Abstract: An inflatable protective cushion (air bag) for use in an automotive vehicle. The cushion in its folded condition is of substantially quadrilateral configuration and includes superposed congruent impact surfaces joined to each other along their longitudinal margins and, along their lateral margins, by side surfaces folded inwardly. The cushion is made from no more than two flat blanks cut from web material with little or no waste.

Abstract: A covering for a folded gas cushion which is adapted to fold open by pivoting down, and which is provided with a reinforcement embedded in a padding layer; the reinforcement consists of a very strong synthetic plastic fabric that, prior to the foaming of the padding layer, is connected, for example, by gluing with a deformable lower fastening part; an anchoring for the covering is produced by a groove- and spring-like cooperation of at least one section of a boundary edge of the covering with an adjoining fixed vehicle part.

Abstract: An impact absorbing device constructed as a hollow body member and extending in a vehicle transverse direction within in an impact area of knees of a driver and co-driver of a motor vehicle. The impact absorbing device has an impact engaging surface facing the knees, with the surface having a rounded-off cross sectional profile and vertically extending corrugations so that the member yields only locally upon engagement by the knees.

Abstract: An airbag system for protecting the occupants of an automotive vehicle during collisions, the airbag system including airbags for the driver and front-seat passenger, and a sensor system for detecting the increase in deceleration of the vehicle during a collision and for triggering controlled inflation of the airbags in accordance with the detected increase in deceleration. The airbag associated with the front-seat passenger being inflatable in two stages, the first inflation stage being triggerable in response to an output signal from the sensor system generated when the detected increase in deceleration is equal to or greater than a first threshold value, and the second inflation stage being triggerable in response to an output signal from the sensor system generated when the detected increase is equal to or greater than a second threshold value which is higher than the first threshold value.

Abstract: An inflatable impact cushion for passengers of a motor vehicle, which in case of an accident is adapted to be selectively filled with the available gas by the increasing pressure by means of several sequentially triggerable ignition stages depending on the strength of the deceleration; in the starting condition, a portion of the protective cushion is separated off by a seam or the like, while the seam or the like is destroyed by the increasing pressure in such a manner that in the end condition the entire volume of the protective cushion is available.

Abstract: A sensor triggerable by deceleration forces, especially in motor vehicles, which accommodates within a housing a mass that is held with prestress; when deflected the mass is received by the bottom of the housing interior, whereby the interior space of the housing is subdivided into chambers by means of upwardly projecting partition walls which hold fast the deflected mass.