Patent ID: 8789847

Claim:
An occupant protection device which protects an occupant against an impact caused by a collision of a vehicle by inflating an air bag body upon occurrence of the collision, the air bag body being housed in a center pad of a steering wheel, wherein the center pad is provided so as not to rotate along with the steering wheel, the air bag body includes a plurality of chambers, one of the plurality of chambers being configured to be inflated from behind the steering wheel toward the occupant through a space extending from the occupant's legs to a lower edge of the steering wheel in a vertical direction of the vehicle so as to urge the occupant's legs downward into a seat, and the one of the plurality of chambers is configured to inflate to fill the space between the legs of the occupant and the lower edge of the steering wheel so as to reduce a forward moving distance of the occupant in the vehicle front-rear direction upon the vehicle experiencing an impact.