in fig1 - 6 a number of possible combinations of press - welded metal strips are shown . in fig1 the components which are of the same breadth and thickness are placed one above the other and are welded together in the vicinity of one edge . the components in fig2 have different breadths and thicknesses . in fig3 the components are offset , one component being welded in the vicinity of one edge to the other component in the vicinity of one edge , the two edge vicinities overlapping . in fig4 three components are welded together , the central component being welded in the vicinity of its opposite edges to the end components in the vicinity of their respective edges , the edges overlapping . these components may have different breadths and thicknesses and may be arranged side - by - side offset . in fig5 the components are welded together in the vicinities of their opposite edges while in fig6 they are welded additionally in an area intermediate their opposite edges . not only may the components have different dimensions but the composition of the components may differ provided , of course , the compositions are suitable for welding . apart from the positions shown , the components may also be joined together vertically or in any other desired relative angular position . the most suitable positions of the components relative to each other at the moment of welding is governed essentially by the required deformation conditions . for the sake of simplicity , in fig7 - 11 the various possible combinations of hot - shaping in the vicinity of the press - welding and occurring at the same time as this welding , are shown with reference only to the arrangement shown in fig1 . it will be understood that these examples as well as the other examples which follow are concerned only with a limited selection of possible shapes or configurations . in fig1 - 14 the possible shapes or configurations formed during the subsequent cold - shaping are shown only with reference to the profile member illustrated in fig7 . in fig1 and 16 u - shaped profile members are shown , the profile members having been produced from the cross - sectional shape of fig1 , wherein deformations at a right angle to the direction of feed of the profile member which may be effected by hot - shaping are illustrated . in fig1 - 19 special profile members are shown which are produced from components arranged as shown in fig2 . these are profile members which have a thicker base . it is possible to confer additionally some other configuration to this base by hot - shaping . this also applies to the profile members of fig2 - 22 which have thicker intermediate portions and which are produced mainly from components as shown in fig3 . due to the thicker portions produced by stamping towards the extremities , the cross - sections shown in fig2 and 24 possess favorable static qualities . fig2 shows a u - shaped profile member of dove - tail cross - section obtained by hot - shaping . the profile members of fig2 - 25 are preferably produced from components consisting of three strips welded together as illustrated in fig4 . fig2 and 27 illustrate hollow bodies which may be produced from the components illustrated in fig5 and 6 . the material here is basically thin strip material which is simply joined together by press - welding and which may , in certain cases , also be hot - shaped in the area of the press - weld . these are cut into convenient lengths during continuous operation , whereas in the case of the double strips which are required to undergo a further cold - rolling or heat treatment these are wound into coils . the shaping of these strip materials which are under approximately 1 mm thick to form hollow bodies is carried out in a separate work operation preferably by expanding by means of pneumatic or hydraulic media . the hollow bodies illustrated in fig2 - 30 are produced from thicker materials . in fig2 , for example , only one strip component is cold - formed to a trapezoidal profile which is then welded to an unformed thicker component forming the base of the hollow profile member . in the case of fig2 and 30 the two halves , which are preformed either symmetrically or unsymmetrically , are joined together at the points shown by shading . these areas as will be seen from fig3 are not only grooved to give a right - angled flange portion but may also be hot - shaped into more distinctive forms . it will be appreciated that varied hollow profile members may be produced with one or more completely separate hollow areas , the hollow profile members being characterized essentially by weld connections located outside the hollow areas and / or further shaped connections . in fig3 an example of an open profile member is shown which is produced by welding at least one cold preformed area of a strip component to a second unformed component at a point remote from the edge of the second component . it may also be necessary to join together two or possibly even more than two cold preformed components whereupon these are simply cut into convenient lengths without further operations , in particular further cold - shaping operations . such requirements arise basically from the geometry of the desired end cross - sections which may be too bulky for the subsequent end - profiling or too complicated . examples of this are shown in fig3 and 33 . a preferred method and apparatus for carrying out the invention is set forth diagrammatically in fig3 . continuous bands or strip - like materials 1 and 2 are drawn from coils 3 and 4 , each passing through a straightening machine 5 , 6 and both a shearing machine 7 , 8 and a welding device 9 , 10 for joining the ends of bands or strip - like material of successive coils . the bands or strip - like material then pass through a band - storage apparatus 11 , 12 shown here with the band material arranged in loops . the band storage devices are required to ensure that during the joining of the ends of the bands of successive coils the continuous supply of material to the welding hot - shaping operations is maintained uniform and not interrupted . the arrangement shown for each component strip as a separate band - treatment until may be situated side - by - side , behind one another or above each other depending upon particular requirements and / or conditions . from the band - treatment units the component strips 1 and 2 are fed into a common profile - rolling mill 13 . in this mill the component strips may be cold - formed , preformed or fully formed . this may be carried out for both component strips 1 and 2 in the same shaping stands or in separate stands . it may be advantageous if the shaping stands of the profile rolling mill 13 are equipped with separate drive units having stepless control means to ensure absolutely smooth synchronized movement of the two component strips 1 and 2 . if no cold - shaping is required before the joining process , the profile - rolling mill 13 may serve merely for guiding and transporting the strip material . it is immaterial whether each component strip is guided by a separate profile - rolling mill or , in the case where preforming is unnecessary , simply by pairs of drive rollers . after passing through the profile - rolling mill 13 , the component strips 1 and 2 are directed away from each other and are brought into positions for subsequent heat - treatment , hot - shaping and cold - deformation by means of the guide rollers 14 and 15 which are not driven . for heat treatment purposes , a medium - frequency induction system is preferably employed in which the inductors are designed , according to the particular position of the zone to be heated , either as a linear inductor 25 ( fig3 ) or as a tunnel inductor 26 for the band - edge zone ( fig3 ). heating to welding temperature may be assisted by a supply of oxygen projected through jets upon the zones to be heated . the component strips 1 and 2 are then brought together again by pairs of rollers 18 and 19 which are not driven and which , in certain circumstances , may carry out at the same time certain simple deformation operations . this is followed by the press - welding in conjunction with the hot - shaping in the grooves of the pairs of rollers 20 . the rollers 20 which assume the form of shaping rollers are arranged horizontally , vertically , or in any desired angular position or even in the form of matrices . to improve the quality of the press - welds , which are in some instances relatively broad , it is recommended that the component strips 1 and 2 be shielded from the atmosphere which may cause deterioration . this may be accomplished by providing a zone of protective gas between the heating and press - welding operations . following the press - welding and hot - shaping , there is preferably means for controlled cooling to a predetermined residual heat of the now completed section 21 , this being indicated in the diagrammatic sketch as a water - spray chamber 22 . other types of cooling means may be employed , however , as for example a water - bath or air flue . the section 21 is then conveyed to a further profile - rolling mill 23 which together with the mill 13 is responsible by means of its powered rollers for ensuring that the conveyance of the strip material through the entire plant takes place in a smooth synchronized manner . in the profile - rolling mill 23 the various stages of cold - deformation are carried out leading to the final form or cross - section . the cold - deformation should take place at a temperature above room temperature which has a favorable affect on the deformation while at the same time deformation stresses which occur in the course of normal cold - deformation are alleviated . if after press - welding and hot - shaping further cold - deformation is unnecessary , the profile - rolling mill 23 may serve merely for straightening and for profiling operations . after the cold deformation and possibly also further cooling before straightening , the completed profile member is cut to predetermined lengths by means of a shearing device 24 . fig3 a to 37e illustrate diagrammatically a sequence of steps for the production of a u - shaped profile member with a t - shaped bead at the base of the u . fig3 a shows in perspective how the two unformed strip components 29 and 30 , heated at points 31 and 32 to welding temperature , are brought together in a curved state by guide means which are not shown in the figure . using the same guide means , the strip component in fig3 b is slightly bent off at the edge of the heating zone by the upper shaft 33 and lower shafts 34 - 36 . in fig3 c a press - welding operation is effected by a roller 37 and the horizontal discs 38 and 39 . a drop - like bead formation 40 is produced at the same time . since the roller - gap is open , the flow of material is uninterrupted . only at the stage illustrated in fig3 d does the final hot - deformation forming the t - shaped bead 28 take place in a closed groove comprising the vertically rotating rollers 41 and 42 and the horizontal discs 43 and 44 . in the profile - rolling mill 23 of fig3 the composite section receives its final u - shape as illustrated in fig3 e after undergoing the cold - deformation steps f - k which , for the sake of simplicity , are shown as broken lines . fig3 a to 38j is a simplified diagrammatic illustration of the process of manufacture of a hollow profile member corresponding to fig3 . the stages a to e occur in the profile - rolling mill 13 for the production of the two half - profile members 45 and 46 which in stages f and g are then rotated through 90 ° by guide rollers 14 and 15 . at stage h heat treatment is effected by the tunnel inductors 47 - 50 , at stage i the press - welding and preliminary hot - shaping take place and finally at stage j the final shaping of the t - shaped bead is carried out in a continuous operation . the wide range of possible types of deformation involves variations in the disposition of the various devices in the layout of the manufacturing process . the above description is necessarily restricted to only a small number of examples . as in all deformation systems , it is recommended for reasons of economy that for particular profile groups differing in their geometry and dimensions appropriate methods of operation with suitable apparatus for each function should be used in keeping with the principles of the present invention . while the invention has been illustrated in some detail according to the preferred embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings , and while the preferred embodiments have been described in some detail , there is no intention to thus limit the invention to such detail . it is intended to cover all modifications , alterations and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the attended claims .