TRANSPORTATION LIGHTING 13-31

of a cube, form a mirror system such that any ray of light which has been
successively reflected from all three surfaces will be exactly reversed in
direction. (See Fig. 13-24.)
This triple mirror becomes a reflex device in plate form by aggregating
small concave cube corners in pressed glass or transparent plastic.
Pressed-glass triple reflex. Pressed cover glasses for tail lamps on
automobiles are used in this convenient and economical place to combine
the usual red lens and an area of aggregated cube corners. In case of
lamp failure, the reflex action of the cube corners is an automatic sub-
stitute. A number of state regulations require the use of a reflex in this
manner, and all motor vehicles have been so equipped since about 1935.
The difficulty encountered in press-
ing glass cube corners with a high
degree of precision has limited the
safety value of reflex devices of this
character.
Plastic triple reflex. Acrylic plastic
substitutes for glass reflex devices are
now available. (See Fig. 13-25.)
Triple reflector reflexes are now in-
jection-molded, utilizing this material.
A high degree of precision in the
formation of small cube corners can
be maintained in production and a very
narrow cone of reflected light is pro-
jected back to the source.
FIG. 13-25. Injection-molded plas-
tic reflex used in a highway emergency
marker flare.
Lens-Mirror Reflex
The other optical system that has received practical application as a
reflex device is the lens-mirror "button." It consists of a short-focus-
converging lens with a mirror conforming to its principal focal surface.
(See Fig. 13-26.) This arrangement is similar to the optical system of
the human eye. The mirror surface corresponds to the retina.
Reflex devices using the lens mirror principle are of three types : buttons,
plaques, and spherical beads.
Individual buttons. Varying
from
\
to 1 inch in diameter,
these usually are molded carefully
from glass with some correction
for both spherical and chromatic
abberation. Made with the
mirror surface sealed from the
weather, these devices reflect a
narrow cone of light, making
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FIG. 13-26. Light paths in button and
them useful at long distances.
spherical ball type lens -mirror reflexes.
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