Expanded metal and process of making the same

Abstract

An expanded metal is provided including a plurality of integral strands defining diamond shapes, each diamond shape having a long dimension as measured from two opposing vertices and a short dimension, generally transverse to the long direction, as measured between two other opposing vertices, such that the long dimension is less than twice the short dimension.

1 . A method of forming expanded metal comprising:
 slitting a sheet of metal with a cutting die preliminarily expanding said metal sheet along a direction forming a preliminarily expanded metal comprising a plurality of integral strands defining a plurality of diamond shapes, each diamond shape of said plurality of diamond shapes having a first dimension as measured between two opposing vertices and a second dimension, generally transverse to the first dimension, as measured between two other opposing vertices, wherein the second dimension is along the direction of expansion; and   stretching the preliminarily expanded metal by at least 15% per linear dimensional unit.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein stretching comprises stretching the expanded metal by at least 30% per linear dimensional unit. 
     
     
         3 . (canceled) 
     
     
         4 . (canceled) 
     
     
         5 . (canceled) 
     
     
         6 . (canceled) 
     
     
         7 . (canceled) 
     
     
         8 . A method of forming expanded metal comprising:
 shearing portions of a sheet of metal with a cutting die to preliminarily expand said metal along a direction forming a preliminarily expanded metal comprising a plurality of integral strands defining a plurality of diamond shapes, each diamond shape having a first dimension as measured from two opposing vertices and a second dimension, generally transverse to the first dimension, as measured between two other opposing vertices, wherein said second dimension is along said direction of expansion, wherein the cutting die comprises a plurality of blades, each blade having opposite converging sides extending at opposite angles relative to a common straight line, wherein said angles are each less than 30°; and   stretching the preliminarily expanded metal along by an amount sufficient to render the second dimension more than half of the first dimension.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein stretching comprises stretching the preliminarily expanded metal by an amount sufficient to render the short dimension about equal the long dimension. 
     
     
         10 . (canceled) 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein said angles are each 26°. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein said angles are each 22°. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein each blade comprises a width greater than 1.25 inches. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein each blade comprises a width of 1.33 inches. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein each blade comprises a width of 1.5 inches. 
     
     
         16 . (canceled) 
     
     
         17 . (canceled) 
     
     
         18 . (canceled) 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein each blade comprises a width of 1.33 inches. 
     
     
         20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein each blade comprises a width of 1.5 inches. 
     
     
         22 . (canceled) 
     
     
         23 . (canceled) 
     
     
         24 . (canceled) 
     
     
         25 . (canceled) 
     
     
         26 . (canceled) 
     
     
         27 . (canceled) 
     
     
         28 . (canceled) 
     
     
         29 . (canceled) 
     
     
         30 . (canceled) 
     
     
         31 . (canceled) 
     
     
         32 . (canceled) 
     
     
         33 . (canceled) 
     
     
         34 . (canceled) 
     
     
         35 . (canceled) 
     
     
         36 . (canceled) 
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein stretching comprises stretching the expanded metal by at least 25% per linear dimensional unit. 
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein stretching comprises stretching the expanded metal by at least 28% per linear dimensional unit. 
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein stretching comprises stretching the preliminarily expanded metal until the first dimension is decreased by at least 15%. 
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein stretching comprises stretching the preliminarily expanded metal until the first dimension is decreased by at least 18.8%. 
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein stretching comprises increasing the length of each strand. 
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein stretching comprises stretching the preliminarily expanded metal along by an amount sufficient to render the second dimension more than half of the first dimension. 
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein stretching comprises stretching the preliminarily expanded metal along by an amount sufficient to render the second dimension about equal to first dimension. 
     
     
         44 . A method of forming expanded metal comprising:
 slitting a sheet of metal with a cutting die preliminarily expanding said sheet of metal along a direction forming a preliminarily expanded metal comprising a plurality of integral strands defining a plurality of diamond shapes, each diamond shape of said plurality of diamond shapes having a first dimension as measured between two opposing vertices and a second dimension, generally transverse to the first dimension, as measured between two other opposing vertices, wherein the second dimension is along the direction of expansion; and   stretching the preliminarily expanded metal until the first dimension is decreased by at least 15%.   
     
     
         45 . The method of  claim 44 , wherein stretching comprises stretching the preliminarily expanded metal until the first dimension is decreased by at least 18%. 
     
     
         46 . The method of  claim 44 , wherein stretching comprises stretching the preliminarily expanded metal until the first dimension is decreased by at least 18.8%. 
     
     
         47 . The method of  claim 44 , wherein stretching comprises stretching the preliminarily expanded metal until the first dimension is decreased by at least 20%. 
     
     
         48 . The method of  claim 44 , wherein stretching comprises stretching the preliminarily expanded metal until the first dimension is decreased by at least 23%. 
     
     
         49 . The method of  claim 44 , wherein stretching comprises stretching the preliminarily expanded metal until the first dimension is decreased by at least 25%. 
     
     
         50 . The method of  claim 44 , wherein stretching comprises stretching the preliminarily expanded metal along by an amount sufficient to render the second dimension more than half of the first dimension. 
     
     
         51 . The method of  claim 44 , wherein stretching comprises stretching the preliminarily expanded metal along by an amount sufficient to render the second dimension about equal to first dimension. 
     
     
         52 . A method of forming expanded metal comprising:
 shearing portions of a sheet of metal with a cutting die to preliminarily expand said metal along a direction forming a preliminarily expanded metal comprising a plurality of integral strands defining a plurality of diamond shapes, each diamond shape having a first dimension as measured from two opposing vertices and a second dimension, generally transverse to the first dimension, as measured between two other opposing vertices, wherein said second dimension is along said direction of expansion, wherein the cutting die comprises a plurality of blades, each blade having a width greater than 1.25 inches; and   stretching the preliminarily expanded metal along by an amount sufficient to render the second dimension more than half of the first dimension.   
     
     
         53 . The method of  claim 52 , wherein each blade comprises a width of 1.33 inches. 
     
     
         54 . The method of  claim 52 , wherein each blade comprises a width of 1.5 inches. 
     
     
         55 . The method of  claim 52 , wherein stretching comprises stretching the preliminarily expanded metal along by an amount sufficient to render the second dimension about equal to first dimension.