History and Invention of Reflective Tape - Part 1

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Welcome to our Reflective Tape Information Channel. Sponsored by Reflective Incorporated, the Visibility Company. This video is Part 1 of our series on the history of reflective tape.
The need for Retro Reflective Devices that could be seen when hit by light at night came about from the introduction of the car into the modern world. From the beginning, automobiles came with lights. However, simply having lights on a dark road was not nearly enough to assure personal safety and prevent serious accidents. In the beginning, when cars traveled slow, it was not as much of an issue.
But as vehicles became more popular and much faster, it quickly became important to mark objects such as guardrails, signs, other vehicles, and the road itself so that drivers could safely navigate roads at night. You can see the importance of this by simply driving down a dark road that has no reflective elements. You can quickly see that headlights are not enough, especially if you are traveling at a mile a minute or more.
1906. Reflectors that bent light and returned it came about from inventors working with lenses and studying their light refracting capabilities. The earliest known patent for a device that was referred to as a reflector was granted to a German inventor named Rudolf Straubel in 1906. He gives evidence of earlier devices in his patent application, where he states that his invention is an improvement of Beck’s “triple mirror” system.
In his application, Straubel does not specify or make any claims that his invention is for traffic type applications. However, given the development of automobiles at that time, it is probable that he understood the relevance.The year nineteen twelve. Six years later, a patent was granted to a Robert Venner in the United Kingdom for what he outlined was a method of increasing the night time visibility of signs and word panels.
Signs were being used on roads at this point, and the general principle of his invention was to affix glass spheres in grooves or indentions on the surface of a sign, normally the outer perimeter area, so that it would be visible in one or more directions by light bounced back from the glass beads.
1920's. Large glass beads that naturally reflect light back to a driver, began to be used to mark words on signs. So instead of just marking the edge of a sign, this new method marked the actual words. The beads were from 10 to 20 millimeters in size and quite large. They effectively reflected light back to the source. Light would enter the large beads, reflect off the backside, and return in a parallel but opposite direction from which it came.
The year nineteen twenty seven. An inventor from the United Kingdom named Percy Shaw patented a device he described as Cats Eyes or Cataphote Reflectors. This was a great improvement over the glass spheres placed in grooves on the edges or words of signs. Much like a diamond ring, cataphotes were glass beads placed in a setting. This allowed the manufacturer to control the performance of the reflector, which resulted in better photometrics.