Two Spokane inventors are joining forces to commercialize a magnetic support, or levitation, technology that they believe has big potential for use in sliding doors, wall panels, gates, and similar applications.

One of the inventors, retired mechanical engineer John Barber, developed and patented the technology under the trademark name MagneGlide about 15 years ago, and formed a company named Modern Transport Systems Corp. to promote it. Since then, though, he hasn't been able to get it beyond "the garage stage" on his own, he says.

Through a recent agreement, he now will be assisted in that marketing effort by entrepreneur John Adrain, who owns a company named Heracles Research Corp. and has developed a number of products, including a heavy-duty, under-the-bed gun safe and a pepper-spray anti-burglary system.

Adrain says he learned about the technology after meeting Barber through a common acquaintance, Spokane architect Stephen Clarke, who designed Adrain's home and whose wife was a school classmate of Barber.

"I saw the opportunity, so I jumped on it right away. I'm very excited about it," says Adrain, adding that he and Barber already have had encouraging talks with a large potential user of the technology.

The MagneGlide Magnet Support System is designed for moving objects easily, eliminating the need for conventional load-bearing wheels or rollers. It uses high-strength permanent magnets mounted inside square U-shaped casings called "liftpacks," which in turn run on specially shaped steel rails.

No energy is consumed by the lift action, and the passive system adjusts automatically to variations in the load placed on it, Barber says. The entire weight of the moving object is supported by magnetic forces, resulting in a system with low resistance to motion and that can be scaled to the size required by the load it's supporting, he says.

Barber and Adrain claim MagneGlide provides the ability to move objects such as sliding doors and panels with 90 percent less effort needed to move such objects that rely on conventional metal wheels running along metal rails.

"This takes weight out of the equation," Barber says.

Adrain says he believes the technology has a broad range of potential industrial applications and adds that he and Barber hope to establish "beachheads" in industries where the sales opportunities look to be the greatest. For now, he says, he and Barber plan to self-fund the commercialization effort, rather than seeking loans or investors, and will pursue the venture from their respective homes, relying on Spokane-area companies for product fabrication needs.

Barber is a semi-retired Spokane native and a graduate of Shadle Park High School and Washington State University who returned here about three years ago after working for most of his career at various locations around the U.S.

He obtained a master's degree in mechanical engineering from Cornell University, in Ithaca, N.Y., and his career has included working with NASA on the Apollo moon landing program, and spending several decades designing, implementing, and operating rapid transit systems.

During that time, he says, he had considerable involvement in developing magnetic levitation technology, which led him to launch his own technology company.