Kyle,
While I sympathize with your point of view, the patent laws of the United States take very seriously the identity of inventors on a patent. Perhaps it is because of the authorization in Article 1 Section 8 of the U.S. Constiution, which reads in part
The Congress shall have the power... To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;
"Authors" are usually protected by copyright. It would be perfectly fair to make you an "author" on a scientific paper but if you didn't make an inventive contribution to at least one claim in the patent application, you can't be considered an "inventor." Indeed, the knowing misjoinder of a non-inventor on a patent may lead the patent to be declared invalid by a court. However, not including an inventor who should have been included (nonjoinder) can put the patent in danger as well.
As an inventor, it has been my practice to invite inventive contributions from my colleagues so that their good work on a project can be acknowledged. While it has not always worked out that way, I sometimes succeed in getting everyone included this way.
If I may suggest, take every opportunity to suggest inventive contributions to your project. Become familiar with the structure of patent claims and, when the time comes to write a patent application, suggest claims in which you made an inventive contribution. To make such a contribution, the claim need not be an independent claim. You could be an inventor of a dependent claim such as
2. The detergent formulation of Claim 1, further comprising: a buffer chosen from A, B and C.
Let's say that your experiments identified B as one of the buffers. That would usually (maybe not always - it might depend on what B is) be enough to have you named as an inventor.
The best place to get advice on whether you are an inventor is your patent attorney or agent.
Good luck.
