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Light weight metal framing member

Light weight metal framing member description/claims

The present invention relates to metal framing members for use in constructing partition walls. In particular, the invention relates to metal studs and tracks for use in partition walls wherein the stud or track is provided with non-symmetrical patterns of structures to stiffen the material utilized in roll forming the metal stud or track and wherein the stud or track is also provided with longitudinally extending ribs to reduce or eliminate the tendency of the metal from which such stud or track is roll formed to shrink and twist.

It is common practice in residential and many commercial buildings to separate the various rooms by partition walls to define the space of the room. Such partition walls are generally load bearing and have in the past been constructed of wood members including top and bottom plates and bridging studs. The use of wood members has its shortcomings, the supply of lumber is getting scarce, and costs have increased during recent years. In addition, wood can warp and go out of shape when it becomes wet as well as being susceptible to fire damage and attack by vermin of various kinds.

In recent years, partition walls framed with sheet metal members have been employed. The use of sheet metal members provides advantages of dimensional stability, ease of manufacturing and conservation of natural resources among others. However, the use of sheet metal framing members has not gained widespread acceptance for various reasons. For example, the cost of the materials utilized to form metal studs has been increasing and the price advantages of metal studs over wood studs is decreasing. There have been attempts in the past to reduce the cost of the material utilized to form the metal stud by providing stiffening structures to the metal to allow a thinner and less expensive metal to be used for a particular duty. For example, Swiss Patent CH486281 describes a sheet material having rows of alternating projections and depressions, the rows of the projections and depressions offset such that the projections and depressions alternate along the length of the material. Similarly, Canadian Patent Application No. 2,149,914 describes a stud for use in partition walls where the sheet material to form the stud is provided with projections on opposite surfaces of the material to leave a corresponding depression at the opposite face of the material, the positions of the projections and depressions at each surface of the material being such that lines drawn on the surface of the material between adjacent rows of projections and depressions are not rectilinear. While this arrangement is said to allow the production of studs from a thinner starting material, the manufacturing process required two offset rollers each being provided with projections to form the projections and depressions on opposite sides of the metal sheet.

In our previously filed application, a lightweight metal framing member having a plurality of depressions and a plurality of reinforcing ribs on the surfaces thereof was described. The depressions and ribs were both inwardly oriented and cooperated to aid in stiffening of the metal framing member. During roll forming production of metal framing member having non-symmetrical reinforcing structures, that is reinforcing structures which do not extend across the entire width of the framing member, a tendency of the studs to twist was observed. It is believed this is due to uneven shrinkage in the length of the member across its width caused by the localized shrinkage of the metal as a result of the formation of the reinforcing structures in only a portion of the width of the metal from which the metal framing member is formed. While the twisting does not affect the structural integrity of the metal framing member, it does detract from the appearance of the stud and makes the storage and installation of the metal framing member more difficult.

There still remains a need for a lightweight metal framing member which overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art.

The present invention provides for a lightweight metal framing member having a central web and two parallel spaced apart side walls extending upwardly from the sides of the web. The framing member has at least one longitudinally oriented rib extending the length of the web of the framing member to aid in reducing shrinkage and twisting of the framing member when non-symmetrical reinforcing structures which do not extend across the width of the framing member are formed in the framing member.

In an aspect of the present invention, the metal framing member is provided with a plurality of inwardly oriented depressions on the surfaces of the framing member to aid in stiffening of the metal framing member and enhance screw tip capture. Each of the depressions are formed with clearly defined edges to enhance screw tip capture of a screw entering the depression irrespective of the angle of entry into the depression of the screw tip.

In another aspect of the invention, the framing member is provided with a plurality of non-symmetrical reinforcing ribs in the web of the framing member, the non-symmetrical reinforcing ribs being inwardly oriented and cooperating with the depressions to significantly aid in stiffening of the metal framing member.

In another aspect of the invention, the metal framing member is a stud having a generally rectangular C shaped cross section with two parallel spaced apart side walls and a central web bridging the side walls with the side walls terminating in intumed flanges or ledges. Each of the side walls, ledges and central web are provided with the plurality of depressions and the web is provided with the longitudinaly extending rib and non-symmetrical reinforcing ribs.

In another aspect of the invention, the metal framing member is a track having a generally rectangular U shaped cross section with two parallel spaced apart side walls and a central web bridging the side walls. Each of the side walls and central web are provided with the plurality of depressions and the web is provided with the longitudinaly extending rib and a plurality of non-symmetrical reinforcing ribs.

In another aspect of the invention, the central web bridging the side walls is in the form of a main central section bordered by raised narrow channel shaped edge ribs.

In another aspect of the invention, each of the depressions has a depth about 2 to 4 times the thickness of the metal from which the framing member is formed.

In another aspect of the invention, each of the depressions are round or knurled and have a diameter of about 0.10 inches.

In another aspect of the invention, the depressions are provided as a series of rows across the surface of the metal framing member.

In another aspect of the invention, the rows of depressions are offset from each other so that the depressions form a diamond pattern on the surface of the sheet material such that the rows can be moved closer together, increasing the number of depressions for reinforcement and screw attachment.

In another aspect of the invention, the spacing between the rows of depressions is about 0.10 inches and the spacing between the depressions in each row is about 0.20 inches.

In another aspect of the invention, the non-symmetrical reinforcing ribs on the web of the metal framing member, are arranged diagonally across at least one half of the width of the web.

In another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a metal framing member having a longitudinally extending rib along the web, and a plurality of non-symmetrical reinforcing structures on the surface thereof, the non-symmetrical reinforcing structures being inwardly oriented and aiding in stiffening of the metal framing member. The method comprises passing a suitably dimensioned sheet material through a cold roll forming apparatus having a first roller with a circumferential projection on its surface to press into the sheet metal material and form the longitudinally extending rib on the surface of the material and a second roller having a groove corresponding to the projection of the first roller. The sheet material is then passed through a second roll forming apparatus having a first roller with a pluarality of projections on its surface to form the non-symmetrical reinforcing structures in the surface of the sheet material and a second roller having a surface to allow for a softer transition between the surface of the sheet material and the edges of the non-symmetrical reinforcing structures. The sheet material is then passed through a third roll forming apparatus having rollers to form the metal framing member.

In another aspect of the invention, the method of manufacturing the metal framing member includes the additional step of providing a plurality of inwardly oriented depressions on the surface of the metal framing member. The plurality of inwardly oriented depressions are formed in a step before the formation of the longitudinally extending rib by passing the sheet material through a roll forming apparatus having a first roller with a plurality of projections on its surface and a second roller having holes aligned with the projections of the surface of the first roller to form depressions with clearly defined edges in the surface of the sheet material.

In another aspect of the invention, the sheet material after having the longitudinally extending ribs and non-symmetrical reinforcing structures placed therein, is passed through an additional roll forming apparatus to form the final metal framing member.

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• Utility Patent

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