Inflatable restraint system with gas augmentation

Claim 1

An air bag assembly comprising: an inflatable air bag having a central opening; a thrust neutral inflator for generating pressure gas and having a cylindrical casing with a plurality of diametrically opposed gas discharge holes for discharging the gas in diametrically opposed directions to inflate the air bag; a reaction canister housing the inflator and having a part-cylindrical bottom wall terminating in upstanding side walls and including end walls closing the ends of the side and bottom walls, and the inflator being mounted on the end walls, and the side and end walls defining a canister gas discharge opening remote from the inflator and having the central opening of the air bag mating therewith so that gas discharged from the inflator travels upwardly through the canister and out through the canister discharge opening into the air bag via the central opening; a plurality of aspiration holes continuously communicable with ambient air and located in the reaction canister side walls adjacent the gas discharge holes of the inflator such that gas discharged from the inflator is directed at the aspiration holes; and a cylindrical baffle which is mounted in the canister surrounding the inflator and remote and separate from the canister discharge opening and the air bag, the baffle being interposed directly between the inflator and the aspiration holes in the reaction canister side walls to prevent discharging inflator gas from communicating out through the aspiration holes to the ambient air, the baffle being spaced from the inflator and the aspiration holes and having a baffle outlet to direct gas discharged from the inflator away from the aspiration holes and upwardly through the canister and out through the canister discharge opening and into the air bag so that the baffle provides directional thrust from the thrust neutral inflator to enable the use of a thrust neutral inflator with a canister having a plurality of aspiration holes for ambient air aspiration, whereby upon air bag deployment, the directional thrust creates a pressure drop around the baffle such that ambient air is aspirated in through the aspiration holes to augment the volume of gas delivered to the air bag by the inflator.