Cats Eyes Road Inventor

Cats Eyes In The Future.

Cats eyes road inventor. Wiki Percy_Shaw. What if I called them cats eyes those glass balls set into road surfaces which reflect a cars headlights at night. The light reflecting from the eyes of a cat.

He patented the reflective road stud or cats eye in 1934 and set up a company to manufacture his invention in 1935. Glenda Shaw Glenda Shaw shared the story of Percy Shaw inventor of the reflecting road studs we call Cats Eyes with Hebden Bridge Local History Society and showed how he became a Yorkshire icon. Neither had I until I came to write this article.

He is best known for inventing the cats eye the reflective block that is set into roads to make it easier for motorists to identify the division between lanes and the edges of the roads at night. Realising that driving at night was becoming a more common occurrence the inventor in Shaw decided that something needed to be done to make the roads safer at night. Cats eyes are now set in rubber domes that are mounted in an iron housing.

His inspiration came from how car headlights reflect off road signs. Enabling vehicles to travel in the dark the fog and during the blackout of World War II whilst helping to save numerous lives on the UKs roads the invention of the cats eye is credited to Percy Shaw. Photos in the public domain.

Fascinating 1960s documentary on Yorkshire eccentric Percy Shaw - the inventor of Cats Eyes. Eventually cats eye reflector was caught. The inventor called them cats eyes because thats where he got the idea from.

After many attempts at the design he applied for a patent in 1934. Intelligent cats eyes latest developments His invention and patent of 1935 for two self- cleaning glass and metal beads. Percy Shaw OBE was an English inventor and businessman.