Appeal No. 98-2352
Application 08/245,870
Like appellants, it is our opinion that even if a user were to use the exercise
device of Rockwell by kneeling on the seat (44) with the knees and hips of the user
positioned against the back rest (53), as is urged by the examiner (answer, page 6),
the Rockwell seating assembly (as seen in Figure 1 thereof) would pitch the user
forwardly away from the roller lever member (82) to such an extent that the upper
back of the user could not be brought into engagement with the roller member so as
to exercise the lower back muscles in isolation and with the user’s gluteus maximus
muscles and hamstring muscles in a relaxed condition. In this regard, we note that
the spine of a user positioned on the apparatus of Rockwell in the kneeling manner
urged by the examiner would be essentially straight (i.e., aligned with the plane of the
back rest 53) or possibly bent forward in the direction of the portion (84) of the lever
assembly. However, in either of these positions, it would appear to us that the user
would be precluded from performing any type of exercise of the isolated lower back
muscles by attempting to bring his upper back into engagement with the spaced roller
lever member (82) of Rockwell and then further moving the roller lever backwardly
and forwardly against the resistance of the weight stack (52).
Thus, we must disagree with the examiner’s position that the apparatus of
Rockwell “inherently possesses properties which anticipate or render obvious the
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