Patent ID: 8061099

Claim:
A wall structure comprising: a bottom horizontal track and a top horizontal track disposed generally parallel to each other, each one of the lower and upper horizontal tracks comprising: a web defining opposed longitudinal edges; and a pair of side walls extending generally perpendicularly from the opposed longitudinal edges of the web, the pair of side walls being generally parallel to each other; a vertical stud member comprising: a stationary portion defining a lower distal end portion and an upper distal end portion, the lower distal end portion attached to the bottom horizontal track, the stationary portion having a web and a pair of sidewalls, with the sidewalls having a width; and a telescoping portion defining a lower distal end portion and an upper distal end portion, the upper distal end portion attached to the top horizontal track, the lower distal end portion of the telescoping portion circumscribed by the upper distal end portion of the stationary portion and in telescopic engagement with the upper distal end portion of the stationary portion, the telescoping portion having a web and a pair of sidewalls, with each of the sidewalls of the telescoping portion having a width that is almost as wide as the width of the sidewalls of the stationary portion while allowing the telescoping portion to telescope within the stationary portion, the exterior of at least one of the pair of sidewalls having a recess extending along a longitudinal length of the telescoping portion, with the recess having a width that is almost as wide as the width of the at least one sidewall of the telescoping portion; drywall disposed adjacent a side of the vertical stud member; and a fastener having a length less than a sum of a thickness of the drywall, a thickness of the sidewall of the stationary portion and a depth of the recess formed in the exterior of the at least one sidewall of the telescoping portion, the fastener engaged to the drywall and the sidewall of the stationary portion and not attached to the sidewall of the telescoping portion; wherein the recess is so disposed in relation to the stationary portion as to allow the fastener to be fastened at any vertical position of the stationary portion with a tip of the fastener disposed in the recess without inadvertently securing the fastener to the telescoping portion, and as to allow the telescoping portion to telescope within the stationary portion over the longitudinal extent of the recess during variations in height from ceiling to floor when the fastener is fastened at any vertical position of the stationary portion with the tip of the fastener disposed in the recess.