Patent ID: 8910974
Filing Date: 2014-12-16
Classification: B60R

Abstract:
1. An occupant protection device for protecting an occupant against an impact caused by a collision of a vehicle comprising: a plurality of air bag bodies housed in a center pad of a steering wheel, the air bag bodies including at least a first air bag body configured to protect the occupant's head and a second air bag body configured to protect the occupant's chest; and an expansion mode control unit configured to expand the air bag bodies mutually independently in accordance with a collision mode of the vehicle, and to control expansion modes of the air bag bodies when being expanded, wherein the expansion mode control unit is configured to determine the collision mode of the vehicle based on a collision detection unit that detects an impact upon the vehicle experiencing the impact, the expansion mode control unit is configured to control the expansion modes of the first and second air bag bodies in accordance with whether or not a seat belt of the occupant is fastened, the expansion mode control unit is configured to, in a scenario where the expansion mode control unit determines that the vehicle is experiencing a front collision and the occupant is wearing the seat belt, control the second air bag body to be expanded before the first air bag body is expanded, the expansion mode control unit is configured to, in a scenario where the expansion mode control unit determines that the vehicle is experiencing a front collision and the occupant is not wearing the seat belt, control the first air bag body to be expanded before the second air bag body is expanded, and the expansion mode control unit is configured to, in a scenario where the expansion mode control unit determines that the vehicle is experiencing a rear collision or a side collision, control the first air bay body to be expanded and control the second air bag body to not be expanded.