Patent ID: 7976058

Claim:
An occupant protection system mountable on a vehicle having a row of seats arranged along a left and right direction and operable when the vehicle is impacted on a lateral, the system comprising: a catching body for catching a distant-side occupant seated on a distant seat that is located away from the lateral which has been impacted, the catching body being housed in a housing located between the distant seat and a near-by seat that is located close to the impacted lateral for deployment on a side of the distant seat close to the impacted lateral, the catching body including a fixed end fixed to the housing and a distal end acting as a free end swingable in a left and right direction; and a support body located on a side of the near-by seat close to the impacted lateral, the support body being configured to support the catching body when the catching body swings toward the impacted lateral upon receiving the distant-side occupant, wherein the housing of the catching body is located at a low position between the near-by seat and the distant seat such that the catching body is deployable upward from the housing; the catching body is comprised of an airbag inflatable with inflation gas; the support body is comprised of a first support airbag and a second support airbag, the first and second support airbags being housed in a housing and inflatable with inflation gas for deployment on the side of the near-by seat close to the impacted lateral; the system is configured such that a deployment direction of the support body from the housing intersects with that of the catching body from the housing as viewed from a lateral of the vehicle; the first support airbag is configured to deploy downward from the housing and support the catching body at a lower end region thereof; the second support airbag is configured to deploy forward or rearward from the housing between the first support airbag and the catching body and support the catching body at an upper end region thereof; and the lower end region of the first support airbag and the upper end region of the second support airbag overlap with each other in an inboard and outboard direction at deployment.