Abstract: An airbag apparatus to be applied to a vehicle includes an airbag, a collision determiner, and an airbag deployment controller. The airbag is configured to be deployed forward of a vehicle body front of the vehicle. The collision determiner is configured to establish a human-body pre-crash determination in a case where a collision probability with a human body is equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold. The airbag deployment controller is configured to deploy the airbag in response to the human-body pre-crash determination. The airbag includes a pulling member configured to pull and recess a front surface of the airbag rearward of the vehicle so as to form a slit portion configured to divide a front portion of the airbag.

Abstract: An assembly for a vehicle includes a vehicle pillar. The assembly includes a vehicle door adjacent the vehicle pillar. The assembly includes an airbag supported by the vehicle door. The airbag includes an upper portion inflatable upwardly and a lower portion inflatable downwardly. The assembly includes a pyrotechnic device supported by the vehicle pillar. The assembly includes a cable extending along the vehicle pillar from the pyrotechnic device and coupling the upper portion of the airbag to the pyrotechnic device.

Abstract: An occupant protection device for protecting an occupant sitting in a seat includes an inflator, a holding member that is adapted to be disposed in front of a pelvic region of the occupant as sitting in the seat, and an airbag that is formed of a sheet material having flexibility and stored in and held by the holding member in a folded form. The airbag is configured to be inflated with an inflation gas fed by the inflator. The airbag includes a shoulder restraining portion that is configured to be deployed in front of shoulders of the occupant, and a supporting inflatable portion that is disposed in a lower end portion of the airbag as deployed for supporting the shoulder restraining portion. The supporting inflatable portion as deployed includes, in the underside, a supported surface that is adapted to be supported by thighs of the occupant.

Abstract: A seat for a vehicle includes an occupant protection system. The occupant protection system includes an airbag or other barrier that at least partially occludes an opening to a volume under a vehicle seat. The occupant protection system may reduce or prevent lower leg injury and/or retain cargo in the volume during a collision event.

Abstract: A vehicle includes a floor and a seat supported by the floor. The seat is translatable relative to the floor along a longitudinal axis of the vehicle. An airbag housing is supported by the floor and is disposed alongside the seat. The airbag housing is translatable relative to the floor along the longitudinal axis. An airbag is supported by the airbag housing. The airbag is inflatable to an inflated position that extends from the airbag housing away from the floor.

Abstract: A center load rack and pinion steering mechanism is disclosed. The mechanism comprises a center load steering rack housing mounted to a vehicle frame, with a longitudinal slot through the front surface thereof, the slot being fitted with a bushing of a material that is resistant to damage from heat and bending. A pair of center link mounting bolts secure a center link and a center link pad to the rack wherein the center link pad extends through the bushing such that the upper and lower surfaces of the center link pad engage the upper and lower inner surfaces of the bushing, respectively, to prevent upward and downward movement and twisting of the center link and the center link pad relative to the rack in response to steered wheels of the vehicle contacting rough or uneven terrain while in use to prevent damage to components of the steering mechanism.

Abstract: Provided is a belt assist device having a compact configuration and being configured to move a seatbelt to an easily reachable position. A vehicle seat includes a belt assist device attached to a lateral portion of a seat back and configured to move a portion of a seatbelt placed on the lateral portion to the easily reachable position. The belt assist device includes a rotary member attached to a recessed housing portion of the lateral portion via a rotary shaft and configured to rotate up and down between a housing position at which the rotary member is housed in the seat back and a protruding position at which the rotary member rotates to protrude forward of the seat back to push out a portion of the seatbelt. The rotary member is disposed forward of a belt guide provided at the periphery of an upper end of the seat back.

Abstract: A restraint system is provided for helping to protect an occupant of a vehicle having a roof and side structure defining a cabin with a seat for the occupant. The restraint system includes an airbag having a stored condition within the vehicle seat and being inflatable to deploy upwards in the cabin to a deployed condition between the occupant and the side structure. The airbag extends from an upper end positioned adjacent the roof to a lower end positioned adjacent a base of the seat. The airbag extends in a forward-rearward direction of the vehicle sufficient to span the entire depth of the seat in the forward-rearward direction.

Abstract: An assembly includes a vehicle seat. The assembly includes an armrest supported by the vehicle seat. The armrest includes an upright portion elongated along an axis and an arm support portion supported by the upright portion. The assembly includes an airbag supported by the arm support portion of the armrest. The airbag inflatable to an inflated position. The airbag includes an upper portion extending upwardly from the arm support portion when the airbag is in the inflated position and a lower portion extending downwardly from the arm support portion when the airbag is in the inflated position. The upper portion is vehicle-inboard of the axis and the lower portion being vehicle-outboard of the axis.

Abstract: An assembly for a vehicle includes a middle console. The assembly includes a seatback including a vehicle-rearward side. The assembly includes an airbag supported by the middle console. The airbag is inflatable to an inflated position. The airbag in the inflated position includes a middle portion and an extension. The extension extends from the middle portion along the vehicle-rearward side of the seatback.

Abstract: A vehicle steering device includes a positioning clip configured to align a pinion shaft with a joint portion of a steering shaft, wherein the pinion shaft includes a torsion bar and a tubular member having the torsion bar inserted thereinto, an upper end of the torsion bar is axially further away from the joint portion than an upper end of the tubular member, the positioning clip includes an inserted portion to be inserted into the tubular member, and a gap between the inserted portion and the tubular member is sealed.

Abstract: An apparatus for helping to protect an occupant of a vehicle seat includes an airbag defining an inflatable volume for receiving inflation fluid from an inflator having first and second ends. The airbag has a first sleeve configured to receive the first end of the inflator and a second end configured to receive the second end of the inflator. The first and second sleeves extend from the airbag.

Abstract: A seat for a vehicle may include a seatback including one or more inflatable bladders that may be configured to provide adjustable lumbar support and to deploy in response to a triggering event signal indicative of a change of velocity, collision, or predicted collision event. One or more inflatable bladders may be configured to be independently controllable and configured to provide adjustable lumbar support at a region of the seatback during normal vehicle operation. Moreover, when at least a portion of the back of an occupant of the seat pushes against a front surface of the seatback due to the event, the one or more inflatable bladders may be configured to compress at least partially a comfort foam or comfort material in the seatback and expedite engagement of the energy absorbing material with the occupant's back.

Abstract: An occupant protection system for a vehicle may include an expandable curtain and/or an expandable bladder configured to be expanded from a stowed state to a deployed state. The system may also include a transverse ceiling trim panel and one or more side ceiling trim panels configured to be coupled to a ceiling of the vehicle, with the transverse ceiling trim panel extending substantially transversely with respect to the one or more side ceiling trim panels. Portions of the ceiling trim panels may be configured to deflect and allow expansion of the expandable curtain and/or the expandable bladder to the deployed state. The system may also include a deployment controller and one or more inflators configured to cause deployment of the expandable curtain at a first time and deployment of the expandable bladder at a second time after the first time.

Abstract: An assembly includes a seat having a seatback. The assembly includes an airbag supported by the seatback and inflatable to an inflated position. The airbag extends from the seatback to an end in the inflated position. The assembly includes a spool rotatably supported by the seatback. The assembly includes a belt extending along the airbag in the inflated position. The belt extends from the spool to the end of the airbag. The belt is extendable from the spool.

Abstract: A technology of improving the expansion speed and the expansion balance of an airbag cushion by improving the folding structure of the airbag cushion is proposed. An automotive side airbag is provided, in which a first state is implemented by folding a front end of an airbag cushion inside toward a rear end of the airbag cushion, a second state implemented by folding an upper end a lower end of the airbag cushion over a middle portion, and then a third state is implemented by rolling the airbag cushion, and a method of folding the automotive side airbag.

Abstract: An airbag device includes an actuator of a configuration that causes a string-form coupling member extending from an airbag to be coupled, and controls an inflation aspect of the airbag by causing a state of coupling with the coupling member to be maintained or terminated. The actuator includes a gas generator that can eject a combustion gas and a holder portion that can hold the coupling member. The holder portion includes a holding wall portion, which can hold the wound coupling member on an outer peripheral face side, and a top wall portion that closes a leading end side of the holding wall portion, and a contact region in which the combustion gas can be brought into contact with the coupling member is disposed in a region of the holding wall portion. The actuator causes the coupling member to be severed by causing the combustion gas to come into contact with the coupling member in the contact region, whereby a state of the coupling member being held in the holder portion can be terminated.

Abstract: A side airbag device is provided in a seat back of a vehicle seat. The side airbag device includes: a primary airbag configured to be inflated and deployed forward and in an up-and-down direction from an outer portion of the seat back in a vehicle width direction; and a secondary airbag connected to an inner portion of the primary airbag in the vehicle width direction, communicating with the primary airbag through a first communication hole, and configured to be inflated and deployed inward in the vehicle width direction from the primary airbag. The first communication hole is at least partially arranged more forward than a front surface of the outer portion of the seat back in an inflated and deployed state of the primary airbag. The secondary airbag comes in contact with a front surface of the seat back in an inflated and deployed state of the secondary airbag.

Abstract: In some embodiments, an airbag module may comprise an airbag cover configured to be positioned within a vehicle seat and comprising an opening. The opening may be configured to receive a structural element of the vehicle seat therethrough, such as an armrest mount. The module may further comprise an airbag cushion positioned within the airbag cover and configured to deploy from the airbag cover such that forces from deployment of the airbag cushion are directed applied to the structural element, in some cases directing these forces to the seat frame.

Abstract: Aspects of the disclosure relate to reducing the likelihood of injury to a passenger in a collision. In one example, a computing device may determine that an impact between a vehicle and an object external to the vehicle is imminent. The computing device may determine a protection range for a vehicle's airbag based on characteristics of the passenger, including the passenger's seating location within the vehicle. An airbag extension system may position an airbag package, including the vehicle's airbag, such that the vehicle's airbag is within the protection range of the passenger's seating location.