Using traffic signages, the smart way

Avery Dennison, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of Retro Reflective sheeting for traffic signages for the last four decades, recently unveiled its latest innovation – OmniCube™ in India. A U S based Fortune 500 Company, Avery Dennison is one of the two industry members in the ASTM team setting the specification standards governing the use of retro-reflective sheeting used worldwide. A global leader in pressure-sensitive technology, self-adhesive materials, retro-reflective films, road safety products, office products and specialised label systems, the company is celebrating ‘75 Years of Discovery’ this year. Avery Dennison India is 100% wholly owned subsidiary of Avery Dennison Corporation, USA.

OmniCube™: Intelligent Cube technology

OmniCube™ full-cube prisms are 100% efficient. Complete sections are taken and stacked together to achieve the performance and benefits of the full cube technology. Thus, it exceeds the requirement of Type XI retro-reflective table values as per ASTM D4956-09. Improving retro reflective efficiency is just a step in the right direction, but it’s only a small part of what makes OmniCube unique. It also takes a broad array of full cubes with angles tailored to meet the unique needs of drivers in different vehicle types and aligns them precisely in multiple orientations to deliver consistent performance.

Better visibility at all observation angles to benefit drivers

Observation angles are an important specification parameter. Tied to vehicle geometry, observation angle is represented by the vertical plane separation between the headlight and driver’s eyes and distance of the vehicle to the sign. In addition, the longer the distance to the sign, the smaller the observation angle and vice versa. In order to meet the visual needs of drivers in multiple vehicle types, OmniCube is engineered with multiple cube angles to address short, medium and long distance sign viewing conditions.

OmniCube’s Intelligent Cube Technology efficiently returns light to drivers of all vehicles, including heavy trucks, SUVs and Automobiles with the newest headlight designs and motorcycles. Each graph shown above explains the pattern of reflected light from a sign. The red represents high intensity and the blue represents lower light intensity. Individual sections were optimised for different vehicles and light return goals. All sections are incorporated into the ‘OmniCube’ tooling and their ability to overlap means that the light return needs of all drivers are met.

Reduced production waste and lower material costs

Road Contractors/Consultants/Clients can be confident their signs will provide superior retro-reflective performance regardless of sign orientation including computer-cut legend and sign border placement on all kinds of signs.

Stacked sections in OmniCube are precision-tiled to eliminate the design flaw in other full-cube products that suffer from large variations in zero and ninety degree retro-reflectivity performance. OmniCube is the only ASTM Type XI sheeting to meet all retro-reflectivity requirements at both zero and ninety degree orientations. This unique feature sets apart the OmniCube from competition.

OmniCube’s multi-oriented tiles eliminate the need to apply this retroreflective sheeting in the same direction in order to achieve uniform performance. Sign fabricators will appreciate the savings in reduced time and material waste thanks to OmniCube’s omni-directional design. Less waste in production lowers the signing costs and allows maximising the signage investment while still achieving the safety goals.

Through OmniCube, the concept of retro-reflectivity has been taken to a new level. Avery Dennison had brought out the pressure-sensitive technology in 1935. Today the company employs more than 30,000 people, manufactures products in over 200 plants and offices and markets them in 80 countries globally. Its Traffic and Safety products comply with the latest standards laid down by ASTM D4956 – 09, Indian Roads Congress (IRC 67-2010) and the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

The Traffic & Safety Division of the company has been associated with various prestigious signage and road safety projects in India with departments like National Highways Authority of India, Various State Highways, Various Civic Authorities (Public Work Department, Municipal Corporations, Development Authorities etc), Indian Railways & Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, State Tourism Departments, State Police Departments, Petroleum Companies, Airport Authority of India and Border Roads Organisation. The Division’s Sales and Technical team is complemented by a strong network of highly efficient channel partners, convertors and dealers present all across India.