Ballpoint pen

Origins The concept of using a "ball point" within a writing instrument to apply ink to paper has existed since the late 19th century. In these inventions, the ink was placed in a thin tube whose end was blocked by a tiny ball, held so that it could not slip into the tube or fall out of the pen. The first patent for a ballpoint pen was issued on 30 October 1888 to John J. Loud, who was attempting to make a writing instrument that would be able to write "on rough surfaces—such as wood, coarse wrapping paper, and other articles"—which fountain pens could not. Loud's pen had a small rotating steel ball held in place by a socket. Although it could be used to mark rough surfaces such as leather, as Loud intended, it proved too coarse for letter-writing. With no commercial viability, its potential went unexploited, László Bíró, a Hungarian newspaper editor (later a naturalized Argentine) frustrated by the amount of time that he wasted filling up fountain pens and cleaning up smudged pages, noticed that inks used in newspaper printing dried quickly, leaving the paper dry and smudge-free. He decided to create a pen using the same type of ink. to develop viscous ink formulae for new ballpoint designs. In 1941, the Bíró brothers and a friend, Juan Jorge Meyne, fled Germany and moved to Argentina, where they formed "Bíró Pens of Argentina" and filed a new patent in 1943. Ballpoint pens were found to be more versatile than fountain pens, especially in airplanes, where fountain pens were prone to leak. Postwar proliferation Following World War II, many companies vied to commercially produce their own ballpoint pen design. In pre-war Argentina, success of the Birome ballpoint was limited, but in mid-1945, the Eversharp Co., a maker of mechanical pencils, teamed up with Eberhard Faber Co. to license the rights from Birome for sales in the United States. During the same period, American entrepreneur Milton Reynolds came across a Birome ballpoint pen during a business trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Reynolds went to great extremes to market the pen, with great success; Gimbel's sold many thousands of pens within one week. In Britain, the Miles-(Harry) Martin pen company was producing the first commercially successful ballpoint pens there by the end of 1945. Neither Reynolds' nor Eversharp's ballpoint lived up to consumer expectations in America. Ballpoint pen sales peaked in 1946, and consumer interest subsequently plunged due to market saturation, going from luxury good to fungible consumable. advertising campaign in the 1960s. The Wengang Township has a long tradition of brush pen production, but all kinds of pens are produced, including ballpoint pens. In 2002, China's Pen Capital was constructed in Wenzhou, with an investment of ¥ 600 million. AIHAO was one of the first companies to move to the industrial site. Their most famous product is the ball-point pen. In the 2000s, China ballpoint pen production skyrocketed. In 2017, China produced 38 billion ballpoint pens per year, 80% of the global market. But the country had a problem in precision engineering the ballpoint pen tip, which had to be imported from Germany, Switzerland, and Japan for the cost of ¥120 million a year. The subject was criticized by western media. Forbes argued that the lack of IP protections were the cause of it, as the country wouldn't attract investments in innovation. Financial Times argued that because of Chinese self-sufficiency policy, companies handled the entire supply chain by themselves, thus creating inefficiency. Hong Kong Economic Journal declared that "the day China can produce a 100% homemade ball pen will be the day it truly qualifies as a first-class industrial power". Since 2011, the Ministry of Science and Technology invested $8.7 million in the production of the tips. Beifa Group worked with Taiyuan Iron & Steel Group (TISCO) with no success. The achievement reached the front-page news, was discussed in talk shows and celebrated on social media. ==Inks==

Ballpoint pen ink is normally a paste containing around 25 to 40 percent dye. The dyes are suspended in a mixture of solvents and fatty acids. The most common of the solvents are benzyl alcohol or phenoxyethanol, which mix with the dyes and oils to create a smooth paste that dries quickly. This type of ink is also called "oil-based ink". The fatty acids help to lubricate the ball tip while writing. Hybrid inks also contain added lubricants in the ink to provide a smoother writing experience. The drying time of the ink varies depending upon the viscosity of the ink and the diameter of the ball. In general, the more viscous the ink, the faster it will dry, but more writing pressure needs to be applied to dispense ink. Although they are less viscous, hybrid inks have a faster drying time compared to normal ballpoint inks. Also, a larger ball dispenses more ink and thus increases drying time. The dyes used in blue and black ballpoint pens are basic dyes based on triarylmethane and acid dyes derived from diazo compounds or phthalocyanine. Common dyes in blue (and black) ink are Prussian blue, Victoria blue, methyl violet, crystal violet, and phthalocyanine blue. The dye eosin is commonly used for red ink. The inks are resistant to water after drying but can be defaced by certain solvents which include acetone and various alcohols. ==Types of ballpoint pens==

ballpoint pens shown in four basic ink colors Ballpoint pens are produced in both disposable and refillable models. Refills allow for the entire internal ink reservoir, including a ballpoint and socket, to be replaced. Such characteristics are usually associated with designer-type pens or those constructed of finer materials. The simplest types of ballpoint pens are disposable and have a cap to cover the tip when the pen is not in use, or a mechanism for retracting the tip, Compared to oil-based ballpoints, rollerball pens are said to provide more fluid ink-flow, but the water-based inks will blot if held stationary against the writing surface. Water-based inks also remain wet longer when freshly applied and are thus prone to "smearing"—posing problems to left-handed people (or right handed people writing right-to-left script)—and "running", should the writing surface become wet. Some ballpoint pens use a hybrid ink formulation whose viscosity is lower than that of standard ballpoint ink, but greater than rollerball ink. These pens are also labelled "extra smooth", as they offer a smoother writing experience compared to normal ballpoint pens. Ballpoint pens with erasable ink were pioneered by the Paper Mate pen company. It was the Bic company's first product and is still synonymous with the company name. The Bic Cristal is part of the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), acknowledged for its industrial design. Its hexagonal barrel mimics that of a wooden pencil and is transparent, showing the ink level in the reservoir. Originally a sealed streamlined cap, the modern pen cap has a small hole at the top to meet safety standards, helping to prevent suffocation if children suck it into the throat. Multi-pens are pens that feature multiple varying colored pen refills. Sometimes ballpoint refills are combined with another non-ballpoint refill, usually a mechanical pencil. Sometimes ballpoint pens combine a ballpoint tip on one end and touchscreen stylus on the other. Ballpoint pens are sometimes provided free by businesses, such as hotels and banks, printed with a company's name and logo. Ballpoints have also been produced to commemorate events, such as a pen commemorating the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. These pens, known as "advertising pens," are the same as standard ballpoint pen models, but have become valued among collectors. Sometimes ballpoint pens are also produced as design objects. With cases made of metal or wood, they become individually styled utility objects. == Use of ballpoint pens in space ==

It is generally believed that gravity is needed to coat the ball with ink. In fact most ballpoint pens on the Earth do not work when writing upside-down because the Earth's gravity pulls the ink inside the pen away from the tip of the pen. However, in the microgravity environment of space a regular ballpoint pen can still work, pointed in any direction, because the capillary forces in the ink are stronger than non present gravitational forces. The functionality of a regular ballpoint pen in space was confirmed by ESA astronaut Pedro Duque in 2003. Technology developed by Fisher pens in the United States resulted in the production of what came to be known as the "Fisher Space Pen". Space Pens combine a more viscous ink with a pressurized ink reservoir Astronauts have made use of these pens in outer space. ==As an art medium==

by artist James Mylne , Uchuu Neko Parade (2005) ballpoint pen and hardware on paper The ballpoint pen has proven to be a versatile art medium for both professional artists and amateur doodlers. Traditional pen-and-ink techniques such as stippling and cross-hatching can be used to create half-tones or the illusion of form and volume. For artists whose interests necessitate precision line-work, ballpoints are an obvious attraction; ballpoint pens allow for sharp lines not as effectively executed using a brush. Finely applied, the resulting imagery has been mistaken for airbrushed artwork and photography, causing reactions of disbelief which ballpoint artist Lennie Mace refers to as the "Wow Factor". Famous 20th-century artists, including Andy Warhol, have utilized the ballpoint pen during their careers. Ballpoint pen artwork continues to attract interest in the 21st century, with many contemporary artists gaining recognition for their specific use of ballpoint pens as a medium. Korean-American artist Il Lee has been creating large-scale, abstract artwork since the late 1970s solely with ballpoint pens. Since the 1980s, Lennie Mace creates imaginative, ballpoint-only artwork of varying content and complexity, applied to unconventional surfaces including wood and denim. The artist coined terms such as "PENtings" and "Media Graffiti" to describe his varied output. British artist James Mylne has been creating photo-realistic artwork using mostly black ballpoints, sometimes with minimal mixed-media color. The ballpoint pen has several limitations as an art medium. Color availability and sensitivity of ink to light are among concerns of ballpoint pen artists. As a tool that uses ink, marks made with a ballpoint pen can generally not be erased. Additionally, "blobbing" ink on the drawing surface and "skipping" ink-flow require consideration when drawing with a ballpoint pen. Although the mechanics of ballpoint pens remain relatively unchanged, ink composition has evolved to solve certain problems over the years, resulting in unpredictable sensitivity to light and some extent of fading. ==Manufacturing==

The common ballpoint pen is a product of mass production, with components produced separately on assembly lines. Standard components of a ballpoint tip include the freely rotating "ball" itself (distributing the ink on the writing surface), a "socket" holding the ball in place, small "ink channels" that provide ink to the ball through the socket, and a self-contained "ink reservoir" supplying ink to the ball. ==Standards==

The International Organization for Standardization has published standards for ball point and roller ball pens: ; ISO 12756:1998: Drawing and writing instruments – Ball point pens – Vocabulary ; ISO 12757-1:1998: Ball point pens and refills – Part 1: General use ; ISO 12757-2:1998: Ball point pens and refills – Part 2: Documentary use (DOC) ; ISO 14145-1:1998: Roller ball pens and refills – Part 1: General use ; ISO 14145-2:1998: Roller ball pens and refills – Part 2: Documentary use (DOC) ==Guinness World Records==

• The world's largest functioning ballpoint pen was made by Acharya Makunuri Srinivasa in India. The pen measures long and weighs . • The world's most popular pen is the Bic Cristal, with the 100 billionth model sold in September, 2006. The Bic Cristal was launched in December 1950 and roughly 57 are sold per second. == See also ==