US Patent 11964622 Vehicle occupant protection apparatus and method

Proposed are a vehicle occupant protection apparatus and method. A vehicle sensor detects a target present around a vehicle. A drive unit is configured to increase a space between a side structure of the vehicle and an occupant in the event of a side collision between the vehicle and the target collide. A space control unit controls the drive unit in response to detection information detected by the vehicle sensor to protect the occupant from the side structure.