Airbag Assembly

An instrument-panel assembly includes an instrument panel 34, an airbag housing 36 supported by the instrument panel, an airbag 38 supported by the housing, and a rotatable connection 40 rotatably supporting the housing on the instrument panel. The instrument panel extends along a longitudinal axis (L, figure 1). The rotatable connection is rotatable about a rotational axis (R) transverse to the longitudinal axis. The assembly may further comprise a spring 68 coupled to the housing and the instrument panel, said spring either being spaced from the rotatable connection or mounted about the rotatable connection (figure 4A). An airbag assembly comprising a housing provided with a rotatable connection and a spring, but not necessarily located in an instrument panel is also claimed. In a further embodiment the airbag assembly has a casing (50, figure 5A) connected to the housing by means of two bolts (78) which are releasably fixed in two slots (76), thus allowing the housing to rotate about one of the bolts (figure 5B). In the event of an oblique impact the rotatable connection allows the airbag to rotate and thus absorb some of the lateral momentum of an occupant striking the airbag.