A vehicle seat part has a cover with a tear seam and an airbag module with an airbag and a force concentrator. The force concentrator partially surrounds the airbag. The concentrator has two end regions connected to the cover adjacent to and on opposing sides of the tear seam. One of the end regions is connected to the cover at a plurality of connecting portions spaced apart from one another.

A vehicle seat includes an airbag and a concentrator strap that facilitates simplified assembly and enhanced airbag performance. The concentrator strap includes an attachment feature that cooperates with a corresponding feature of the seat frame in a manner that reduces cost, cycle time, and assembly errors. The concentrator strap extends over the airbag module and into an attachment opening, where an attachment tab engages the seat frame. The concentrator strap can be pre-attached to a seat cover and extended to engage the seat frame after the seat cover is partially installed over the seat frame, as the attachment tab can be configured for engagement without the need for special tools.

An easy-to-attach clip member that makes the surroundings of a stay cloth mounting portion compact while maintaining high airbag deployment performance, and an airbag module-equipped seat with the clip member are provided. A clip member is connected to a cloth-form body that transmits a tensile force. The clip member includes a connecting portion connected to one end of the cloth-form body, and a groove engaged with an edge portion of a mounted portion. The clip member is provided to reduce a torque generated at the connecting portion by the tensile force transmitted from the cloth-form body when engaged with the edge portion of the mounted portion, and connects the cloth-form body to the mounted portion.

A system of controlling various actuators associated with human support surfaces is disclosed. Such a system is made up of a support surface, a controller, and an actuator. The system may optionally include batteries, a means of charging the batteries, and a graphical user interface as well as a communication link between the graphical user interface and the support surfaces. The actuators are capable of altering contour and/or firmness, of a support surface, they may be vibrational or heating/cooling in nature, and they may also alter the overall relative position of a support surface to another support surface, and/or to the ground plane.

A vehicle seat provided with a side airbag device including: a side airbag that is stored within a side portion of a seat back, and that receives gas supplied from an inflator so as to inflate and deploy at a side of a seated vehicle occupant; seat back upholstery that forms upholstery for the seat back, and in which a burst line portion, which is a seam portion, ruptures when it receives inflation pressure from the side airbag, and in which a three-way junction is formed in a seam portion as a result of a seam portion that branches off from the burst line portion being provided; and reinforcement fabric that is joined to both a portion of the burst line portion that bridges an intersection point of the three-way junction and a seat back frame, and that stretches when it receives inflation pressure from the side airbag.

A side airbag device that is stowed inside a vehicle seat and protects an occupant seated in the seat, including an airbag that restrains the occupant by expanding and deploying, and an inflator that supplies expansion gas to the airbag. The airbag includes a pre-push chamber that contains the inflator inside and deploys mainly on the occupant side (inside), and a main chamber that is connected to the pre-push chamber and deploys mainly toward the front of the vehicle. When the airbag is in the stowed state, the pre-push chamber forms the first folded part and the main chamber forms the second folded part. At the portion where the first folded part and the second folded part overlap, a sewn part joins the first folded part and at least a portion of the pre-chamber, and the sewn part is configured to break during deployment of the airbag.

An occupant protection apparatus includes: a vehicle seat arranged in an inner space of a side wall of a vehicle; a side airbag device provided in the side wall or the vehicle seat and including a side airbag to be inflated and deployed between the side wall and the vehicle seat. The vehicle seat includes: a pressure-receiving portion to receive a load from an occupant seated on the vehicle seat; and a frame to support the pressure-receiving portion. The occupant protection apparatus further comprising an electronic control circuit configured to perform moving the pressure-receiving portion so that the occupant is pushed away from the side wall before the occupant comes into contact with the side airbag at an activation time when the side airbag device is activated by an impact acting on the side wall from an outside of the vehicle and the side airbag is inflated and deployed.

To reduce an amount of rear protrusion of a vehicle seat equipped with an airbag module configured to deploy rearward, in a vehicle seat (1) provided with a seat cushion (3) and a seat back (4), the seat back includes: a seat back frame (7) including a pair of left and right side frames (11) extending in a vertical direction and an upper frame (12) connecting upper ends of the side frames to each other; an airbag module (43) supported by an upper half of the seat back frame via a bracket (31); and a skin member (9) covering the seat back frame, the bracket, and the airbag module from a rear side thereof, wherein a part of the skin member corresponding to the airbag module is provided with a frangible portion (80) configured to open upon inflation of an airbag (45).

An airbag which is a constituent of a side airbag device installed in the vehicle seat according to the present invention is provided with a main chamber which deploys toward the front of a side support portion of the seat, and a sub-chamber which accommodates an inflator and which deploys at a position inward of the main chamber in the width direction of the vehicle. The main chamber is divided, by means of a baffle panel, into a main front chamber at the front, and a main rear chamber at the rear. The sub-chamber is linked to the main rear chamber at a side in the width direction of the vehicle. When the airbag is deployed, the baffle panel extends along a front edge of the sub-chamber, as viewed from the width direction of the vehicle.

[Problem] To provide a side airbag apparatus capable of quickly and properly restraining a passenger in the initial stage of deploying an airbag, along with a passenger protection apparatus including this side airbag apparatus. [Resolution means] The airbag employed in the present invention includes: a first chamber (C1) which houses the inflator and is deployed outside in the vehicle width direction of the frame side wall part; a second chamber (C2) which is deployed inside in the vehicle width direction of the frame side wall part; and a gas guide (100) arranged so as to surround the inflator inside the first chamber. In addition, the first chamber (C1) is deployed such that at least a portion thereof, as seen from the vehicle side, overlaps the frame side wall part. A first inner vent is formed at the boundary part between the gas guide and the first chamber, with gas introduced from the gas guide to the first chamber via this first inner vent. Moreover, a second inner vent is formed at the boundary part between the gas guide and the second chamber, with gas introduced from the gas guide to the second chamber via this second inner vent.