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.

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.

A vehicle seat includes a first webbing provided in a side portion of a seat back, and a second webbing provided in the side portion of the seat back so as to overlap the first webbing from outside. The first webbing and the second webbing form a bag portion that opens downward, which houses a side airbag device. The bag portion includes a webbing seam portion in which edge portions of the first webbing and the second webbing are sewn together. In a skin seam portion in which skins of a seat back skin constituting skin of the seat back are sewn together, the webbing seam portion is sewn together with the skins, in a state in which the first webbing overlaps one of the skins and the second webbing overlaps the other of the skins.

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.

A vehicle seat including: a back frame that forms a framework of a seat back; a back pad including a cushion material attached to a seated person side of the back frame; a back cover that covers a seated person side of the back pad; and an airbag unit that is attached to the back frame, the airbag unit including an airbag, wherein a break portion that allows the airbag to expand and deploy is formed to the back cover, wherein a fabric member that is difficult to stretch than the back cover is disposed between the break portion and the back frame, and wherein a buffer member that prevents damage due to abutment is attached to a portion of the fabric member which may abut with a part of the back frame in a process in which the airbag is expanded 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 provided with a seat cushion and a seat back, the seat back includes: a seat back frame including a pair of left and right side frames extending in a vertical direction and an upper frame connecting upper ends of the side frames to each other; an airbag module supported by an upper half of the seat back frame via a bracket; and a skin member 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 configured to open upon inflation of an airbag.

A vehicle seat structure includes a vehicle seat including a seat cushion and a seatback, and a pushing apparatus provided inside the seatback at a predetermined height. The pushing apparatus includes a pushing portion that, at a time of a vehicle collision in which an occupant sitting on the vehicle seat moves to a seat forward side, pushes a portion of a seat front face of the seatback to the seat forward side.

Provided is a vehicle seat having a seat cushion, a submarine bar, an airbag main body, a bag retainer, and a transmission member. The seat cushion is shifted by a tilting mechanism or a lifting mechanism. The submarine bar is suspended across side frames. The airbag main body inflates and deploys inside the seat cushion. The bag retainer is at least partially disposed inside the airbag main body and retains an inflator. The transmission member transmits, to the submarine bar, a load that acts on the bag retainer when the airbag main body inflates and deploys in a state where the seat cushion has been shifted upward.

A vehicle seat including: a back frame that forms a framework of a seat back; a back pad including a cushion material attached to a seated person side of the back frame; a back cover that covers a seated person side of the back pad; and an airbag unit that is attached to the back frame, the airbag unit including an airbag, wherein a break portion that allows the airbag to expand and deploy is formed to the back cover, wherein a fabric member that is difficult to stretch than the back cover is disposed between the break portion and the back frame, and wherein a buffer member that prevents damage due to abutment is attached to a portion of the fabric member which may abut with a part of the back frame in a process in which the airbag is expanded and deployed.

In a vehicle seat (1) comprising a seat cushion (2) and a seatback (3), the seatback comprises a seatback frame (20) including a right and a left side member (24) extending vertically, a side airbag unit (30) attached to one of the side members, a flexible seatback pad (21) provided with a pad side slit (44) to permit an airbag to be deployed opposite to the side airbag unit, a skin member (22) having a skin side slit (51) in a part thereof corresponding to the pad side slit, and a retaining sheet (60) 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.