New kind of engine

Hi, I've been thinking a lot lately about new ways an engine could work while I was at school. I drew all of it out, thought about it, and realized that it could really work. But the only problem is...I'm 16, don't have much money, and don't know that much about working on cars. I have no idea where to start. Any suggestions on how to start trying to make this engine?

Thanks for your time.

Submit the design here (http://www.uspto.gov/), and they'll cross check it against other previously submitted designs. Frankly, odds are you thought up something already in existence, so would you mind terribly at least throwing up the broad strokes of it here?

for a mere $740 application fee, right?

You can search the patent database yourself by following links from the same page, but you'd better be good at reading "legalese."

Another tool for searching patent databases can be found here: http://www.delphion.com/

How would they describe a certain design in the patents?? I'm guessing pure words and no pics? but when you come to engine designs... how would u compare and decide whether a design was already existent or not?
And how much information about a design do these patent databases really reveal?

The purpose of a patent is to encourage the publication and dissemination of information by protecting, for a period of time, the right of an inventor to profit from his invention. Thus, society benefits from sharing of information, and individuals are encouraged to contribute to the greater knowledge of society.

To be patentable, something must be
* new
* not obvious to one "skilled in the art"
* not a combination of existing elements unless the result is new
* not a substitution of materials or obvious equivalents

There are more details than the above, which is probably why there are so many patent lawyers around.

If you have a design that is different in some way from other designs, hopefully you know what that way is. Search for information regarding whatever is unique about your design.

Yes, there are pictures. There are quite often very detailed engineering schematics. Why don't you look for yourself?

If you don't know what to search for, imagine that you've invented a corn cob holder that looks like motorcycle handlebars. See if you can find us pat #6,270,132 without searching for the patent number.

Another test case: suppose you've come up with an idea for a toy spider that will descend from the ceiling to surprise trick-or-treaters. See if you can find any patents on similar devices.