Patents by Inventor Barry R. James

Barry R. James has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 6427610
    Abstract: A refractory hanger brick for high temperature industrial furnace roof construction having an elongated upwardly extending refractory portion having a generally rectangular cross section and a lower refractory base portion having a generally rectangular lower face, each side of the base portion having a base length greater than a corresponding side of the elongated upwardly extending refractory portion so as to provide support for insulating material and/or adjacent filler bricks. The upper end of the elongated upwardly extending refractory portion distal from the lower refractory base portion forms a hanger recess along opposite sides of the upper end. At least one generally laterally extending lug is disposed above each of the hanger recesses to retain the hanger in a fixed position and to provide at least one hanger position along the upper end opposite sides.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 11, 2000
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2002
    Assignee: Merkle Engineers, Inc.
    Inventors: Stephen Coates, Barry R. James
  • Patent number: 5558691
    Abstract: An adjustable vibrating plate cullet feeder for feeding recycle glass to melting furnaces. Independent control of the rate of cullet feed is obtained by adjustment of at least one of: the angle of the feeder plate, the intensity of the vibration, and the frequency of the vibration. The vibrating plate cullet feeder may be positioned to feed over a batch charger or may feed directly into the melting furnace and may be controlled by the batch charger or independently by a furnace level or composition controller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 1994
    Date of Patent: September 24, 1996
    Assignee: Merkle Engineers, Inc.
    Inventors: Larry L. Horn, Barry R. James, William L. Merkle, William R. Materna, Stephen J. Coates
  • Patent number: 5542804
    Abstract: A modular solids charger for feeding granular solid material to a reactor, the charger comprising a chassis, a charger plate support frame vertically and angularly adjustable with respect to the horizontal secured to the chassis, a removable reciprocable charger plate reciprocably secured to the charger plate support frame, a removable solids supply chute disposed above the reciprocable charger plate for feeding solids to the reciprocable charger plate, spacers for adjusting the elevation of the chassis to accommodate a range of elevations of reactor feed openings, and charger plate support frame extensions to enable the charge plate support frame to accommodate a range of reciprocable charger plate widths.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 1994
    Date of Patent: August 6, 1996
    Assignee: Merkle Engineers, Inc.
    Inventors: Frank P. Merkle, Larry L. Horn, Barry R. James, William L. Merkle
  • Patent number: 5357540
    Abstract: A refractory brick for high temperature industrial furnace roof construction which accommodates hanger attachment at a plurality of locations along the length of the hanger brick. A high temperature industrial roof system having alternate rows of hanger bricks, of the above configuration, and filler bricks which are at least 2 1/2 times as wide as the hanger bricks and can be individually removed by lifting from the top of the furnace. The high temperature industrial furnace roof may be constructed of two configurations of refractories with shortening of the length of either configuration of refractory to accommodate designs having a wide variety of roof widths. Electrically heated furnaces have bus bars which run along the length of the furnace and are fed through the top of the furnace.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 1992
    Date of Patent: October 18, 1994
    Assignee: Merkle Engineers Inc.
    Inventors: Frank P. Merkle, Larry L. Horn, Barry R. James
  • Patent number: 4638617
    Abstract: A vertically suspended refractory curtain wall having two courses of refractory shapes, the refractory shapes having flat exposed faces and an opposite face having a horizontal central recess, the portion of the refractory extending above the recess forming an upper hanger portion and the portion of the refractory extending below the recess forming a lower hanger portion, the lower hanger portions of one horizontal row of first course of refractory shapes fitting within the upper portion of the horizontal recess of an opposing horizontal row of side-by-side refractory shapes forming a second course and suspending that row, the next adjacent lower row of the first course of refractory shapes having their upper hanger portions fitting within the lower portion of the horizontal recess of the same second course refractory shapes and are suspended thereby, and so on, to form a vertically suspended refractory curtain wall.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 1984
    Date of Patent: January 27, 1987
    Assignee: Merkle Engineers, Inc.
    Inventor: Barry R. James
  • Patent number: 4463689
    Abstract: A suspended nose construction for high temperature furnaces providing refractory replacement from the cold side of the refractory has a plurality of wedge-shaped refractories arranged to form a wedge row along the length of the nose adjacent, on at least one side, a plurality of rectangular-shaped refractories arranged to form a straight row along the length of the nose. The converging sides of the wedge-shaped refractories converge toward the cold side of the refractory. Both the wedge refractories and the rectangular refractories are suspended in pairs by suspension means from an exterior support structure, the suspension means and support structure providing space allowing removal of the refractories in pairs from the cold side of the nose construction. The suspended nose construction according to this invention provides for removal and replacement of a small number of refractories in the nose without disturbing the major portion of the nose construction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 1982
    Date of Patent: August 7, 1984
    Assignee: Merkle Engineers, Inc.
    Inventor: Barry R. James