Reinforced foldable airbag lid

Claim 1

In an automobile including an airbag system having an airbag which inflates and expands toward a passenger seat through an opening formed in an instrument panel disposed below a front windshield glass so as to restrain and protect a passenger upon an occurrence of a collision, and an airbag lid, disposed in said opening and hinged at an upper portion thereof to a housing for said airbag so as to be flipped upward by said airbag as said airbag inflates and expands, the improvement comprising: a base plate included in said airbag lid; weakened means, defined by said base plate, for causing said airbag lid to bend and be folded in two when said airbag lid hits the front windshield glass due to an impact; and reinforcing means, mounted on said airbag lid in close proximity to said weakened means, for reinforcing said airbag lid and providing said airbag lid with an increased rigidity; wherein said weakened means comprises a transverse brittle strip portion formed between upper and lower half portions of said base plate, said transverse brittle strip portion being more brittle than a major portion of said airbag lid, said transverse brittle strip portion includes an elongated slit formed in said base plate, and said reinforcing means further comprises a plurality of brackets disposed transversely at opposite ends of said transverse brittle strip portion and each being secured to said base plate on vertically opposite sides of said transverse brittle strip portion so as to extend in a direction spatially intersecting said transverse brittle strip portion, at least one of said brackets being formed with a transverse brittle portion by means of which said at least one of said brackets easily bends following bending of said airbag lid.