An apparatus and method for helping to protect occupants of an autonomous vehicle in the event of a collision. An airbag has a stored, pre-deployment condition in a vehicle roof. The airbag is deployable downward toward the vehicle floor in front of a vehicle occupant. The airbag includes an upper portion for receiving the occupant's head and torso. A lower portion extends downward and forward from the upper portion. The lower portion is for receiving the occupant's lower legs.

Airbag assemblies are disclosed that include inflatable knee airbags. The knee airbags can include panel(s) forming a main chamber that provides a primary cushioning protection zone to a lower leg of a vehicle occupant. The knee airbags can further include an external chamber panel coupled to a rearward surface of an occupant-facing panel, external to the main inflatable chamber, to form an external chamber facing the occupant. Vent(s) through the occupant-facing panel can communicate inflation gas from the main chamber to the external chamber to fill a space between the vehicle and the lower leg of the occupant, and to control timing of inflation of the external chamber to cause it to inflate on lateral sides of the lower leg of the occupant to thereby limit lateral movement of the lower leg relative to the vehicle.

A collision detecting device for a motor vehicle for detecting a collision with a pedestrian has a pressure measuring chamber, which is formed by a tube, and a flexurally stiff structural element. The tube is formed to be deformable in the event of a collision, i.e. as a result of a collision of the motor vehicle with the pedestrian, and is correspondingly arranged. The tube is also supported in a direction, in particular in precisely one direction transverse to a vertical direction of the motor vehicle. In addition, the tube is essentially in particular flexurally stiffly supported on the structural element in precisely one, i.e. in exclusively one, vertical direction of the vehicle.

A tow-hook assembly may include a vehicle frame and a bumper arranged thereon, and a tow-hook assembly configured to attach to the vehicle bumper and provide a tow-hook. The assembly may include a bracket defining an opening configured to receive the tow-hook, and a brace attached to a backside of the bracket and including a projection extending through the opening to the opposite side of the bracket.

There is provided a mounting structure of a vehicle periphery monitoring device, the structure including (i) a front bumper reinforcement of a vehicle, (ii) a headlamp having a lamp housing, the headlamp being disposed further in a vehicle body upward direction than the front bumper reinforcement and at an outward end section in the vehicle width direction of the vehicle, (iii) a vehicle component disposed further in a vehicle body downward direction than the headlamp, and (iv) a vehicle periphery monitoring device disposed further in a vehicle body downward direction than a lower surface of the lamp housing, the vehicle periphery monitoring device separated by a first gap from an outward end surface in the vehicle width direction of the front bumper reinforcement, and being separated by a second gap from an upward end surface of the vehicle component.

An occupant protection device for a vehicle includes a seat frame, an inflator and a side airbag. The seat frame is provided at a seat lower side of a side support portion. The seat frame includes an upright wall portion and an upper wall portion. The inflator is provided at the seat lower side of the upper wall portion. The side airbag is disposed between the side support portion and the seat frame. In an inflated state, the side airbag includes a first inflation portion that causes an upper portion of the side support portion to bulge to the seat upper side and the seat width direction inner side, and a second inflation portion that causes a lower portion of the side support portion to bulge to the seat upper side and the seat width direction inner side.

An airbag includes a first side panel, a second side panel, a middle panel, and at least one extension. In the inflated position, the first side panel and the second side panel are spaced from each other by the middle panel, the middle panel having a top and a bottom, and a centerline between the first and the second side panels. The at least one extension is connected to at least one of the first side panel and the bottom of the middle panel, and is extendable in a direction away from the top of the middle panel in a deployed position.

An airbag includes a first side panel, a second side panel, a middle panel, and at least one extension. In the inflated position, the first side panel and the second side panel are spaced from each other by the middle panel, the middle panel having a top and a bottom, and a centerline between the first and the second side panels. The at least one extension is connected to at least one of the first side panel and the bottom of the middle panel, and is extendable in a direction away from the top of the middle panel in a deployed position.

A collision protection system for a vehicle, the collision protection system including a seat having a seat bottom attached to a floor of the vehicle. The collision protection system also includes a foot rest disposed adjacent to, attached to, or integrally formed with the floor of the vehicle. The collision protection system also includes an airbag that deploys from, adjacent to, or around the foot rest. The airbag deploys over a portion of legs of a user occupying the seat to protect the legs of the user during a collision.

A floor mounted lower limb restraint airbag device includes: an airbag installed at a lower side of a floor of a vehicle cabin, configured to rupture the floor by being supplied with gas from an inflator during a vehicle head-on collision, and configured to be expanded and deployed toward at least knee regions of a passenger seated in a vehicle seat; and a tension member coupling an upper portion of the airbag with a support section provided at a lower side of the floor, the tension member rupturing the floor and deploying accompanying expansion and deployment of the airbag, and the tension member pulling the upper portion of the airbag at a vehicle rear side and relatively toward a vehicle lower side in a case in which at least the knee regions of the passenger, who begins to move toward a vehicle front side under inertia, are restrained by the airbag.