-folds reducing the width of said air bag so that it is almost equal to a transverse width of the opening when said air bag is deflated and flattened, said air bag then being folded into a plurality of transverse pleat-folds disposed between a rear end of said air bag and a front end of said air bag, each of said transverse pleat-folds extending in a transverse direction, and completely across one of the upper and lower surfaces, of said air bag.

Claim 6

A method of folding an air bag, including a pair of opposite side portions and a pair of upper and lower surfaces extending between said opposite side portions, into a housing having an opening formed in a dash panel of an automotive vehicle, said air bag being inflatable by pressurized gas from a gas generator and expandable through the opening so that a width of the air bag is larger than a width of the opening, said method comprising the steps of: folding each of said pair of opposite side portions of the air bag, in zigzag fashion, into a plurality of lengthwise pleat-folds located between said upper and lower surfaces so as to reduce the width of the air bag so that it is almost equal to a transverse width of the opening when the air bag is deflated and flattened; and folding the air bag into a plurality of transverse pleat-folds disposed between a rear end of said air bag and a front end of said air bag so that each of said transverse pleat-folds extends in a transverse direction, and completely across one of the upper and lower surfaces, of said air bag.

Claim 7

A method of folding an air bag, including a pair of opposite side portions and a pair of upper and lower surfaces extending between said opposite side portions, into a housing having an opening formed in a dash panel of an automotive vehicle, said air bag being inflatable by pressurized gas from a gas generator and expandable through the opening so that a width of the air bag is larger than a width of the opening, said method comprising the steps of: folding each of said pair of opposite side portions of the air bag, in zigzag fashion, into a plurality of lengthwise pleat-folds located between said upper and lower surfaces so as to reduce the width of the air bag so that it is almost equal to a transverse width of the opening when the air bag is deflated and flattened; and folding the air bag into a plurality of transverse pleat-folds disposed between a rear end of said air bag and a front end of said air bag so that each of said transverse pleat-folds extends in a transverse direction, and completely across one of the upper and lower surfaces, of said air bag.