Patent ID: 7350860

Claim:
A headrest apparatus, comprising: a headrest rear portion supported at a seatback; a headrest front portion movable between a fully retracted position, which is close to the headrest rear portion, and a fully expanded position, which is distant from the headrest rear portion; a driving means moving the headrest front portion in a retracting or an expanding direction; an capacitance sensor provided at the headrest front portion and outputting a detection signal representing an capacitance variable in response to an approach of a head of an occupant to the headrest front portion; a controller moving the headrest front portion toward the fully expanded position on the basis of a trigger signal and controlling the driving means to stop the headrest front portion when the head of the occupant is detected on the basis of the detection signal of the capacitance sensor; a load sensor detecting a load applied to the headrest front portion in response to a contact of the head of the occupant with the headrest front portion, wherein the controller judging a completion of a protection of the head of the occupant by the headrest front portion on the basis of the load detected by the load sensor in a condition where the headrest front portion is stopped and controlling the driving means to move the headrest front portion toward the fully retracted position when a completion of the protection of the head of the occupant is judged.