Method of assembling a tensile fabric arrangement

#This is the U.S. National Stage of PCT/GB2009/000429 filed Feb. 18, 2009, which in turn claims priority to Great Britain Application No. 0802928.2, filed Feb. 18, 2008, the entire contents of both applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

#This invention relates to a method of assembling a tensile fabric arrangement, to a tensile structural assembly which can be used for creating the tensile fabric arrangement, and to tensioned structures, such as tensile fabric or filmic structures for e.g. billboards, shelters and canopies, and tensioned linear structures such as hoisted flags or banners.

#Methods of assembling tensile fabric arrangements, such as tensioned fabric or filmic printed materials for billboards, have been known for over 100 years. The old-fashioned method of using a bucket of paste to adhere posters to billboards is still widely used to this day, even though it requires the use of a ladder and is time-consuming and awkward. Adhering the pieces to the surface and lining them up to create the desired picture usually takes about 20 minutes to complete. However, health and safety regulations have recently been implemented which restrict or prevent people climbing ladders to attach the posters to the billboards without the aid of safety equipment.

#Reference is made to the following Figures, which are intended to be illustrative only and in no way limiting upon the scope of the invention.

#FIG. 1 shows an elevation of a billboard structure.

#FIG. 2 shows a cross-section through the billboard structure of FIG. 1.

#FIG. 1 is a general elevation of a billboard tensile structure comprising surface 50 with tie 20, being a membrane tie 21 comprising graphic design 27 fixed to the surface 50 by means of discrete connections 15, which may be effected from access area 90, as also shown in cross-section in FIG. 2.

#The discrete connections 15 comprise a guide hook 40, shown in FIG. 3, fixed to surface 50 through screw holes 47. In FIG. 3, the guide hook 40 comprises a guide section 42, typically of substantially uniform cross-section, and a hook section 44. The guide hook 40 is also illustrated in cross-section Y-Y in FIGS. 4 and 5.

#FIG. 6 is an example of a rectangular cross-section of the guide section 42 of the guide hook 40.