Appeal No. 1998-2768
Application No. 08/520,802
splint, and thus could be used by a patient for isometric
exercise, the Airy patent does not teach or suggest the
performance of isometric exercises. Instead, the Airy patent
teaches the use of trans-ducers (e.g., a potentiometer (col.
14), or a Wheatstone bridge or electric eye (col. 17)) for the
measurement of motion, i.e., rotation of the lower frame
section (20), about a hinge axis (24). The transducers in Airy
are thus utilized to measure or monitor parameters such as the
range of movement of the body joint, the speed at which the
body joint is flexed and extended, and the torque being
exerted by the body joint when articulating the frame (16).
Nothing in the Airy patent mentions isometric exercise, or
teaches or suggests the use of a strain gauge on the
frame to monitor isometric exercise activity of a patient
wearing and using the orthopedic apparatus.
The examiner’s conclusion that the mere reference to a
Wheatstone bridge in column 17 of the Airy patent is
suggestive of using strain gauges in the apparatus of Airy is
without merit.
Like appellants (reply brief, pages 2-5), we note that a
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