US20080250738A1

US20080250738A1 - Light weight metal framing member

Info

Publication number: US20080250738A1
Application number: US11/905,431
Authority: US
Inventors: Robert Howchin
Original assignee: Bailey Metal Products Ltd
Current assignee: BALLEY METAL PRODUCTS Ltd; Bailey Metal Products Ltd
Priority date: 2007-04-13
Filing date: 2007-10-01
Publication date: 2008-10-16
Also published as: CA2584677A1; CA2584677C

Abstract

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 are found in the framing member.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

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.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

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.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

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.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a wall constructed utilizing a preferred embodiment of the lightweight metal stud and track of the present invention being used to frame a partition wall;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a lightweight metal stud of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the capture of a screw tip by the depression on the surface of the metal stud or track;

FIG. 4 is a cross section view illustrating the capture of a screw tip by the depression on the surface of the metal stud or track; and

FIG. 5 is perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a lightweight metal track of the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a side elevation view in cross-section of the lightweight metal stud of FIG. 2 with the depressions, longitudinally extending ribs and non-symmetrical reinforcing ribs formed therein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention is directed to metal framing members such as metal studs 10 and tracks 12 utilized in framing partition walls 14 as illustrated in FIG. 1. The partition walls 14 are framed from a metal track 12 forming the top plates 12 a and bottom plates 12 b that are bridged by the parallel spaced apart metal studs 10. The spacing between the metal studs 10 is that typically utilized in construction of walls generally at 16 inches on center although other spacing such as 24 inches on center may be utilized. The studs 10 are attached to the top plate 12 a and bottom plate 12 b through the use of suitable screws 16. Once the partition wall 14 is framed utilizing the studs 10, top plate 12 a and bottom plate 12 b, a suitable wall covering material such as wall board 18 is attached to the partition wall utilizing suitable screws 20.
As illustrated in FIGS. 2, the metal stud 10 has a generally C-shaped rectangular cross-section with two parallel spaced apart side walls 22 and a central web 24 bridging the side walls 22. The side walls 22 terminate in inwardly turned ledges 26. The central web 24 has a main central section 24 a bordered by channel shaped ribs 24 b extending longitudinally of the stud 10. The longitudinal ribs 24 b extend outwardly of the central web of the stud 10 and aid in stiffening of the central web 24 of the stud 10.
The surface of the metal sheet from which the metal stud 10 or tracks 12 is formed is provided with a plurality of reinforcing structures to aid in stiffening of the metal from which the stud or track is formed. In one embodiment, the plurality of reinforcing structures include depressions 28 formed therein. The depressions may be provided non-symmetrically, on only selected surfaces of the stud such as the flanges. Preferably, the stud 10 is provided with the depressions 28 across the entire surface of the metal from which the stud is manufactured. As illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, the depressions 28 also aid in preventing slipping of a screw 20 as it is being driven into the metal stud 10 or track 12 irrespective of the direction in which the screw tip enters the depression 28. Typically as a screw 20 is being driven into the flange or side wall 22 of a stud 10 or track 12, the pressure of the screw tip tends to deflect the sidewall, allowing the screw tip to slip along the surface. As illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, the shaping and dimensions of the depressions 28 capture the screw tip, even when the sidewall 22 is deforming and significantly reduces or elimates the possibility of screw tip slippage.
In addition to the depressions 28, the metal from which the stud 10 or track 12 is formed is also preferably provided with a plurality of other non-symmetrical reinforcing structures. The term non-symmetrical reinforcing structure refers to reinforcing structures which do not extend the entire width of the framing member, but rather are only placed within a portion of the width of the surface of the framing member. In the embodiment illustrated, these structures are reinforcing projections such as ribs 30 which extend across at least a portion of the sheet from which the web of the framing member will be formed to further aid in stiffening of the material from which the stud 10 or track 12 is formed. The stud 10 illustrated in FIG. 2 has the ribs 30 arranged in an interrupted herringbone or chevron pattern, however, other patterns of the ribs such as a crossed diagonal or quilted pattern are also possible.
In this embodiment the ribs 30 are provided as chevron shapes and are formed only within the main central section 24 a of the central web 24. The ribs 30 do not extend into either the channel shaped ribs 24 b nor the sidewalls 22 and inwardly turned ledges 26. The sidewalls 22 of this embodiment of the stud 10 are provided with longitudinally extending ribs 29 which are inwardly directed to aid in stiffening of the sidewall 22.
The stud 10 is provided with longitudinally extending ribs 31 in the main central section 24 a of the central web 24. These longitudinally extending ribs 31 are formed in the stud 10 prior to the formation of the non-symmetrical reinforcing structures such as the ribs 30. In this embodiment of the stud 10 the ribs 30 are in a general Chevron shape. However they are separated into three sections, sections 30 a, 30 b and 30 c interrupted by the longitudinally extending rib 31. The non-symmetrical reinforcing structures do not extend into the longitudinally extending ribs in order that the longitudinally extending rib will hold the metal as the non-symmetrical reinforcing structures are being stretched into the material. As explained below, other patterns of the ribs 30 other than those illustrated may also be utilized.
The number and placement of the longitudinally extending ribs 31 in the main central section 24 a is selected based on the completed size of the stud. For example a 1⅝″ stud may be provided with one such longitudinally extending rib 31, a 2½″ stud may be provided with either one or two such ribs. As illustrated in FIG. 4 preferably a 3⅝″ or 4″ stud is provided with two such ribs while a 6″ or 8″ stud would be provided with three or four such ribs.
Each of the depressions 28, the non-symmetrical reinforcing ribs 30 and the longitudinly extending ribs 29 in the sidewalls are formed on the same surface of the material from which the stud 10 or track 12 is to be formed such that the depressions 28, longitudinly extending ribs 29 and reinforcing ribs 30 are oriented to the inside of the formed metal stud 10 or track 12. In this way, the depressions 28 and longitudinally extending ribs 29 and non-symmetrical reinforcing ribs 30 do not interfere with the placing of the metal stud 10 within the top 12 a and bottom plates 12 b nor do they interfere with the placement of the covering materials 18 on the formed walls 14. An additional benefit of the provision of the depressions 28 on both the stud 10 and track 12 is that as the stud 10 is placed within the track 12, the depressions 28 of the stud 10 and track 12 interlock to help hold the stud 10 in the desired location within the track 12 during the framing of the partition walls 14.
FIG. 5 illustrates a typical track 12 of the present invention which is utilized as a top track 12 a or bottom track 12 b in forming a partition wall 14. Track 12 has a generally rectangular U shape with two parallel spaced apart side walls 32 and a central web 34 bridging the side walls 32. Similar to the stud 10, the track 12 is provided with a plurality of depressions 28 formed therein to aid in stiffening of the metal from which the track 12 is formed. In addition to the depressions 28, the metal from which the track 12 is formed is also provided with a plurality of non-symmetrical reinforcing projections such as ribs 30 which extend across a portion of the central web 34 to further aid in stiffening of the material from which the track 12 is formed. Preferably, the ribs 30 are centrally located in the central web 34 and have a length of about 1 to 2 inches. As explained further below, the ribs 30 may also be utilized for indexing of the track length for ease of cutting the track 12 in the field to the desired length as well as for placement of the studs 10 at the proper spacing within the track 12. By providing the ribs 30 across only a portion of the central web 34 of the track 12, the ribs 30 do not interfere with the placement of the studs 10 within the track 12.
The processing of the metal sheet from which the stud 10 or track 12 is to be constructed will now be described. A metal sheet of a suitable thickness is passed through a cold roll forming apparatus having a first roller with a plurality of projections on its surface to press into the sheet metal material and form the depressions 28 in the surface of the material. The second roller of this roll forming apparatus has a surface provided with holes aligned with the projections on the surface of the first roller. In this way, the depressions 28 being formed by the rollers having aligned projections and holes have clearly defined edges 48 generally aligned with the plane of the metal sheet. This is illustrated in detail in FIG. 6 where it is shown that the edges 48 between the surface of the sheet material and the depressions 28 are clearly defined sharp corners. The provision of the clearly defined edges 48 generally aligned with the plane of the metal sheet allows a screw tip to be captured in the depression 28 at all angles and reduces or virtually eliminates any slipping of a screw 16 or 20 as it is being driven into the framing member.
The number, size, spacing and shape of the depressions 28 is selected to provide the desired reinforcement to the sheet material from which the stud or track will be formed. Preferably, as illustrated in the figures, the depressions 28 are provided as a series of rows offset from each other so that the depressions 28 form a diamond pattern on the surface of the sheet material. By offsetting the rows of depressions 28, the depressions 28 can be placed closer together, providing a larger number of depressions 28 on the metal sheet 38 increasing the reinforcement of the metal sheet 38 as well as further reducing the possibility of screw tip slippage. The spacing between the rows of depressions 28 is typically on the order of about 0.10 inches and the depressions 28 are spaced apart in the row about 0.20 inches. Thus, the depressions 28 adjacent each other in adjacent rows would be spaced apart about 0.144 inches. While these dimensions are preferred, variations of the dimensions may be used. While various shapes of the depressions can be selected such as circular, oval or diamond, preferably, each of the depressions 28 is circular in shape having a diameter of approximately 0.10 inches and a depth of approximately 0.03 to 0.06 inches deep, preferably about 0.04 to 0.05 inches deep. For a typical metal sheet 38, this results in the projections on the opposite side of the metal sheet 38 having a thickness of approximately 2-4 times the thickness of the metal sheet material.
After the depressions 28 are formed in the metal sheet, the metal sheet is passed through a second roll forming apparatus to form the longitudinally extending ribs 31. This roll forming apparatus is provided with a first roller having a circumferential projection to form the longitudinally extending rib 31. The second roller has a circumferential groove aligned with the circumferential projection of the first roller to form the ribs 31. In the embodiments illustrated, reinforcing rib 31 projects to the opposited side of the metal sheet as the depressions 28, however, reinforcing rib 31 may also be formed to project to the same side of the metal sheet as the depression 28.
Once the depressions 28 and longitudingly extending ribs 31 are formed in the metal sheet material, the metal sheet material is then passed through a third roll forming apparatus having a first roller with projections on its surface to form the reinforcing ribs 30 in the surface of the sheet material. This second apparatus also has a second roller which allows for a softer transition between the surface of the sheet material and the edges of the reinforcing ribs 30. The second roller could be provided with an enlarged opening to allow for air bending of the rib 30 or it could be provided with a compressible surface such as polyurethane. The use of such a second roller provides that the reinforcing ribs are not deformed and also that any of the depressions 28, especially those which are within the ribs 30 are not unduly deformed or flattened out as would be the case if the second roller was a hard material. Rather the depressions 28 remain generally intact within the interior of the reinforcing rib 30. This provides for further reinforcement to the metal sheet material 38 as well as retaining the screw gripping property of the depressions 28 within the rib 30. Preferably, to fully retain the screw gripping property of the rib 30, the rollers of the second apparatus are oriented such that a row of screw gripping depressions 28 will be present and formed in the apex of every rib 30.
As illustrated in the figures, preferably the ribs 30 have a width approximately 0.20 to 0.3 inches wide, preferably about 0.25 inches wide and a depth approximately 0.05 to 0.15 inches deep preferably about 0.1 inches deep.
Once the sheet material 38 has been passed through the roll forming apparatus to form the depressions 28 and reinforcing ribs 30 in the surface, it is then passed through the typical roll forming apparatus to form the final C-channel shape of the metal stud 10 or U-channel shape of the track 12. During this operation, the longitudinally extending ribs 29 are formed in the flange of the stud if desired.
While in the preferred embodiment illustrated, the reinforcing ribs 30 are a herringbone or chevron shape, other shapes of reinforcing ribs 30 may also be provided which will provide for the required stiffening of the sheet material 38. For the track 12, preferably the ribs 30 extend horizontally across only a portion of the surface of the material 38 from which the central web 34 of the track 12 is formed and do not extend to the sidewalls 32. The absence of ribs 30 adjacent to the sidewalls 32 of the track 12 allows for a better fit between the stud 10 and track 12 and better interlock of the stud and track depressions 28. By providing only depressions 28 in the vertically oriented sidewalls 32 of the track 12, the stud 10 and track 12 will interlock on assembly and the depressions 28 on the stud 10 and track 12 being equally spaced will also interlock providing free standing stud location until the screws 16 are applied to firmly join the stud 10 and track 12. In addition, by the proper spacing of the ribs 30, the ribs 30 may also be utilized for indexing of the track length for ease of cutting the track 12 in the field to the desired length as well as for placement of the studs 10 at the proper spacing within the track 12. For example, the ribs 30 could be provided every 1 inch along the length of the track 12 to provide a built in indexing ruler for the track. In addition, the length of the ribs 30 on the track may vary to provide an additional indexing. As the spacing of studs is generally either 16 or 24 inches on center, every fourth rib could be of a different length. For example, with ribs spaced every inch along the track, every fourth rib could be shorter than the other ribs to provide a 4 inch measure along the track. Alternatively, every fourth rib could be larger than the other rib.
The metal framing members of the present invention provide for a metal stud and track having increased strength compared to metal studs and tracks made from plain sheet material of the same thickness. In addition, the provision of the depressions on the surface of the metal framing member as well as the shaping of the depressions allows for capture of the tip of the screw as it is being driven through the metal framing member reducing the likelihood of the screw slipping along the surface of the metal framing member irrespective of angle at which the screw tip encounters the sidewall as a result of the sidewall deflection during assembly causing an angular intersection between the screw tip and the sidewall.
The provision of the longitudinally extending ribs in the web of the metal framing member such as a stud or track aids in reducing or eliminating the tendancy of the metal from which the metal framing member is formed to shrink locally as non-symmetrical reinforcing structures are being formed in the metal framing member. The shrinkage of the length of the metal as a result of the displacement of the metal into the non-symmetrical reinforcing structures gives rise to a tendancy of the metal framing member to become twisted. By providing the longitudinally extending ribs prior to the forming of the non-symmetrical reinforcing structures, the metal is not able to shrink locally causing a non-even shrinkage in length of the framing member. Rather, the reinforcing structures are instead stretched into the material. The material is held in place by the longitudinally extending ribs, thus maintaining the dimensional stability of the metal and reducing or eliminating the tendancy of the metal framing member to have localized shrinkage and become twisted.
Although various preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described herein in detail, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that variations may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention or scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A lightweight metal framing member formed from a sheet of metal having a plurality of non-symmetrical reinforcing structures on the surface thereof, the framing member having at least one longitudinally oriented rib extending the length of the framing member to aid in reducing localized shrinkage of the framing member at the non-symmetrical reinforcing structures.

2. A lightweight metal framing member according to claim 1 wherein the 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.

3. A lightweight metal framing member according to claim 2, wherein each of the depressions has a depth about 2 to 4 times the thickness of the metal from which the framing member is formed.

4. A lightweight metal framing member according to claim 3, wherein each of the depressions is round or knurled and has a diameter of about 0.10 inches.

5. A lightweight metal framing member according to claim 4, wherein the depressions are provided as a series of rows across the surface of the metal sheet from which the framing member was formed.

6. A lightweight metal framing member according to claim 6, wherein the rows of depressions are offset from each other so that the depressions form a diamond pattern on the surface of the sheet material from which the framing member was formed and may be located closer together.

7. A lightweight metal framing member according to claim 7, wherein 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.

8. A lightweight metal framing member according to claim 7, wherein the metal framing member is a metal stud having a generally rectangular C shaped cross section with two parallel spaced apart side walls and a central web bridging the side walls, said side walls terminating in inturned ledges, the longitudinally extending ribs being provided in the web of the stud.

9. A lightweight metal stud according to claim 8 wherein the stud is provided with rows of non-symmetrical reinforcing ribs extending across a portion of the web thereof, the ribs being inwardly oriented and cooperating to stiffen said metal stud.

10. A lightweight metal stud according to claim 9, wherein the web is provided with a plurality of non-symmetrical reinforcing ribs arranged across at least one half of the width of the web.

11. A lightweight metal stud according to claim 10, wherein the ribs have a width of about 0.20 to 0.3 inches wide, and a depth of about 0.05 to 0.15 inches deep.

12. A lightweight metal stud as claimed in claim 11 in which said central web comprises a main central section bordered by channel shaped ribs extending longitudinally of said stud, said longitudinal channel shaped ribs projecting beyond said main central web section in a direction opposite to the inwardly oriented rows of reinforcing ribs and projections.

13. A lightweight metal stud according to claim 12 wherein the ribs are arranged diagonally across the main central section of the web.

14. A lightweight metal stud according to claim 14 wherein said reinforcing ribs have a herringbone or quilted pattern.

15. A lightweight metal framing member according to claim 7, wherein the metal framing member is a metal track having a generally rectangular U shaped cross section with two parallel spaced apart side walls and a central web bridging the side walls.

16. A lightweight metal track according to claim 15 wherein the track is provided with rows of non-symmetrical reinforcing ribs extending across a portion of the web thereof, the ribs being inwardly oriented and cooperating to stiffen said metal stud.

17. A lightweight metal track according to claim 16, wherein the ribs have a width of about 0.20 to 0.3 inches wide, and a depth of about 0.05 to 0.15 inches deep.

18. A lightweight metal track according to claim 17 wherein the ribs are arranged horizontally across a central section of the web.

19. 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, passing the sheet material 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, and passing the sheet material through a third roll forming apparatus having rollers to form the metal framing member

20. The method of manufacturing the metal framing member according to claim 19 which 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 being 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.