The prolonged cold snap continuing to cover the UK is causing some ‘tell tale signs’ with flexface signage! The expansion and contraction of any material due to changes in temperature, be it metal, wood, plastic or vinyl, is expected but the side effects can cause unsightly issues. When it comes to flexface signage systems you may start to see wrinkles in the stretched graphic skin. These fluctuations of temperature lessen the effects of the tensioned material around the edges.
Spot the gap
All flexface systems are not created equally however, and these wrinkles can be minimised or even avoided. Most tensioned systems on the market use small plastic strips to clip the graphic skin into the frame. These clips are placed at intervals along the frame with gaps between each of them. It’s therefore understandable that using bits of plastic snapped on top of smooth vinyl will inevitably require you to have to keep re-tensioning the fabric over time, especially with extreme fluctuations in temperature.
Full perimeter tension
For the perfect solution we had to eliminate the use of easily moveable plastic clips and seek to avoid any gaping around the framework. The result is our NovaFlex system, the only full perimeter tension product on the market. Step one is to easily thread thin aluminium rods along all edges of the material. This innovation eliminates any gaping which in turn, greatly reduces any pinching or creasing along the graphic. The second part of the puzzle was to avoid having to use just the power of your hands to create the tension.
Hold on tight!
The NovaFlex system employs a standard drill to create the tension evenly around the frame at a few key points. This creates a stable and highly taught skin eliminating any future re-tensioning maintenance, offering further time and cost savings. Other systems may also have to employ extra wires behind the skins to stop them flapping in high winds. In our case, our massively enhanced tension tool also allows for much bigger signs to be created that won’t flap due to the superior tensile properties of the NovaFlex system.
