US Patent 7905548 Sports vehicle seat with adaptive lateral restraints

An embodiment of a sports vehicle seat. The seat has lateral restraints for laterally retaining an occupant of the seat, and an actuating device for adapting the shape and/or size of the lateral restraints as a function of vehicle driving mode. Each lateral restraint incorporates at least one shape-memory member, which changes shape when subjected to physical external stress. And the actuating device subjects each shape-memory member to physical external stress to change the shape of the shape-memory member.