The format referenced herein is the current format used at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The first page of a patent contains important information. The abstract of the disclosure may comprise a summary of the novel features of the invention or may be in the form of a broad claim of the invention. The abstract may include reference to drawing numbers used in the specification, but this is not usually done in U.S. patent applications. One or more sheets of drawings will usually follow the first page.
Some older patents place the drawings at the end of the patent.
Drawings are used as an aid in disclosing the invention. They include numbers which are included to aid in locating the item being discussed in the specification. Preferably, the numbers are sequentially listed as the item is first introduced into the specification, and thus are usually not sequentially listed on the drawings. Not all patents have drawings, however drawings must be used where practical to aid in understanding the invention. When reviewing a patent, read the specification, and reference the drawings to locate the elements of the invention as they are discussed in the specification.