US Patent 7547043 Passenger protection device

A passenger protection device may be configured with an airbag including a protection space portion region for alleviating restraint pressure at the time of restraining a passenger, so as to restrain the passenger, regardless of difference in physical build of the passenger on the vehicle seat at the time of expansion and inflation. A determination may be made regarding whether or not a directly seated object on the vehicle seat is a passenger or a child seat based on the tension information from a belt tension sensor. Depending on the outcome of the determination, performance of an airbag or an inflator may be controlled by a control device.