An occupant protection apparatus includes a seatbelt device and airbag device. The seatbelt device is capable of restraining an occupant to be seated on a seat in a vehicle. The airbag device includes an airbag casing to be disposed on or above a shoulder of the occupant. The seatbelt device includes a belt extendable through an insertion hole of the airbag casing. A fastening member is disposed in the insertion hole. The fastening member is configured to fasten the belt to the airbag casing when the belt is pulled out in a crash of the vehicle.

A seatbelt system includes a take-up device configured to take up a seatbelt, and an electronic control unit configured to, when any one of first and second conditions is satisfied, cause a motor to take up the seatbelt. In the first condition, after occurrence of a collision whose physical quantity detected by a detector configured to detect the physical quantity associated with a magnitude of the collision is less than or equal to a first threshold, the physical quantity decreases to less than or equal to a second threshold. In the second condition, after occurrence of a collision whose physical quantity is less than or equal to the first threshold, a first predetermined time elapses, which is estimated to be equivalent to a decrease in the physical quantity to less than or equal to the second threshold.

A vehicle occupant protection device includes: a seat belt device having a selectable force limiter that is configured to switch a force limiter load from a high load to a low load; an airbag device that deploys an airbag in front of the occupant; a movement direction detector that detects a direction in which a head region of the occupant will move relative to the vehicle at the time of frontal collision; an initial position detector that detects a position of the head region prior to the movement; and a control unit that makes a determination whether or not the head region will move outside of an area of protection by the airbag based on detection results of the movement direction detector and the initial position detector and, in a case in which the determination is affirmative, maintains the high load of the force limiter load.

A seatbelt retractor device includes a pre-tensioner section, and a force limiter section that can change a magnitude of a load at which to start reducing tension of the retracted seatbelt. A seatbelt control ECU activates the pre-tensioner section when a deceleration G detected by a floor sensor exceeds a first threshold, and acquires a collision velocity from a radar device and sets a second threshold value to a lower value the greater the collision velocity. The seatbelt control ECU controls the starting load for tension reduction by the force limiter section to be a high load when the deceleration G has exceeded the second threshold within a determination time period after activation of the pre-tensioner section, and controls the starting load for tension reduction to be a low load when which the deceleration G has not exceeded the second threshold within the determination time period.

A vehicle occupant protection device includes: a seat belt device having a selectable force limiter that is configured to switch a force limiter load from a high load to a low load; an airbag device that deploys an airbag in front of the occupant; a movement direction detector that detects a direction in which a head region of the occupant will move relative to the vehicle at the time of frontal collision; an initial position detector that detects a position of the head region prior to the movement; and a control unit that makes a determination whether or not the head region will move outside of an area of protection by the airbag based on detection results of the movement direction detector and the initial position detector and, in a case in which the determination is affirmative, maintains the high load of the force limiter load.

A variable force limiter control system for a vehicle includes a variable force limiter mechanism, a relative speed sensor, an acceleration sensor and an electronic control unit. The variable force limiter mechanism is configured to change a force limiter load. The relative speed sensor is configured to detect a relative speed of the vehicle with respect to a collision object before a collision. The acceleration sensor is configured to detect an acceleration of the vehicle. The electronic control unit is configured to predict a severity of a collision on the basis of at least the relative speed. The electronic control unit is configured to control the force limiter load on the basis of both the predicted severity and the acceleration in an initial stage of the collision of the vehicle.

A seatbelt system includes a take-up device configured to take up a seatbelt, and an electronic control unit configured to, when any one of first and second conditions is satisfied, cause a motor to take up the seatbelt. In the first condition, after occurrence of a collision whose physical quantity detected by a detector configured to detect the physical quantity associated with a magnitude of the collision is less than or equal to a first threshold, the physical quantity decreases to less than or equal to a second threshold. In the second condition, after occurrence, of a collision whose physical quantity is less than or equal to the first threshold, a first predetermined time elapses, which is estimated to be equivalent to a decrease in the physical quantity to less than or equal to the second threshold.

A system includes a sensor, a controller, and a seatbelt retractor. The controller is programmed to receive a signal from the sensor indicating detection of a vehicle front oblique impact. The seatbelt retractor includes a load limiting mechanism selectively releasable from a high load mode to a low load mode. The controller is programmed to release the load limiting mechanism from the high load mode to the low load mode at a predetermined time in response to a signal from the sensor indicating a vehicle front oblique impact.

A seatbelt retractor device includes a pre-tensioner section, and a force limiter section that can change a magnitude of a load at which to start reducing tension of the retracted seatbelt. A seatbelt control ECU activates the pre-tensioner section when a deceleration G detected by a floor sensor exceeds a first threshold, and acquires a collision velocity from a radar device and sets a second threshold value to a lower value the greater the collision velocity. The seatbelt control ECU controls the starting load for tension reduction by the force limiter section to be a high load when the deceleration G has exceeded the second threshold within a determination time period after activation of the pre-tensioner section, and controls the starting load for tension reduction to be a low load when which the deceleration G has not exceeded the second threshold within the determination time period.

A seatbelt assembly includes webbing elongated along a length, a clip slidable along the length of the webbing, an indicator extending along the length of the webbing, and a sensor coupled to the clip and sensitive to the indicator. The seatbelt assembly measures a length of a lap band stretched across an occupant. Safety features may be tailored to the body type of the occupant.