DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 6/3/2026 has been entered.
Claims 1-20 have been examined.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10 and 19 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claim have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-3, 9 and 11-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hawkins, III et al (US Patent Application Publication 2021/0060380) in view of Kautz et al (US Patent Application Publication 2013/0065733).
1. Hawkins, III et al disclose an exercise machine configured for a user to perform an exercise motion, the exercise machine comprising:
a first frame (102) configured to be positioned on a floor;
a second frame (200) supported by the first frame, the second frame being manually moveable by the user relative to the first frame into a desired position for the second frame to remain while the user performs the exercise motion (Par. 0073);
a computing device that calculates an actual position of the second frame relative to the first frame through received input data (Par. 0073-0074: “a first set of adjustment settings that correspond to the first rider's preferences”); and
a display device that displays the actual position detected by the sensor to assist the user in moving the second frame into the desired position (Par. 0073: “the settings of the adjustment mechanisms of the stationary bicycle 100 may be provided on a display associated with the computing device so that the user may manually adjust the stationary bicycle 100 accordingly”).
However, Hawkins et al do not explicitly disclose the actual position of the second frame relative to the first frame being detected by a sensor, per se.
Kautz et al teach a similar exercise bike having sensors (202,204,206,208) on the frame to detect the positioning of various elements of the frame (e.g. seat, handlebars, etc.). A controller of the bike receives input data from the sensors regarding the current status of the frame. Kautz et al also teach a user interface (e.g. display) which displays the actuator controls for the manual control of the actuation of the actuators to allow a user to adjust the frame. The use of the data from the sensors is displayed on the user interface and allows for manual adjustments of the elements of the frame for optimization (Par. 0061-0062). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to modify the exercise machine of Hawkins et al to include sensors which automatically detect the positioning of the frame as taught by Kautz et al to provide input data from the sensors to display to the user so that the user may make manual adjustments to the positioning of various frame elements.
2. Hawkins, III et al disclose the exercise machine according to claim 1, wherein the second frame supports a seat (196) upon which the user sits to perform the exercise motion such that the seat is moveable relative to the first frame.
3. Hawkins, III et al disclose the exercise machine according to claim 1, wherein the second frame slides relative to the first frame (Fig 17).
9. Hawkins, III et al disclose the exercise machine according to claim 1, further comprising a control system having a memory system for storing the actual position of the second frame detected by the sensor as a stored position, wherein the display device is configured to display the stored position to assist the user in moving the second frame into the desired position (Par. 0074).
11. Hawkins, III et al disclose the exercise machine according to claim 9, wherein the display device is configured to display an indication when the actual position detected by the sensor is different than the stored position (Par. 0072: “Any error in displacement between the targeted stationary bicycle 100 dimensions and the achieved dimensions of the stationary bicycle 100 may be provided to a user of the bicycle, in some instances, such as through the display of the computing device”).
12. Hawkins, III et al disclose the exercise machine according to claim 9, wherein the display device is configured to display the stored position and the actual position detected by the sensor at the same time to assist the user in moving the second frame into the stored position as the desired position (Par. 0072: “Any error in displacement between the targeted stationary bicycle 100 dimensions and the achieved dimensions of the stationary bicycle 100 may be provided to a user of the bicycle, in some instances, such as through the display of the computing device”).
13. Hawkins, III et al disclose the exercise machine according to claim 1, wherein the sensor is a first sensor, further comprising a third frame (204) supported by the first frame, wherein the third frame is manually moveable by the user relative to the first frame into a desired position for the user to perform the exercise motion, and wherein the third frame is moveable independently from the second frame, further comprising a second sensor that detects an actual position of the third frame relative to the first frame, wherein the display device displays the actual position of the third frame detected by the second sensor to assist the user in moving the third frame into the desired position thereof (as cited above).
14. Hawkins, III et al disclose the exercise machine according to claim 13, wherein the second frame (200) supports handlebars (212) configured to be gripped by the user and the third frame supports a seat (196) configured for the user to sit thereon to perform the exercise motion.
15. Hawkins, III et al disclose the exercise machine according to claim 1, wherein the exercise motion is performed by the user pedaling (Abstract).
16. Hawkins, III et al disclose a method for controlling an exercise machine, the exercise machine comprising
a first frame (102 ) configured to be positioned on a floor and
a second frame (200) supported by the first frame and manually moveable by a user relative to the first frame into a desired position to remain while user performs an exercise motion (Par. 0073);
the method comprising
calculating an actual position of the second frame relative to the first frame through received input data (Par. 0073-0074: “a first set of adjustment settings that correspond to the first rider's preferences”); and
displaying with a display device the actual position detected by the sensor to assist the user in moving the second frame into the desired position (Par. 0073: “the settings of the adjustment mechanisms of the stationary bicycle 100 may be provided on a display associated with the computing device so that the user may manually adjust the stationary bicycle 100 accordingly”).
However, Hawkins, III et al do not explicitly disclose the actual position of the second frame relative to the first frame being detected by a sensor, per se.
Kautz et al teach a similar exercise bike having sensors (202,204,206,208) on the frame to detect the positioning of various elements of the frame (e.g. seat, handlebars, etc.). A controller of the bike receives input data from the sensors regarding the current status of the frame. Kautz et al also teach a user interface (e.g. display) which displays the actuator controls for the manual control of the actuation of the actuators to allow a user to adjust the frame. The use of the data from the sensors is displayed on the user interface and allows for manual adjustments of the elements of the frame for optimization (Par. 0061-0062). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to modify the exercise machine of Hawkins, III et al to include sensors which automatically detect the positioning of the frame as taught by Kautz et al to provide input data from the sensors to display to the user so that the user may make manual adjustments to the positioning of various frame elements.
17. Hawkins, III et al disclose the method according to claim 16, further comprising retrieving a stored position of the second frame relative to the first frame and displaying the stored position on the display device to assist the user in moving the second frame to the stored position as the desired position (Par. 0074).
18. Hawkins, III et al disclose the method according to claim 16, further comprising retrieving a stored position of the second frame relative to the first frame, comparing the actual position detected by the sensor to the stored position, and indicating when the stored position and the actual position vary by at least a threshold difference (Par. 0072: “Any error in displacement between the targeted stationary bicycle 100 dimensions and the achieved dimensions of the stationary bicycle 100 may be provided to a user of the bicycle, in some instances, such as through the display of the computing device”).
Claims 4-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hawkins, III et al in view Kautz et al as applied to Claims 1-3, 9 and 11-18 above, and further in view of Watterson (US Patent 10,500,473).
4-7. Hawkins, III et al in view Kautz et al disclose the exercise machine significantly as claimed including a casing (106; Fig 17), but do not disclose wherein the sensor comprises a stationary circuit board and a magnet that is moveable with the second frame, wherein the circuit board detects a position of the magnet relative thereto, wherein moving the second frame relative to the first frame changes the position of the magnet relative to the circuit board, and wherein the position of the second frame relative to the first frame is detected based on the position of the magnet relative to the circuit board.
Watterson teaches a similar exercise machine having a fixed first frame (408) with a cover that encloses a circuit board (magnetic sensor: 410) within a channel to protect the circuit board therein and a magnet (not shown; Col 4, Lines 53-63) that is moveable with a second frame (404), wherein the circuit board detects a position of the magnet relative thereto, wherein moving the second frame relative to the first frame changes the position of the magnet relative to the circuit board, and wherein the position of the second frame relative to the first frame is detected based on the position of the magnet relative to the circuit board (Col 4, Lines 53-63) such that a user can change the position of the second frame relative to the first frame as needed/desired. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to modify the bicycle device of Hawkins, III et al in view Kautz et al to include the sensor and magnet system as taught by Watterson to facilitate the proper positioning of the frames relative to one another.
8. Hawkins, III et al disclose the exercise machine according to claim 7, wherein the cover comprises markings for visually indicating the actual position of the second frame relative to the first frame separately from the sensor (Par. 0073: “One or more indicators of the different adjustment settings may be printed on the adjustment mechanisms or the indoor bicycle 100”).
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hawkins, III et al in view Kautz et al as applied to Claims 1-3, 9 and 11-18 above, and further in view of Wu (CN 113750456)
Hawkins, III et al in view Kautz et al disclose the method significantly as claimed, but do not disclose further comprising receiving height information for the user, determining a recommended position for the second frame relative to the first frame based on the height information, comparing the actual position detected by the sensor to the recommended position, and indicating when the recommended position and the actual position vary by at least a threshold difference.
Wu teaches a similar exercise bike (1) having a seat adjustment mechanism which operates to record the height information of a user, adjust the height of a seat accordingly, and detect the displacement data via a sensor such that the height adjustment of the seat is stopped when the proper displacement is within a desired range such that the seat is placed into the recommended position (Abstract). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to modify the device/method of Hawkins, III et al in view Kautz et al to include the height adjustment mechanism as taught by Wu to simplify seat height adjustments based on the height of the user.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSHUA T KENNEDY whose telephone number is (571)272-8297. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7a-4:30p MST.
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/JOSHUA T KENNEDY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3784 7/7/2026
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