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US 9,376,816 B2Granted
Jointed metal member
OwnerScott J. Anderson, Jeffrey A. Andersoninventors
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In one aspect, a metal construction member can include at least two metal strips. Each metal strip can have a continuous nonlinear pattern along one lengthwise edge of the strip, where the continuous nonlinear pattern can include a plurality of repeating units. Each repeating unit can include at least one joining region, which can protrude away from a lengthwise axis of the metal strip. At least one of the metal strips can be joined to at least one other metal strip at a plurality of adjacent joining regions.
Claims28
A metal construction member, comprising:
- at least two metal strips, each metal strip having a continuous nonlinear pattern along an at least one lengthwise edge of the strip wherein the at least two metal strips include all of the metal from a single metal sheet,
- wherein the continuous nonlinear pattern includes a plurality of repeating units that are void-free and each repeating unit includes a plurality of straight lengths and an at least one joining region having a straight length that is a portion of a length of the repeating unit and which protrudes away from a lengthwise axis of the metal strip, and at least one of the metal strips are joined to at least one other metal strip at a plurality of adjacent joining regions and the at least two metal strips include a reinforcement across the at least one joining region, wherein the reinforcement is a bead or flange formed from the two metal strips, wherein the plurality of adjacent joining regions of the first metal strip are joined with the plurality of adjacent joining regions of the second metal strip creates a plurality of voids, wherein the plurality of voids are defined by the continuous nonlinear pattern of a first metal strip and the continuous nonlinear pattern of a second metal strip.
A method of building a structure comprising:
- placing a metal construction member in a portion of a structure,
- wherein the metal construction member includes at least two metal strips, each metal strip having a continuous nonlinear pattern along an at least one lengthwise edge of the strip, wherein the at least two metal strips include all of the metal from a single metal sheet,
- wherein the continuous nonlinear pattern includes a plurality of repeating units that are void-free, and each repeating unit includes a plurality of straight lengths and at least one joining region having a straight length that is a portion of a length of the repeating unit and which protrudes away from a lengthwise axis of the metal strip, and at least one of the metal strips is joined to at least one other metal strip at a plurality of adjacent joining region and the at least two metal strips include a reinforcement across the at least one joining region, wherein the reinforcement is a bead or flange formed from the two metal strips, wherein the plurality of adjacent joining regions of the first metal strip are joined with the plurality of adjacent joining regions of the second metal strip creates a plurality of voids, wherein the plurality of voids are defined by the continuous nonlinear pattern of a first metal strip and the continuous nonlinear pattern of a second metal strip.
A method of manufacturing a metal construction member comprising:
- forming at least two metal strips, each metal strip having a continuous nonlinear pattern along an at least one lengthwise edge of the strip, wherein the at least two metal strips include all of the metal from a single metal sheet,
- wherein the continuous nonlinear pattern includes a plurality of repeating units that are void-free and each repeating unit includes plurality of straight lengths and at least one joining region having a straight length that is a portion of a length of the repeating unit and which protrudes away from a lengthwise axis of the metal strip,
- aligning a plurality of adjacent joining regions of one metal strip with a plurality of adjacent joining regions of the other metal strip;
- and
- joining at least one metal strip to at least one other metal strip at the plurality of adjacent joining regions, thereby forming the metal construction member wherein the at least two metal strips include a reinforcement across the at least one joining region, and the reinforcement is a bead or flange formed from the two metal strips wherein joining the plurality of adjacent joining regions of the first metal strip with the plurality of adjacent joining regions of the second metal strip creates a plurality of voids, wherein the plurality of voids are defined by the continuous nonlinear pattern of a first metal strip and the continuous nonlinear pattern of a second metal strip.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.