Patent ID: 6385517
Filing Date: 2002-05-07
Classification: B60N,B60R

Abstract:
A passenger protecting apparatus for use in a vehicle, comprising:a head rest driving mechanism which drives a head rest forward according to a pressing contact force generated when a passenger's back is pressed against a seat back during a rear crash of the vehicle; a rear crash predictor which predicts a rear crash of the vehicle before the rear crash of the vehicle occurs; a passenger moving mechanism which moves the passenger toward the seat back and makes the passenger contact the seat back before the rear crash of the vehicle occurs when the rear crash of the vehicle is predicted by the rear crash predictor; a distance detector which detects a distance between the passenger's head and the head rest; and a moving mechanism controller which controls the driving force of the passenger moving mechanism according to the distance between the passenger's head and the head rest detected by the distance detector, wherein the moving mechanism controller controls the driving force of the passenger moving mechanism to cause the passenger to move backward with a larger force when the distance between the passenger's head and the head rest detected by the distance detector is large than when it is small.