Glossary of Sign Terms & Definitions

Term	Definition
Acrylic	A type of translucent thermo plastic. Very rigid and long lasting, but not highly break resistant.
Acrysteel	A modified type of acrylic made by Aristech Acrylics. At least 4 times more impact resistant than acrylic, but won't yellow like polycarbonate.
Back Sprayed	To paint on the inside of a piece of plastic.
Corrugated background	A background that raises and lowers on regular intervals. Normally used with changeable copy track, the lowered area allows rain to wash dirt away from the tracks.
Debossed	To lower into. A face may have the letters cut out of the mold to allow the area for the letters to be Debossed into the pan. More expensive than embossing
Direct Bury	A pole that is buried in concrete below grade and extends up to the bottom of a sign. A pole setting on anchor bolts would not be direct buried.
Double Embossed	One layer, such as a plaque is embossed on top of the mold, then a second layer, such as letters, are embossed on top of the first layer.
Double Masking	Some colors can not be painted over other colors, If you spayed yellow letters over a blue background you would get a green background. So the face is masked twice. The first color is sprayed and then masked again before the second color is spayed.
DR	Rohm & Haas brand name for their modified acrylic. More impact resistant than acrylic but will not yellow like polycarbonate. Works well in the south but has issues with cold climates
Draw	Pan Depth. Our standard is 1 1/2" deep
Embossed	To raise above. Embossed letters are raised above the background.
Extrusion	A process in which material is heated to a molten form and pushed thru a die to make a shape
Female Mold	A Die that plastic is formed down into. Normally used on large runs of faces where the faces are already screen printed before they are formed. Cost prohibitive for only 1 or 2 faces.
Flange	The outer flat area of a pan face that slides into the retainer.
Flat Face	A flat sheet without a pan or embossed letters.
Formed	To take shape. See vacuum formed
Gussets	A Reinforcing plate used in a sign. A plate welded to a pole may have gussets welded to both to insure that the plate can't break away from the pole
Hanger Bar	A piece of plastic or metal attached to the flange of a sign face in order to keep it from coming out of the retainer. Normally used on the top center. Most extruded aluminum cabinets are designed to allow a hanger bar on the face.
J-Joint	A joining method of seaming or butting two pans together. A 24' pan face might be built in two 12' lengths with a J-Joint. The end of one face would be "cut back" and the opposite end of the other face (J) would slide under the cutback to form the seam.
Lexan	General Electrics brand name for their Polycarbonate plastic
Male Mold	A die that plastic is formed over.
Monument Sign	A low level free standing sign. Normally all evidence of poles are covered or hidden.
Opaque	To not allow any light to transmit thru. The opposite of translucent.
Pan Depth	How deep the mold is. Our standard is 1 1/2" deep. Faces 3" or deeper are run in female dies.
Pan Face	To raise the center area of a plastic face.
Photo Cell	A switch that turns on when dark and off in daylight.
Plexiglas	Rohm & Haas brand name for their acrylic plastic
Polycarbonate	The most break resistant and high impact type of plastic, but susceptible to yellowing and dulling with age. Not as rigid as acrylics.
Pylon Sign	A large freestanding sign structure.
Retainer	The part of the sign cabinet that keeps the sign face from falling out . Will be on all 4 sides of the face. Normally 1 1/2 to 2" tall
Saddle mount	To slide over. A sign cabinet will have a hole in it so that it slides over the pole and then can be welded to the internal steel of the frame (the saddle).
Section Modulus	The shear strength for steel poles and I-Beams can be measured in section modulus. Wind loads for signs can be mathematically calculated to show the section modulus needed.
Service Door	Access door in a sign cabinet for service.
Skin	The outer surface of an angle iron steel sign frame, normally a aluminum sheet that has been broken to fit.
Staytuff	A 1" thick corrugated material made by Spartech Plastics.
Top Surface Area (TSA)	The top of the mold. What is left after you deduct for the flange and the tapered edge of mold.
Translucent	To allow light to transmit thru
U.L. 48	Underwriters Laboratories 100 page book of sign standards that U.L. listed signs must meet.
U.L. Listed	Underwriters Laboratory, A private Listing company that inspects Electrical Devices and their construction. Many cities require signs to be listed.
U.V.	Ultraviolet light from the sun. While it has little effect on acrylics it has a detrimental effect on polycarbonate plastics.
U.V. Inhibitors	A material added to our polycarbonate material to reduce the effects of Ultraviolet rays from the sun.
V-3	A corrugated background on a face with 1" wide grooves every 3" leaving a 2" flat area for attaching track. A V-5 face would have a 1" groove every 5" with a 4" flat area for track.
Vacuum Formed	Plastic is heated until pliable and then placed over a die, vacuum is applied. When cooled the plastic holds the shape of the die.
Wind Load	A term for describing the design strength of a sign. Standard wind load is 30 PSF (pounds pr square foot), which can withstand winds up to 90 MPH