Appeal No. 2000-0917 Page 8
Application No. 09/104,763
Villanueva's invention relates generally to mounting
brackets or carriers for releasably mounting portable audio
equipment to other apparatus such as vehicles having a
forward wheel controlled by a combination stem and handlebars,
examples being bicycles, tricycles, mopeds and motorcycles.
Villanueva teaches (column 1, lines 18-54) that
Operators of bicycles have heretofore had to do
without audio entertainment unless they somehow carried
audio equipment on their persons and used headphones to
carry the sounds to their ears. . . .
In most states, the operator of a motorcycle cannot
legally wear earphones because of the fact that earphones
excessively attenuate ambient sounds, such as voices,
horns and sirens. Safe driving laws require that the
operator of a motor vehicle be aware of ambient sounds.
Unfortunately, most states do not have the same
restriction concerning bicycle riders. With the
proliferation of personal portable, pocket size
stereophonic audio equipment with earphones, the
potential for dangerous situations is immediately
apparent. There are many people, most notably children
and teenagers, riding bicycles while wearing earphones.
In the absence of earphones, stereophonic equipment
would need to be carried in front and centered, with
respect to the operator, without inconveniencing the
operator and without impairing the safe operation of the
bicycle. One type of such apparatus exists where a
combination radio with its speakers is removably mounted
to the handlebars of a motorcycle. However, it is a
rather sophisticated arrangement, much like an automobile
radio installation, except that the housing for the radio
and its associated speakers is mounted on rods some
distance above the handlebars. It uses the motorcycle
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