Patent ID: 8740287

Claim:
A passenger protection device in a vehicle including a door opening provided in a side surface of a vehicle body and openable and closable with a side door, and a seat disposed in a passenger compartment near the door opening, the passenger protection device provided for protecting a passenger, seated in the seat, when external force acts on the side surface of the vehicle body, wherein the passenger protection device comprises a side support provided on a side portion of a seat back of the seat and configured to support a surface, adjacent to the side door, of an upper half part of a body of the passenger seated in the seat, wherein the side support is disposed along a rear portion of a peripheral edge defining the door opening, the side support comprising a base plate as a framework of the side support, and a reinforcing member integrally formed on a back surface of the base plate for reinforcing the side support, the side support including a deformation permitting portion which permits the side support to be deformed by an external force that is greater than a predetermined intensity, wherein the deformation permitting portion is provided by forming at least a part of the reinforcing member as a fragile part having a smaller strength against the external force than a remaining part of the reinforcing member, wherein the reinforcing member comprises ribs arranged in a lattice structure including a plurality of horizontal ribs and a plurality of vertical ribs, and the deformation permitting portion is provided in one of the horizontal ribs and is in the form of a notch; and wherein the passenger protection device is configured and arranged such that when the external force which is greater than the predetermined intensity acts on the side support in a vehicle-width direction, the side support deforms in the vehicle width direction beginning at the notch as the deformation permitting portion to thereby absorb the external force.