Many people think that "design" is a purely theoretical process using only ideas and calculations. This sounds like you. It is all those things, but it is also gaining access to the information you are seeking, either from having that information given to you, or by obtaining it yourself through what is called "research". Even though the word in English sounds like "searching for something again", in practice it often means finding the information for yourself from actually physically making, testing, and modifying and making again a product, so that you now have the information you seek. Once you have gone through this process, you will discover that there are costs involved, in time and money. One option is to retain this information for yourself in the form of a "trade secret" which you keep for yourself without sharing it with others. If you decide to make and sell a product, like the "three-way ball valve", so that you can gain income through a profit, the amount of that profit and the lifestyle you derive from it, is dependent on keeping your trade secret away from others. Buying your product and "reverse engineering" your three-way ball valve is not as easy as it sounds. Some people (or companies) who have tried that course have gone bankrupt through making mistakes in their reverse engineering. So you can see that if you expect those people who are making profit and income from making three-way ball valves to share their knowledge with you, you need to make it worth it to them by sharing your expected profit and income with them. The presumed value and justification for using government powers to create the patent system is to encourage more rapid development of new products and thus more general economic activity by using legal protection for the originators of new ideas. The price that patent holders pay for this protection against others using the patented ideas is that they must openly reveal those ideas in the patent application they submit. If the patent is granted, then that information is published bu the patent office. Of course, if the patent is not granted, then the applicant has revealed their trade secret without in return getting anything except the cost of the patent process. That is why some patent lawyers may offer to provide patent application service for no cost unless the patent is approved, since they now hold that trade secret information which they can use for themselves (sell, etc), and legal action against them is difficult since the patent office has already determined that the information is not patentable, and the lawyers know that the patent applicants do not want to pay (or cannot afford) legal costs. This should help you understand why it is hard for you to get the information you are asking for. You need to find a "sucker" to tell you, and would you trust the information from someone dumb enough to tell you? If you go under from using their bad information, they might be smart enough to offer to buy (for a song) your idea then patent it with their good information themselves. If this statement is regarded as "off topic", I disagree. It is relevant for any post which asks others to do their engineering for them.