[Problem] To provide: a side airbag device capable of quickly and properly restraining a passenger in the initial stage of deploying an airbag; and a vehicle seat provided with the side airbag device. [Resolution Means] A side airbag device is provided with: an airbag disposed inside a side supporting part of a seat, that restrains an occupant by expanding and deploying in the event of a vehicle collision; and an inflator that supplies an expansion gas to the airbag. Furthermore, the airbag is folded and stored in the side supporting part in an extended condition such that the vertical direction is the longitudinal direction. Furthermore, a lower part of the airbag in the stored condition is folded a plurality of times in the longitudinal direction to form a lower compressed part.

In a vehicle seat comprising a seat cushion and a seatback, the seatback comprises a seatback frame including a right and a left side member extending vertically, a side airbag unit attached to one of the side members, a flexible seatback pad provided with a pad side slit to permit an airbag to be deployed opposite to the side airbag unit, a skin member having a skin side slit in a part thereof corresponding to the pad side slit, and a retaining sheet connected to a part of a back side of the seatback pad opposing the side member, and to the side member so as to fixedly secure a position of the seatback pad relative to the side member.

A vehicle seat includes an airbag device, an attachment bracket with which the airbag device is fixed to the side frame member of a seat back, a cushion pad covering a front side and a lateral side of the back frame, and a side panel attached to the side frame member. The attachment bracket includes an airbag fixing portion that protrudes laterally from the side frame member. The airbag device is disposed on a front side of the airbag fixing portion and is fixed to the airbag fixing portion with bolts that penetrate the airbag fixing portion from the front side of the airbag fixing portion to a rear side of the airbag fixing portion. The side panel covers a lateral side and the rear side of the airbag fixing portion and constructs an external shape of the side surface of the seatback together with the cushion pad.

A vehicle seat includes a seat pad and a seat cover including a first part and a second part. The seat cover is provided with: a sewing line that sews the first part and the second part together; and an outline stitch that extends in parallel to the sewing line and that is located on one side of the sewing line. A belt-shaped plate is sewn to a first seam allowance and a first main body of the first part by the outline stitch in a position on an end side of the first seam allowance relative to the sewing line. The seat pad is covered with the seat cover in a state where the belt-shaped plate extends beyond the sewing line toward the second part and where the belt-shaped plate presses a second seam allowance to abut against a second main body of the second part.

The present invention is an airbag device equipped in a vehicle seat having a seat cushion forming a seat surface and a seatback forming a backrest, containing: an inflator; and an airbag that is stowed in the seatback and deployed by expansion gas discharged from the inflator. The airbag includes a pair of left and right side chambers that deploy from the side parts of the seatback forward and an upper chamber that is provided continuously with the side chambers and deploys above the head of the occupant. The airbag, from a state of being spread out before stowing, is rolled or folded and compressed in a long rod shape in a direction intersecting a longitudinal direction. The location corresponding to the upper chamber of the long rod-shapedairbag is stowed in a stowing part at the rear surface of the headrest at the upper part of the seatback.

In a vehicle seat comprising a seat cushion and a seatback, the seatback comprises a seatback frame including a right and a left side member extending vertically, a side airbag unit attached to one of the side members, a flexible seatback pad provided with a pad side slit to permit an airbag to be deployed opposite to the side airbag unit, a skin member having a skin side slit in a part thereof corresponding to the pad side slit, and a retaining sheet connected to a part of a back side of the seatback pad opposing the side member, and to the side member so as to fixedly secure a position of the seatback pad relative to the side member.

A vehicle seat may have a seat part and a backrest. The backrest may have a foam component with a cavity for receiving at least part of an airbag device. The foam component may be lined at least to some extent with a reinforcing layer arrangement in the region of the cavity.

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.

In a vehicle seat having an airbag module placed in the seatback thereof, the load that may be applied to the back side of the seatback is prevented from being applied to the airbag module. The vehicle seat (1, 300, 400) comprise a seatback frame (19) including a pair of side members (26, 301) extending vertically along either side thereof and providing a structural framework of a seatback, a plate member (20, 402) positioned behind the seatback frame and including an extension (32, 410) extending in an outboard direction from the side member located on an outboard side of the seatback frame, a mounting member connected to the outboard side member, and an airbag module (23) positioned on a front side of the extension and connected to the outboard side member via the mounting member, a clearance (S) being defined between the airbag module and the extension.

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.