About Ballpoint Pens

How did people ever write before ballpoint pens were invented? It is hard to imagine that anything was put on paper. Though ink writing was practiced for centuries before the ballpoint pen was invented, it was never the same again. Writers went from dealing with messy inks and quills or refilling fountain pens to being able to find a pen almost anywhere and write without worrying about any messiness.

Benefits

Before ballpoint pens, writers used quills or feathers and ink for writing, which could be very messy and was also difficult to transport. Another option was fountain pens, which had to be filled with ink, but these were also inconvenient and very messy.

History of

John J. Loud earned the first ball point pen patent on October 30, 1888. This pen was useful for marking leather, but was too rough to use on paper. The ballpoint pen saw many revisions and remakes by different inventors as they tried to find a ball that was loose enough to allow ink to flow, and tight enough so that it would not slip into the ink tube.
Laszlo Biro, a Hungarian newspaper editor, filed the patent for the first successful pen in 1938. He used a version of newsprint ink that dried quickly, and also fitted the ballpoint pen with a tiny ball that would turn in its socket. Bic pens, the most popular ballpoint pens, were also invented in Europe around the same time as Laszlo's pen.

Function

The ball on the ballpoint pen acts as a cap to keep the quick-drying ink from drying too fast. The ball also acts as a delivery system for the ink. As the pen is moved across the paper, the ball rolls and picks up ink on one side and deposits it to paper on the other, much like a roll-on deodorant stick works.

Type

Ballpoint pens are found in disposable and refillable versions. Disposable ballpoint pens are cheap and made of plastic. These pens are discarded when they run out of ink. Refillable pens are more expensive and can be made of metal or plastic. Only the center ink well is disposed and replaced.
A newer type of ballpoint pen is the space pen, which is made with pressurized gas that forces ink toward the point. This way, a person can use the pen write side up, upside down and even sideways.

Significance

The ballpoint pen revolutionized writing technology. Offices around the world would not be the same without it, and students can thank the ballpoint pen for saving them from the nightmares of quills, fountain pens, blotters and messes. The ballpoint's durability and light weight, plus the fact that it's cheap to make and is disposable, make it an ideal writing tool for the modern world.