Vehicle headrest apparatus

A vehicle headrest apparatus (10) has a headrest unit that is mounted to an upper end of a seatback (101). The headrest unit has a head restraining member (13, 13' 13", 13''', 213, 513) with a flexible sheet restraining member configured to be tensioned to restrain a passenger's head when a controller (54) detects a rear-end collision. The head restraining member (13, 13', 13", 13''', 213, 513) has a vertical support portion (13a, 13'a, 13"a, 13'''a, 213a, 513a) facing the head of the passenger and a horizontal support portion (13b, 13b', 13b", 13b''', 213b, 513b) substantially perpendicular to an upper part of the vertical support portion (13a, 13'a, 13"a, 13"'a, 213a, 513a). When a rear-end collision occurs, tension is applied to at least the vertical support portion (13a, 13'a, 13"a, 13"'a, 213a, 513a). In some embodiments, the vertical and horizontal support portions are both formed by the flexible sheet restraining member. In other embodiments, only the vertical support portion (13a, 13'a, 13"a, 13"'a, 213a, 513a) is partially formed by the flexible sheet restraining member, and the vertical and horizontal support portions are made of a resilient material having an excellent shape-retaining property.