Cats Eyes Road Inventor

Percy Shaw s Catseye road studs are an example of how patents and trade marks can be the foundation for a successful business the firm he founded is still thriving decades later.

Cats eyes road inventor. The beads depressed and brushed against their moulded housing and cleaned too by rainwater squeezed out at the same time as traffic ran over the inserts placed into the road surface was ingenious and made a fortune for Shaw. He patented the reflective road stud or cats eye in 1934 and set up a company to manufacture his invention in 1935. British inventor Percy shaw created many gadgets but he is most widely recognized for his contribution to road safety.

He patented the reflective road stud or cats eye in 1934 and set up a company to manufacture his invention in 1935. Percy Shaw inventor of the cats eyes road safety device outside his factory in Boothtown Halifax. Photos in the public domain.

Percy Shaw OBE 15 April 1890 1 September 1976 was an English inventor and businessman. A clever little feature of cats eyes is a fixed rubber wiper that cleans the surface of the reflectors every time the rubber casing dips down. The name cats eye comes from Shaws inspiration for the device.

Natures inventiveness often inspires human innovation as in the well-known case of hook-and-loop fasteners. Cats Eyes In The Future. Never heard of them.

After many attempts at the design he applied for a patent in 1934. 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. Jim Rees tells the story of Percy Shaw the inventor of Cats Eyes Arent reflecting roadstuds wonderful.

This simple invention is still in use today and with more and more traffic on the roads is more important than ever in defining where the centre of a road is. The History of Cats Eyes. Percy Shaw was a British businessman and inventor.