I think the best approach is to get the Provisional.
Then talk to a large company that sees the value of it, grant them a license to use it on the condition that they will never challenge it, but will defend the patent.
IF this ever comes to fruition I will do my damndest to see that each and every single one of the units that are manufactured is made right here in the good ol USA!!
I just did my first (pretty crude) diagram.
And since I know there are folks who have read the thread, and I’m not giving anything away by doing so, I will announce the title of my invention!
You heard it here first!
The American Millennium Engine
As I understand it a provisional patent will require you to do all your homework prior to applying for it. Any significant change later throws out the provisional patent. In addition you may lose the ability to file a patent at all if the change is made too late after the fact.
If you are really serious about this, a working device that demonstrates the basic capabilities along with a patent gives you by far the most leverage. It also allows you to prove your idea before your exposure is very large. In addition you may find that in the real world something needs to be done differently that would cause your provisional patent (or patent) to be useless.
You also need to pretend that you are an engineer hired to come up with alternate ways of implementing your basic idea and try to see how many other ways there are to get around your patent. If there are several, it may be very difficult to protect.
Just my 2 cents...
I think the best approach is to get the Provisional.
Then talk to a large company that sees the value of it, grant them a license to use it on the condition that they will never challenge it, but will defend the patent.
And not to be discouraging, but big companies are usually not very interested in small inventor’s ideas. Have a plan in mind for if you face lots of closed doors and ignored correspondence. That is the typical scenario for most in your situation.
Those who become successful usually do it with lots of their own effort and legwork either marketing the product, or being its champion in some other way.
Act fast, because you have only a year to spread the word until you have a big patent lawyer bill ($5-10k) to pay for filing an application that will have real hope of protecting the invention.