ALEXANDRIA, Va., Oct. 8 -- United States Patent no. 12,434,658, issued on Oct. 7, was assigned to Ford Global Technologies LLC (Dearborn, Mich.).
"Downwardly inflatable vehicle airbag" was invented by Mohammad Omar Faruque (Ann Arbor, Mich.), S. M. Iskander Farooq (Novi, Mich.) and Dean M. Jaradi (Macomb, Mich.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An airbag assembly includes an uninflatable segment having a top end. The airbag assembly includes an airbag segment inflatable to an inflated position. The airbag segment is supported by the uninflatable segment in the inflated position. A conduit segment is fixed to the uninflatable segment and defines a gas passageway in fluid communication with the ai...