Percy Shaw (1890-1976)

Percy Shaw was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England in 1890. He was the son of a dyer’s laborer, but always had the seed of invention in him. AT the age of 14, he worked as a road mender.


In the early part of the 20th century, he noticed the increasing problem of pollution (industrial pollution) caused a problem on the roads: the tramlines would disappear when the fog from pollution came. The fog would sometimes be so thick that the tramlines could not be seen within a few feet. Recognizing the problem, Shaw used his inventive mind to find a solution.

Shaw came up with the idea of marking the road ahead to make it visible for drivers. In 1935 he invented reflective road markers he called “Catseyes”. This simple device was essentially a flexible rubber dome (which could be deformed if run over by traffic) with a four glass beads placed in two pairs facing in opposite directions. All this was set in a cast iron base, which was almost indestructible. A convenient self cleaning device was even placed on the Catseyes. The cast iron base would collect water, and whenever the top of the dome was depressed, it would wash away the water. This works along the same methodology as the human eye, which washes away excess tear with eyelids.

His invention was such a success that he was able to open up his own shop selling his invention that he named Reflecting Roadstuds Ltd in Boothtown in 1936.

Information:

http://www.designmuseum.org/design/percy-shaw
http://www.design-technology.info/inventors/page14.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat's_eye_(road)

Pictures:

http://www.designmuseum.org/media/item/5245/-1/150_1Lg.jpg
http://z.about.com/d/inventors/1/8/y/_/catseye.jpg
http://www.41club.org/Pages/2005/PastPresidents/thumbnails/1949-50%20Percy%20A%20Shaw_jpg.jpg
http://www.icons.org.uk/nom/nominations/cat-s-eye/image_mini