Appeal No. 2006-1546
Application No. 09/974,262
deployed into a vehicle compartment through an opening resulting
from the breaking of a cover member mounted on a steering wheel.
(Specification, page 1, lines 5-8).
Further details regarding this subject matter are set forth
in representative independent claims 1 and 7 which read as
follows:
1. An air bag device for a vehicle comprising:
an air bag module including an air bag and an inflator
connected to each other,
a module-supporting member mounted at a central portion of
a steering wheel for supporting said air bag module,
a cover member slidably supported on the module-supporting
member to cover said air bag module,
a switch which operates when the cover member is pushed and
slid relative to the module-supporting member,
groove-shaped tear lines formed in an inner surface of the
cover member, so that said air bag, as expanded by a high-
pressure gas generated by said inflator upon collision of the
vehicle breaks the cover member along the tear lines to deploy
into a passenger compartment of the vehicle, and
said cover member has at least one independent ridge
integrally formed on the inner surface thereof astride at least
one of the tear lines, said at least one ridge having a width
which is substantially equal to or larger than the width of said
one tear line over a major portion in the lengthwise direction
of the ridge.
7. A cover member for an air bag device disposed with a
steering wheel having an activating switch provided therewith,
the air bag device including an air bag module having an air bag
and an inflator connected to each other, and a module-supporting
2
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