You are here:
About.com

FREE Newsletter

 
Inventors
click for more images
Catseye Road Stud
One Version of the Catseye Road Stud
Provided by Dreamstime
Newsletters & RSSEmail to a friendAdd to del.icio.us

Catseye Road Studs - Percy Shaw 18901976

From Mary Bellis,
Your Guide to Inventors.
FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!

Catseyes are the road reflectors which help drivers see in the fog or at night.

In 1934, Percy Shaw patented Catseye road studs. Catseyes are the road reflectors which help drivers see the road in the fog or at night. In 1947, British, Labor Junior Transport Minister Jim Callaghan introduced catseyes on British roads.

Percy Shaw

Manufacturer and inventor, Percy Shaw was born on 15 April 1890 in Halifax, England. After attending the Boothtown boarding school, Percy Shaw began working as a laborer at a blanket mill at the age of thirteen, however, he studied shorthand and bookkeeping at night school. He started a repair business with his father fixing rollers, which evolved into a path and driveway building business. He designed a miniature motorized roller to aid him in building driveways and paths.

Catseye Road Studs

The area in which Percy Shaw lived was prone to fog and the local roads were often hazardous for motorists. Shaw decided to invent reflecting studs that would be set into the surface of unlit roads. He was inspired by the reflection of car headlights in road signs.

Percy Shaw patented his Maltese cross-shaped road studs (U.K patent #436,290 and #457,536) and trademarked the name Catseye. He formed the Reflecting Roadstuds Ltd to manufacture the new Catseye road studs, however, sales were sluggish until the Ministry of Transport mandated Catseyes for British roads.

{h3]Continue > History of Road Building

Important disclaimer information about this About site.


 
All Topics | Email Article | |
Our Story | Be a Guide | Advertising Info | News & Events | Work at About | Site Map | Reprints | Help
User Agreement | Ethics Policy | Patent Info. | Privacy Policy | Kids' Privacy Policy

©2006 About, Inc., A part of The New York Times Company. All rights reserved.
Mental Health

Depression Self-Test Vitamins for Depression? Bipolar Red Flags Coping With Disasters Celebrities With Bipolar

What's Hot

Gyroscopes - Elmer Sperry and Charles Stark Draper Gyroscope...Angel AlcalaThe History of the BikiniRusi Taleyarkhan Jack Johnson