• Decide which are the essential elements of your invention that you want to claim exclusive rights to. These elements should be the ones that distinguish your invention from known technology. 
• Begin with your broadest claims and then progress to narrower claims. 
• Start claims on a new page (separate from the description) and number each claim using Arabic numbers starting with 1. 
• Precede your claims with a short statement such as "I claim:". In some patents this reads as "The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:". 
• Check to see that each claim consists of an introduction, linking word, and body. 

via hczl.com