Air bag device for side collision of automobile

Claim 1

An airbag apparatus for lateral collision of an automobile, comprising: an inflator having a discharging hole at a side face thereof, the inflator being adapted to discharge a gas from the discharging hole during a lateral collision; an airbag accommodating the inflator, the airbag being adapted to be spread forward in a generally L-shaped configuration, the airbag having a head protecting portion and a chest protecting portion, the chest protecting portion receiving directly the gas discharged from the inflator; and a partition cloth provided inside the airbag, the partition cloth separating the airbag into the head protecting portion and the chest protecting portion, the partition cloth comprising: a rear end defining one vent hole; a remaining portion, except for the rear end, the remaining portion being totally closed off so that, during the lateral collision, the gas is introduced from the chest protecting portion to the head protecting portion only through said one vent hole, the rear end positioned in a vicinity of a shoulder of a vehicle occupant, and the partition cloth extends forward at a downward angle relative to a perpendicular direction to the longitudinal direction of the inflator; and a width-restricting cloth connecting left and right faces of the airbag in the chest protecting portion to restrict an expansion of the airbag in left and right directions thereof, wherein said width-restricting cloth extends forward at a first downward angle relative to said perpendicular direction, wherein said partition cloth extends forward at a second downward angel relative to the perpendicular direction, and wherein the first downward angle is larger than the second downward angle.