Patent ID: 7775552

Claim:
An occupant restraint device for a motor vehicle, comprising: a side cheek protruding from a backrest of a motor vehicle seat, the side cheek being configured to laterally support an occupant occupying the motor vehicle seat and having an outer side configured to face away from the occupant; a supporting structure of a motor vehicle that has an outer side facing an exterior space of the motor vehicle and an inner side facing away from the exterior space of the motor vehicle and facing the outer side of the side cheek; an airbag arranged in the motor vehicle seat, the airbag being inflated to restrain the occupant when a force is applied on the outer side of the supporting structure from an exterior space, the airbag being supported on the inner side of the supporting structure and exerts an opposing force on the outer side of the side cheek when the airbag is inflated, the force being directed onto the outer side of the side cheek from the inner side of the supporting structure; and a pre-crash detection device for identifying an imminent application of force on the outer side of the supporting structure from the exterior space, the pre-crash detection device activating an expansion of the side cheek in an expansion direction along the supporting structure upon identifying an imminent force such that a main part of the inflated airbag extends between the side cheek and the supporting structure, wherein the inflated airbag bears against both the outer side of the side cheek and the inner side of the supporting structure.