The ball-point pen (colloquial short form: Coolie) is a recorder, ink by means of a ball on paper transfers.

Function mode

Ball-point pens have a storage vessel with more viscous, fast drying ink.

If the ball-point pen paints over the paper, then the ball turns, takes up thereby on their side ink and delivers it on the other one to the paper. The ball is made of extremely hard metal (tungsten carbide), in order to keep the wear small. In order to protect it, the Kugelschreiber-Mine is led back during the time, in which one does not need the ball-point pen, by means of a mechanism. This can take place by means of a turning system or with a Federsystem, which is activated by means of tracers on the ball-point pen end. This is meaningful also, because ball-point pen ink very easily on clothes and can only with difficulty again be removed.

Depending upon desired line thickness measures the ball 0.7 to 1.4 millimeters, with particularly fine ball-point pens, for example in Japan, also only 0.2 millimeters. A mine extends depending upon point 5000 to 10000 meters far.

Employment as indication tool

Walter Koschatzky writes 1981 in its book the art of the design published:

This devaluation of the versatile write tool must surprise everyone, which, independently of artistic talent, drew already once with a ball-point pen. A line spectrum is as possible with the pencil or the feather/spring not with the ball-point pen by technical conditions - by easy taking off from the paper however very fine lines can be produced, and appropriate paper strength and/or a soft document make through strong prints an intensive line possible.

Particularly shadings are good with the ball-point pen to accomplish. It does not need no care and it gives restrictions of the indication direction, like with the indication feather/spring. Also it cannot be damaged contrary to the feather/spring, the pencil or even the Fineliner through to firm prints or rough handling. Contents of a standard coolie hand long line for about a kilometer - many different, more expensive writing and drawing equipments are faster empty around some. It is very reliable, the black ink results in a low-dark line.

Further the ball-point pen is very steady - smearing as with the pencil is almost impossible, and he can be used on many different types of paper. Ideal is however smooth, firm paper. Most ball-point pens are besides document-genuinly, i.e. light-resisting.

The bad reputation as indication means likes by evenly this Anspruchslosigkeit of the means, the art-historically still young age and the mass use developed its - probably everyone will have drawn samples and Kringel as a pupil already once during desert school hours. Actually many more modern artists, among other things, used refuge Janssen occasionally the ball-point pen for drawing. Particularly for high-contrast, schraffurenlastiges drawing a ball-point pen is suitable, and by its pencil-similar form, his often low price and his reliability he is a frequently used pin.

History

Already Galileo Galilei made a sketch, which shows a kind forerunner of the ball-point pen. There were first patents to recorders, which carry their own ink, in 19. Century.

1888 received the American John J. Loud a patent on ball-point pen-similar equipment, with which one should to be able to mark leathers. Slavoljub Eduard Penkala, a Croatian inventor, patented 1906 likewise a ball-point pen forerunner. 1938 invented the native Hungarian Jzsef supported from his brother George, the basic form of the today's ball-point pen. Probably it the idea came at the sight of rotary pressure rollers, which lay the color on in a similar way on the paper. Its patent given in Hungary let it 1943 in Argentina renew, where it had fled 1940 before the Germans.

The actual break-through for the ball-point pen came with the British businessman Henry George Martin. It recognized the ball-point pen as ideal write tool for flight crews, which functions also in large heights, without thereby to klecksen, bought from Biro the patent laws and started a ball-point pen production in Reading in England. In June 1945 the American businessman Milton Reynolds in Buenos Aires became attentive to the ball-point pen. It let the technology in the USA copy. Under the name Reynolds' Rocket still became the ball-point pens in the same year a sales impact in the USA. Because of problems in quality Reynolds had to take however thousand copies back and went 1951 into bankruptcy.

After that 2. Several enterprises began world war to produce ball-point pens to partly possess without the patent laws. The problem of the Klecksens got only the Frenchman Marcel Bich into the grasp. Under the name it brought end of 1950 its ball-point pen to BIC on the market and rang thereby finally the age of the ball-point pen as mass product.

In several countries the ball-point pen is called after its inventor, so e.g. biro in England and birome in Argentina. In France baron Bich manufactured large quantities of cheap one-way ball-point pens under the label name BIC, whereby bic a synonym for ball-point pens became. In Argentina the day of the inventor is celebrated annually at the birthday Birs (29 September).

The first ball-point pens were sold to 1945 for 8.50 dollar. In Germany the first models cost 1950 about 20 DM.

Worth knowing

When a modern trend legend applies that NASA for one million dollar a special ball-point pen let develop, that also in the universe under the conditions of weightlessness functions reliably, while the Soviet Union used a pencil for the sake of simplicity. Rather the American Paul Fisher already developed 1965 the Fisher space Pen, without an order of NASA for it to have had. Fisher's ball-point pen Celsius consists, without taking damage up to the ink completely of metal and bears problem-free temperatures to 200"°. The ink is in a sealed receiver. NASA found the pin for suited and inserted it since 1968 with each manned mission into space. She bought first 400 pins and paid for everyone an individual price of 2,95 US Dollar. Development costs carried Fisher alone. Also the Soviets used ball-point pens in space, since a pencil from wood and graphite in that represents very breathing air of a spaceship a too large fire risk containing much oxygen. In addition the pencil mines break off easily and are a danger for the astronauts, because the broken off parts float weightlessly in the area and can be so easily inhaled or arrived in the eye.

In the Saarland one one calls the ball-point pen also ball-point pens.

Related links

• kalenderblatt.de: Ball-point pen patents

Macro video

Articles in category "Ball-point pen"

We found here 7 articles.

Related Websites

We found here 3 related websites.

• Ballpoint pen - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  A ballpoint pen, in many countries also eponymously called a b


• Howstuffworks "How Ballpoint Pens Work"
  Before the handy ballpoint, getting a few sentences onto paper was a pretty involved task. Find out how the ballpoint pen stores and manages its own ink ...


• The Battle of the Ballpoint Pens - Ladislo Biro
  The ballpoint pen was invented by Laszlo Biro in 1938 and a patent battle erupted - Read how Parker and Bic won the war.