The patent literature is chock full of refining information. Much of the writing used in the patents is in legalese and is hard to wade through. I have developed my own system of reading these.
As an example, I'm going to use the Peter Shor patent number 4895626. This, I think, is the ammonium chloride system, using an anode bag, that has been discussed on this forum. Here's my method of attack.
(1) I first go to Google/more/patents and type in the patent number, if I know it. You'll get a list mainly of other patents that have referenced this patents. Usually, the actual patent you're looking for is the first one listed. Click on it.
If you don't know the number, search using keywords. The advanced patent search on Google is very handy.
(2) On the left of the patent page, there's a link that says, View Patent at USPTO. Click on that. I sometimes prefer to view the patents at the Patent office than in Google.
(3) Here is the patent. Scroll down a bit and you'll find some links to other patents that Shor has referenced. These often have good refining info on them and I often check them out. However, if the patent was issued before 1976, the patent office hasn't gotten around to working on these yet and the only way to view them is to check the link, "Images", at the top of the page. The images are tiff files or, actual page images of the patent itself. You can view the Images on all patents and not just the pre-1976 ones. Also, you can only find the drawings associated with the patent on the Images files. The Google files are mostly Image files. To view the Image files on USPTO properly, you need to download a free Tiff viewer. Here's the one I am presently using this viewer. You can also view most of the patent Images on Google without a viewer, although they are sometimes of poor quality.
http://www.alternatiff.com/
(4) Back to the Shor patent 4895626 page at USPTO. Like I said, much of the writing is legalese. To cut to the chase, I first look for the section called, EXAMPLES, usually near the end of the patent. Only some patents have the EXAMPLES section. If they don't, you have to wade through all the gobbledy-****. Go to the bottom of 4895626 and you find an EXAMPLES section. Notice that an actual example of a working system is given, with actual real numbers. This gives you an idea of what is actually happening. Only after reading this, do I try and read the rest of the patent.
(5) To show what a pre-1976 patent page looks like on USPTO, click on the first link that Shor references, 1996985.
Notice that there is no text available. Click on images.
This particular patent wasn't scanned too well. To magnify it, click on the magnifier and then click on the patent. To get rid of the magnifier, click again. To go to the next page, click on the single arrow on the right. You'll notice that the complete patent is here, including the drawings and other patent references, without links. To view the other patents referenced on patent Images, you'll have to search for them individually.
NOTE. I noticed that, on patent 1996985, the images on Google were much better than those at the USPTO. You never know.
NOTE 2. Checking out the other patent references on the patent is a good daisy chain, since each patent you go to has different references.
NOTE 3. On the patent search engine at USPTO, you can't search using keywords on pre-1976 patents. You have to know the patent number. This problem was solved by Google, as you can there use keywords to search for any patent.
NOTE 4. All in all, if the patent is pre-1976, I usually view the patent on Google. For the post-1976 patents, I first find them on Google and then use the link to go to the USPTO. The full text of the post-1976 patents, at the USPTO, are more readable and the other patent references have live links.
I hope this post didn't drive you nuts. It drove me nuts writing it.
As an example, I'm going to use the Peter Shor patent number 4895626. This, I think, is the ammonium chloride system, using an anode bag, that has been discussed on this forum. Here's my method of attack.
(1) I first go to Google/more/patents and type in the patent number, if I know it. You'll get a list mainly of other patents that have referenced this patents. Usually, the actual patent you're looking for is the first one listed. Click on it.
If you don't know the number, search using keywords. The advanced patent search on Google is very handy.
(2) On the left of the patent page, there's a link that says, View Patent at USPTO. Click on that. I sometimes prefer to view the patents at the Patent office than in Google.
(3) Here is the patent. Scroll down a bit and you'll find some links to other patents that Shor has referenced. These often have good refining info on them and I often check them out. However, if the patent was issued before 1976, the patent office hasn't gotten around to working on these yet and the only way to view them is to check the link, "Images", at the top of the page. The images are tiff files or, actual page images of the patent itself. You can view the Images on all patents and not just the pre-1976 ones. Also, you can only find the drawings associated with the patent on the Images files. The Google files are mostly Image files. To view the Image files on USPTO properly, you need to download a free Tiff viewer. Here's the one I am presently using this viewer. You can also view most of the patent Images on Google without a viewer, although they are sometimes of poor quality.
http://www.alternatiff.com/
(4) Back to the Shor patent 4895626 page at USPTO. Like I said, much of the writing is legalese. To cut to the chase, I first look for the section called, EXAMPLES, usually near the end of the patent. Only some patents have the EXAMPLES section. If they don't, you have to wade through all the gobbledy-****. Go to the bottom of 4895626 and you find an EXAMPLES section. Notice that an actual example of a working system is given, with actual real numbers. This gives you an idea of what is actually happening. Only after reading this, do I try and read the rest of the patent.
(5) To show what a pre-1976 patent page looks like on USPTO, click on the first link that Shor references, 1996985.
Notice that there is no text available. Click on images.
This particular patent wasn't scanned too well. To magnify it, click on the magnifier and then click on the patent. To get rid of the magnifier, click again. To go to the next page, click on the single arrow on the right. You'll notice that the complete patent is here, including the drawings and other patent references, without links. To view the other patents referenced on patent Images, you'll have to search for them individually.
NOTE. I noticed that, on patent 1996985, the images on Google were much better than those at the USPTO. You never know.
NOTE 2. Checking out the other patent references on the patent is a good daisy chain, since each patent you go to has different references.
NOTE 3. On the patent search engine at USPTO, you can't search using keywords on pre-1976 patents. You have to know the patent number. This problem was solved by Google, as you can there use keywords to search for any patent.
NOTE 4. All in all, if the patent is pre-1976, I usually view the patent on Google. For the post-1976 patents, I first find them on Google and then use the link to go to the USPTO. The full text of the post-1976 patents, at the USPTO, are more readable and the other patent references have live links.
I hope this post didn't drive you nuts. It drove me nuts writing it.
