The obfuscation comes as a result of the patent examiners whittling down the overly broad claims made by the authors. This is a process that goes on for numerous rounds, back and forth. Personally I see the result as "precision" -- an agreement between the authors and the patent office about what has truly been invented -- rather than any kind of purposeful obfuscation. (I make no claims that this is a good process, that the patent examiners are as competent as they ought to be, or that authors in general are not trying to scam the system).