US Patent 7000944 Inflatable windshield curtain

Apparatus (10) for helping to protect an occupant of a vehicle (12) includes an inflatable vehicle occupant protection device (14) and an inflator (70). The protection device (14) is inflatable from a stored position along a forward edge (62) of a vehicle roof (40) to a deployed position overlying the windshield (50). The protection device (14) while in the deployed position covers the windshield (50) from an A pillar (30) on a driver side (20) of the vehicle (12) to an A pillar of a passenger side (22) of the vehicle and from an upper edge (56) of the windshield to a position near a lower edge (58) of the windshield. The protection device (14) while deployed also covers the driver and passenger side A pillars (30).