The principle of a ballpoint pen is quite simple - at its end there is a small ball that rolls along the surface of the paper and leaves traces of ink that seeps into the small gap between the walls. But this invention was made not so long ago - in 1888, and the pen became widespread only in the 20th century, after the creation of a modern design.
The history of the invention of the ballpoint pen
Until the end of the 19th century, all writing instruments that used ink needed constant dipping in an inkwell. It was inconvenient to write, for a long time, ugly blots remained on the paper. Engineers began to think about how to make a pen with an ink supply. In 1888, American engineer John Loud patented the principle of operation of a pen with a special reservoir for ink, which was fed through thin grooves to a nib with a round hole. There was no ball in the small hole at the end of the pen yet, but this device already made it possible to write on paper without dipping it in ink. Although this pen was far from perfect: it also made blots, although less often than feathers.
In 1938, a Hungarian journalist by the name of Biro invented a modern ballpoint pen: first of all, he placed a small ball in the hole, which allowed to retain ink and prevent blots from entering, and also made writing more pleasant. In addition, Biro also made special ink for such pens - watching the printing of newspapers, he noticed that the ink on them dries much faster. True, they were too thick for use in a pen, but he refined their formula.
The history of the development of a ballpoint pen
A lot of time has passed since the advent of the modern design of a ballpoint pen - more than seventy years, but its principle and structure have hardly changed. Even the very first pens of this kind had excellent characteristics, and most importantly, they were distinguished by a large supply of ink and their low consumption.
The first buyers of ballpoint pens were pilots - it was important for them that the writing instrument did not "flow", since at high altitude this was a common phenomenon: the pressure in the air was higher.
The first ballpoint pens appeared in the Soviet Union after World War II. Soviet engineers had to make ink on their own, since the owner of the company that produces the most famous pens, Parker, refused to cooperate with Stalin. The production of the pens began in 1949, but they were too expensive to be widely distributed.
It wasn't until 1958 that ballpoint pens dropped in price enough to be used everywhere. In 1965, they began to be produced on Swiss equipment, and soon pens were given out in schools. Soon this product became one of the most popular, today most pens have this design.
