The Abstract , a brief summary of the patent containing many relevant words. The Claims , the facts that make an invention unique and patentable. Lastly, choose to search all years or a specific year. Search by Classification Number. Classification numbers put all the same kind of invention in the same class.
Most patents have more than one class number.
If you've invented a similar device to this, you'll want to find all the patents within this class number. There are a couple ways to do this. Do a keyword search as explained above, and jot down the class numbers from your best results, including slashes or periods. The number in bold is the main class number for the patent. In the Boolean Search page, type in the class number.