Patent ID: 8702120

Claim:
An integrated seat and active bolster for an automotive vehicle to protect an occupant of the seat during a crash event, comprising: a substantially rigid seat frame; an inflatable bladder interfacing with the seat frame comprised of a gas chamber, the inflatable bladder having a standby state and a deployed state; an outer cushion layer overlying the inflatable bladder and providing an outer contour along a seat support surface; and an inflator responsive to the occurrence of the crash event to discharge an inflation gas into the gas chamber to expand the inflatable bladder from the standby state to the deployed state; wherein the gas chamber is disposed between the seat frame and the outer cushion layer, and wherein the gas chamber is configured to be load-bearing when in the standby state so that the inflatable bladder elastically deforms to support a load applied against the outer cushion layer; and wherein the seat frame provides a reaction surface when the inflatable bladder expands from the standby state to the deployed state, and wherein the deployed state extends the seat support surface to increase coverage of the occupant.