Report to M Harrison & Co (Leeds) Ltd.

S F Bush

Summary

The current status of the Kingray reflecting road-stud project has been examined to assess (a) its current problems, and (b) its viability as a manufactured product. The project now consists of (i) a design, (ii) a manufacturing procedure, (iii) six moulds for injection moulding the stud components, (iv) a system for rapid installation in roads, and (v) some knowhow distributed over various individuals.

The broad conclusions, detailed below, are that, subject to some qualifications, (a) the Kingray has the potential of a high performance road-stud and (b) it can be made at a competitive price. The main qualification is that proper production engineering effort, backed by some polymer engineering knowhow will have to be applied to get the quality uniformity necessary for a mass produced article at an acceptably low scrap rate.

The main quality problems centre on the reflector, on which fundamentally the whole invention rests. The report also examines therefore an alternative design in which the proven reflectors in the well-known cats-eye studs are mounted in a stud of the Kingray cylindrical type, i.e. compatible with the system (iv) of rapid road installation. While detailed design remains to be done, this approach seems entirely feasible, offering potential advantages over both cats-eyes and Kingray.