The Science of Color as it Pertains to Retro Reflective Signs Color is a universal language. At traffic lights across the country and around the world, drivers understand to stop on red and to go on green. For signs, drivers recognize yellow as caution, red as stop, white as the speed limit, and green as …
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Technical data sheets on retro reflective tape often reference the terms “Entrance Angle” and “Observation Angle”. Normally something to the effect of – (Observation Angle : .20 / Entrance Angle : -4) or (Observation Angle – .50 / Entrance Angle : 30), where the observation metric is normally very small, and the entrance metric being …
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The Beginning of Reflective Signs – (www.tapedealer.com) The history of reflective elements on signage began with the creation of the Cataphote or glass cats eye by an inventor named Percy Shaw. The little glass cataphotes were used in the center of roadways, and also on signs themselves. Up until this time, signs were painted in …
History of Reflective Paint – (www.tapedealer.com) Who actually invented reflective paint? The following outlines the invention and advancement of ready mixed Retro Reflective Coatings (also known as Reflective Paints) from their inception until now. Ready mixed simply means that the reflective glass spheres are already in the paint mix, making the application a one …
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Brightest Reflective Tape – (www.tapedealer.com) I have people contact me all the time asking the question “Which reflective tape is the brightest?”. The quick and easy answer to this question would be a white or silver colored micro prismatic retro-reflective tape. Oralite SOLAS would be an example of this grade and color of tape. It …
Reflective Tape Overview – (www.tapedealer.com) Retro reflective tape is defined as a film that through the use of glass spheres or man made prisms, reflects light or radiation back to its source. Glass bead tapes reflect using microscopic glass beads that act as parabolas and direct light back to where it came from. Prismatic tapes …
How Glass Bead and Micro-Prismatic Reflective Tapes Are Made – www.tapedealer.com Reflective tape is made using machines that bond together multiple layers of material into one film. There are two main types of reflective tape, glass bead and micro-prismatic. They reflect in two different ways but are made in similar fashion with glass bead tape …
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The Difference Between Retro Reflective and Reflective – (www.tapedealer.com) The word “retro” is the key to understanding the difference between a reflective surface like a mirror, and a retro reflective surface like a bike or automobile reflector. Retro means to go back or backward. In the reflective tape industry it means to return light back …
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Retro Reflective Tape History -(www.tapedealer.com) (Summary – 3m invented glass bead reflective tape in the 1930’s and Reflexite invented micro-prismatic reflective in the 1960’s.) Lets start with the basics. Reflectivity was not invented. It has always been present in nature. Light bouncing off of objects is why we are able to see those objects. Retro-Reflectivity …
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Definition of Retro Reflective Tape – (www.tapedealer.com) By definition, retro reflective tape is a film that either through the use of glass spheres or man made prisms, reflects light or radiation back to its source. (Source – Cambridge English Dictionary) This seems like a simple task but in fact it is quite complicated. Just like …