Richard Lee Hunter DeceasedLexington, KY

6045356, Apr 4, 2000

Oct 7, 1998

9/167358

Richard M. Hunter - Lexington KY
Paul A. Boyle - Lexington KY
Daniel E. Newman - Georgetown KY

Monessen Hearth Systems, Inc. - Paris KY

F23D 1340

431354

A gas burner for a fireplace includes a rectangular, unitary pan which is fabricated from a generally rectangular single sheet metal panel. Prior to forming the panel into the pan, an inlet tube hole and gas ports are machined into the panel. Assembled to the unitary pan is a gas inlet tube with an air adjustment sleeve assembled thereto. An optional baffle may be used and the purpose of the baffle is to reduce the back firing of gas. The fabrication steps for converting the flat sheet metal panel into the unitary pan involve forming first and second long edges with specific bend geometries and then folding the panel so as to bring those formed edges into alignment with each other. Those formed edges are then crimped together. Once this is completed, each shorter side edge is then folded to itself and crimped so that on three sides of the unitary pan there are crimped seams which are leak-free and along the fourth side there is a fold. The fabrication steps remain the same regardless of the starting panel size, thereby adding to the versatility and design flexibility of the present invention.