if you have the correct patent number getting a copy of the patent from the patent office web site is pretty simple. the problem is getting the patent number in the first place.

this is the united states patent office.
http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html

if you have the patent number, you can search for the patent at
http://patft.uspto.gov/netahtml/PTO/srchnum.htm

if you get an error message that there is no such patent number, you need to do other things to get the correct number. this will involve knowing the name of the inventor and the year he filed the patent.

if you find the patent, you will need to click on the Images button above the message.

The Patent Office uses an unusual format for its images. If you do not have a program that can view this special TIFF image, (and you probably don't) the patent office gives you several choices. You must download and install a TIFF viewer before you can see the patent image. you can find a TIFF viewer for your computer here:
http://www.uspto.gov/web/menu/plugins/tiff.htm

this is a free viewer for Internet Explorer
http://www.internetiff.com/

once you have downloaded and installed the TIFF viewer, go back to the search page
http://patft.uspto.gov/netahtml/PTO/srchnum.htm
search for the number again, click on images, and wait for the image to load. you can save the images of the pages of the patent application to disk, print them, or both.

if you have problems doing this (and that TIFF viewer will make you crazy) post here and i will download them for you and e mail them to you. if you have the correct patent number.

it is pretty cool to have them. they have your ancestor's signature on them.