Knieairbag und Schutzsystem für die Beine des Passagiers

摘要

To provide a knee airbag to be inflated vertically and laterally quickly and an occupant's leg protection system including the knee airbag. The upper part of a knee airbag (18) constitutes an equal-width portion (26) of which the lateral width is substantially equal across a predetermined vertical width. The part of the knee airbag (18) lower than the equal-width portion (26) constitutes a narrow-width portion (28) of which the lateral width is narrower at the lower part. The knee airbag (18) has therein upper and lower tethers (30 and 32) that connect the front surface (18a) and the rear surface (18b) in multistages. The upper tether (30) is disposed in the vicinity of the boundary between the equal-width portion (26) and the narrow-width portion (28) or above the boundary. The tethers (30 and 32) extend continuously in the lateral directions. Vent spaces (V) are formed between the respective lateral ends of the tethers (30 and 32) and the lateral edges of the knee airbag (18), respectively (Fig. 2).