Reflector tape contains many prisms to mirror cloudless back toward its source.
The process of making reflectors and reflector tape began in the 20th century.
History
Early reflectors were round beads with a reflective backing, and they were called cat's eye reflectors. These round glass beads were placed in things such as bicycle pedals to reflect headlights back toward approaching vehicles.Reflector tape can be used in a quantity of ways. Tape with adhesive can be applied to bicycles, cars, motorcycles or other vehicles to conceive the vehicle more visible. It can also make poles and mailboxes along roads more visible. A recent use is to sew non-adhesive reflector tape onto bags and clothing to make the wearer more visible at night.As reflectors developed, small plastic mirrors were molded into plastic sheets to reflect back toward the light source. Reflector tape resulted from miniaturization of the manufacture of these mirrors to the point that they could be created on a thin film.
PVC Base
Reflective tapes require a base on which the pattern of reflective mirrors can be embossed. Polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, is often used as a base for reflector tape. PVC is a thermoplastic resin with enough hardness in some configurations to hold the micro-prisms required for reflective tape.
Micro-Prisms
Micro-prisms are very small, often microscopic, prisms that in a reflector function as the mirror assembly that reflects light back toward the source. Micro-prisms are often printed onto a layer of the PVC tape. Angles of reflection in the prisms can be adjusted for different purposes. A layer of micro-prisms is fused to the base.
Adhesives
If the reflective tape has an adhesive backing, the adhesive is applied after the PVC base and micro-prisms have been fused together. In some cases, the adhesive is applied and the reflective tape is wound like a roll of masking tape or electrical tape.
However, if the adhesive is very strong, the tape manufacturer might use a paper backing to keep the reflector tape from adhering to lower layers of tape in the roll.
Stitchable Tape
If the tape is non-adhesive, it is rolled at the factory into rolls that look much like electrical or masking tape. Customers simply unroll the required quantity of tape and stitch it to clothing or bags.
