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US 11,860,389 B2Granted
Complex retroreflective bead
AssigneeTundra Composites, LLC
InventorKurt Heikkila
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A retroreflective composite bead for highway marking having high retroreflectivity both when initially installed and over the bead lifetime, allowing vehicle drivers to see highway marking lines at night and in adverse conditions during nighttime. When installed the retroreflective beads essentially retroreflect the base color of the highway marking material in which the retroreflective beads are embedded. The beads comprise a larger bead with a coating of smaller particles heat bonded to its surface.
Claims13
A method of making a sintered retroreflective object comprising;
- a. coating a plurality of a central bead with an organo titanate, organo zirconate or organo boron interfacial modifier;
- b. mixing a plurality of peripheral glass microsphere components with the central beads to form an initial array of the peripheral components on the central bead;
- c. heat bonding the initial array of the central bead and peripheral glass microspheres at a temperature of 640 to 780° C. to make the sintered retroreflective object.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.