A ballpoint pen

How does it work? In the tip of the pen there is a small metal sphere. One internal tube filled with a viscous ink is above the ball. When you move the pen back and forth, the ball get wet by the rolling action, and puts the ink on the paper like a trail.

. A ballpoint pen works exactly the same way like an antiperspirant roll-on. The ball is held in a socket, and the back of the ball is exposed to the liquid so it can transfer from the inside to the outside. The ball fits into the socket with just enough space to move freely

History Before the biro there were some models of fountain pens for writing, but they had several disavantages: Durabillity: the pens had to be refilled frequently Durabillity: the pens had to be refilled frequently The leaking of the water based ink on the paper The leaking of the water based ink on the paper The slow drying of the ink The slow drying of the ink How was it developed a new pen?

The story begins in 1888 when Jhon Loud an American leather tanner patented a roller-ball-tip marking pen. Loud´s invention featured a reservoir of ink and a roller ball that applied the thick ink to leather hides. About 1930 an Hungarian called Laszlo Bíró (who worked like an newspaper editor) was frustrated by the amount of time wasted filling fountain pens and the problems with the leakage of the pens. He got an idea of making a new pen during the visit to a printing press, where the ink dries quickly at the paper, because it was an oil based ink, instead of water based ink like fountain pens. He and his brother George, a chemical professional, began to work on the first commercially successful ballpoint pen. That occurred in 1938.

The brothers Biro emigrated with a friend Jorge Meyne to Argentina in the II World War because they were Jews. They patented their invention and then opened the first ballpoint manufacturing plant there. During the War the biro was used by the British Air Force an American flyers because it let write under lower atmospheric pressures, so the biro was introduce in American and European markets. Some companies, like Eversharp and Parker acquired the exclusive rights to Biro pens and manufactured several models. But, the invention was renewed at late 1950´s by French Baron, Marcel Bich, who developed a simple, disposable and very cheap ballpoint pen, the BIC. Since then, BIC dominate the market and a daily world wide sales figure of 20 millions of pieces.

How many pieces has the biro BIC?

Manufacturing process The basic steps include:  ink compounding  metal component formation,  plastic component molding,  piece assembly,  packaging,  labeling  shipping. All the process is performed in a highly technology plant with high speed machines, pens can go from raw material to finished product in less than five minutes. All the process is performed in a highly technology plant with high speed machines, pens can go from raw material to finished product in less than five minutes.

Perfect spheres An alloy much harder than steel: tungsten carbide (an inorganic chemical compound containing equal parts of tungsten and carbon atoms) Like an example of the precision in the manufacturing process is how to achieve the highly resistant ball: the tungsten carbide balls are first hardened in an oven (by heat) and then the balls are put between two flat diamond surfaces during 60 hours of work to become perfect spheres. 100% of the balls are checked by line inspectors for roundness and resistance (dimensions: 1 and 0,5 mm of diameter with an accuracy of one tenth of a micron)

-It has hexagonal shape to avoid go round to the table or other surfaces - Its transparent polystyrene barrel shows the ink level - A tiny hole drilled in the barrel´s body keeps the same air pressure both inside and outside the pen - The thick ink is pulled down by gravity and a capillary action from a tube to the ball of the tip - Its propylene cap clip has a small hole to prevent children from sucking it into the throat. Why this pen has had a such success? Because it's a simple and perfect design

Curiosities Can the ballpoint pen work in the space? No, because in the space there is not enough pressure and it’s necessary to flow the ink. There is a common urban legend claiming that the Americans spent millions of dollars developing the Space Pen, whereas the Russians are still used a pencil in their Spaces trips.

The Space pen It is a pen that uses a viscous and pressurized ink It can write in zero gravity, upside down, underwater, over wet and greasy paper, at any angle, and in extreme temperature ranges.

Challenge BIC The BIC is part of the collection of the MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) in New York You can see this video, I was amazed when I saw it, and I discovered a lot of masterpieces drawn with this pen. I think it´s incredible! The reproduction of "The Girl with a Pearl Earring" by Johannes Vermeer, took artist James approx 90 hours to complete, but thanks to its long writing length and oil based ink, just a single pen was needed to finish the work.