Patent ID: 7380821

Claim:
A passenger protection apparatus mounted on a vehicle, comprising: a detecting device for foreseeing and detecting a collision of the vehicle, a passenger protection device to be situated between a passenger and the vehicle for protecting the passenger upon the collision, said passenger protection device comprising an expandable/contractible airbag, a driving device attached to the passenger protection device for driving the passenger protection device reversibly in a direction approaching the passenger and a direction away from the passenger, and a control device for controlling the driving device according to information of the detecting device, said control device controlling the driving device to partially expand the airbag prior to the collision from a first position to a second position toward the passenger when the detecting device foresees the collision, and to contract the airbag from the second position to the first position when the collision is avoided, wherein said driving device includes a gas supply device capable of feeding gas to the airbag, a gas discharge device capable of discharging the gas in the airbag, and an urging device for urging the airbag toward the first position.