Regulation of pressure in automotive airbags

Claim 1

An airbag module housing containing an uninflated airbag stored in said housing, means in said housing to inflate said airbag by gases under pressure and means to relieve excess pressure in said housing, said means comprising a valve located in a wall of said housing and formed entirely of material from said housing, said valve comprising: a slug having a shape derided by a slit punched in said housing, said slit starting at a first point on said housing and terminating at a second point on said housing, the area between said first point and said second point being unpunched, defining an unpunched valve-connecting leg in said housing, and a pair of slots adjacent to said first point and to said second point, said pair of slots being punched in said housing whereby when the pressure in said housing needs to be relieved during deployment of said bag, said slug bends outwardly from said housing along a hinge formed in said valve-connecting leg between said first point and said second point to create an aperture for the outward flow of gas from within said housing.