A ball pen is a pen that rolls out the writing medium through a ball on the front end of the pen or refill.

A ball pen is a pen that uses a tiny rotating ball made of brass, steel, or tungsten carbide to release ink onto the paper as you write. The ball pen is very different from its predecessors - reed pens, quill pens, metal nib pens and fountain pens. Basic introduction Chinese name: ballpoint pen Foreign name: Ballpoint Pen Nicknames: ballpoint pen, ballpoint pen, Bic Advantages: simple structure, easy to carry, writing lubrication Components: brass, steel, tungsten carbide Nicknames: ballpoint pen, ballpoint pen Pen development history, structural principles, common sense of use, classification, water-based ball pen, oil-based ball pen, neutral ball pen, divided by color, divided by structure, use precautions, angle is too small, correct angle, backing paper is too thick, dye, Dispersants, film-forming agents, solvents, other additives, removal methods, other information, purchasing points, related news, development history The first time the name ball pen appeared was in 1888, by a man named John Lauder An American journalist once designed a pen that used roller balls as the nib, but he failed to make it into a product that was easy for people to use. In 1895, a commercial non-writing ball pen was also sold on the British market, but it failed to become popular due to its narrow use. In 1916, someone in Germany also designed and produced a new type of ball pen. Its structure was relatively close to today's ball pens, but its performance was poor and it failed to attract widespread attention. Hungarian journalist Ladiszlo Biro was very aware of the problems with ordinary fountain pens. Biro believes he came up with the idea of ??replacing traditional ink pens with a pen that uses quick-drying ink while visiting a newspaper. Newspaper ink dries almost instantly and leaves no smudges. Biro vowed to use a similar ink in a new type of writing instrument. To prevent sticky ink from clogging his pen, he proposed attaching a small rotating metal ball to the top of a tube containing the quick-drying ink. The metal ball will serve two functions: acting as a pen cap to prevent the ink from drying out. Allows ink to flow from the pen at a controlled rate. In June 1943, Biro and his brother Georg (a chemist) applied for a new patent with the European Patent Office and produced the first commercial ball pen, the Biro ball pen. Later, the British Army purchased the rights to the patented ball pens, allowing them to be used by Royal Air Force aircrews. In addition to being sturdier than traditional fountain pens, ball pens can also be used at low pressures at high altitudes (where traditional fountain pens would spill ink). This was used to great effect by the Royal Air Force, making the Biro ballpoint pen a hit. During World War II, the pen was widely used in the military due to its sturdiness and ability to adapt to battlefield conditions. . In the United States, Milton Reynolds introduced a new ballpoint pen in 1945 and successfully put it into commercial production for the first time to replace the fountain pen that was still popular at the time. The ball pen uses a small ball to release a highly concentrated gelatin-based ink onto the paper. The Reynolds ball pen was a simple writing instrument marketed as "the first pen that could write underwater." Renault sold 10,000 new ball pens when it first launched them. These ball pens, which were first released to the public, were very expensive ($10 each), mainly because of their new technology. In 1945, the first cheap ball pen was produced. At that time, Frenchman Marcel Busch developed an industrial process for manufacturing ballpoint pens, which greatly reduced the unit cost. In 1949, Busch launched his ball pen in Europe. He named these ball pens "BIC," a trademark that was an easy-to-remember, simplified version of his name. Ten years later, BIC sold its ball pens to the U.S. market for the first time. Consumers were initially reluctant to buy BIC ball pens because other manufacturers had already launched many ball pens in the U.S. market.

To overcome consumer hesitation, BIC launched an exciting national television campaign to promote the ballpoint pen as "use it once, want to use it again and again!" and sold the ball pen for only 29 cents. A ball pen. BIC also released television ads depicting their pens being fired from rifles, strapped to roller skates and even mounted on jackhammers. Within a year, competition forced the price of each pen down to less than 10 cents. BIC Company produces millions of ball pens every day! A ball pen is a writing instrument that uses the rotation of steel balls to write ink onto paper. After World War II, ball pens were introduced to China. Smart businessmen heavily advertised "ball pens" and used the residual power of the nuclear bombs exploded in Japan to expand sales. In fact, "ball pen" has nothing to do with atoms, but has similar pronunciation. Ball pens quickly became popular around the world. Japan alone consumes 400 million ball pens a year. The reason why a ball pen can write is because when the steel ball in the pen tip rolls, it can bring out the quick-drying ink and transfer it to the paper. It is said that the dry ink in the Japanese ball pen refill is enough to write 20,000 words. However, after writing more words, the gap between the steel ball and the steel tube will gradually become larger, so the ink will leak out from the gap, often staining clothes, etc., which is very unpleasant. Pharaoh's ball pen A small business owner in Japan came up with a trick: fill less dry ink so that the ink in the pen core can only be used up after writing more than 10,000 words, thus solving the problem of oil leakage from the ball pen core. . So, he applied for a patent and specialized in producing a short ball pen refill and ball pen, which was welcomed by customers. This method of solving problems may seem like cutting corners, but in essence it is an innovation, an innovation in ideas and methods that solves problems that people at that time could not solve. Ball pens were more expensive than fountain pens in the 1950s, and they were reluctant to throw them away after use. In specialized pen stores, you could refill pen oil and continue using them. It is said that the Hungarian Bülow was a proofreader in a printing factory. Since the printed proofs contained a lot of moisture and were changed with a pen, the words would easily bleed and become blurred, so he used steel balls to put ink tubes on them for writing. , it will not be easy for the previous mistakes to occur. Later, Bulow provided his invention to the Royal Air Force, and the first atomic pens were produced by a British aircraft manufacturer. It wasn't until World War II that Americans adopted Bulow's invention. In 1916, the new ball pen designed by the German Lisber was not popularized. It was not until the outbreak of World War II that the U.S. military industry proposed to create a pen that was suitable for writing at high altitudes, was watertight, was not affected by cold and heat, could store a large amount of ink, and did not need to be filled frequently, and gave it a heavy reward. In 1944, Chicago businessman Renault saw this as an excellent opportunity to make a fortune. Because of his quick mind, he spent a lot of money to invite people to improve Lisber's pen, and achieved success in about a year. At that time, the United States dropped a nuclear bomb in Japan. He advertised heavily, comparing his pen to the nuclear bomb, and named it the atomic pen, which soon became popular all over the world. In 1948, China's first domestically produced ball pen was born at the Shanghai Fenghua Ball Pen Factory. After the reform and opening up, pen-making factories sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, driven by huge export demand. Relevant Chinese state departments launched the "R&D and Industrialization of Key Materials and Preparation Technologies for the Pen Industry" project in 2011. The state allocated nearly 60 million yuan to support relevant scientific research institutions and enterprises in the manufacturing of neutral ink, pen tip stainless steel wire, processing equipment, etc. Carry out scientific and technological research. After unremitting efforts, the project passed the acceptance of the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" National Science and Technology Support Plan in 2015 and achieved a series of technological breakthroughs. The "import dependence" dilemma that has plagued China's pen-making industry for a long time has begun to be gradually reversed. In order to install "Chinese nibs" on tens of billions of ball pens, the country started research on this key project as early as 2011. Wang Huimian, a senior engineer at the Taiyuan Iron and Steel Group Technology Center, believes that to make pen tips from steel, many special trace elements must be used to adjust the steel to optimal performance. Subtle changes in the ratio of trace elements will affect the quality of the steel. This ratio cannot be found , China's pen-making industry will always need imported pen tip steel.

In order to refine the materials, Wang Huimian, a senior engineer at the Technology Center of Taiyuan Iron and Steel Group, said that because there is no reference data for developing this product, it is made from the proportion of one ingredient starting from tens of kilograms. It is impossible to count the number of times each ingredient is added. . The production process of pen products is the core secret of foreign companies. Wang Huimian and others must independently develop an unprecedented steel-making process. Without any reference, we can only continuously accumulate data, adjust parameters, and design process methods. The inspiration for the breakthrough came from home-made "mixing noodles". If the noodles want to be soft and hard, new "materials" must be added, and the corresponding industrial "additives" must be added to the molten steel. Ordinary additives are in the form of lumps. If the lumps can be made thinner and thinner, the molten steel and additives will blend more evenly, thus enhancing the machinability. After five years of countless failures, Taiyuan Iron and Steel Group finally saw pen tip steel with evenly distributed "additives" under an electron microscope. The test was successful in September 2016. After more than ten large-scale steelmaking operations, the first batch of steel with good machinability was finally released. This batch of stainless steel wires with a diameter of 2.3 mm can proudly bear the "Made in China" logo. Structural Principle The writing principle of the ball pen mainly uses the ball to directly contact the paper surface to generate friction when writing, so that the ball rolls in the ball seat and brings out the ink or ink in the pen core to achieve the purpose of writing. A ball pen is a pen that uses ink and different pigments to write. The tip of the pen is a small steel ball. The small steel ball is embedded in a small cylindrical copper bowl, and is connected to a plastic tube containing ink. The ink flows down from all sides as the steel ball rotates. The pigments in ball pen ink are dyes. There are three main ink colors: blue, red, and black, among which blue ink is the most commonly used. In the past, the pigment components in blue ink were salt-based royal blue and salt-based blue lotus, and the solvents were oxidized castor oil and ricinoleic acid. Because salt-based dyes are not lightfast (the lightfastness is only level 1-2), are not heat-resistant, and are not resistant to acid and alkali, they have poor durability and have now been eliminated. The "424" blue ball pen and the "322" black ball pen sold on the market have better handwriting durability. There are frequent reports of poisonous scented ballpoint pens. The volatile organic compounds contained in inferior scented stationery are toxic and can cause certain damage to the human body. However, there have been no reports of poisoning due to normal use of oily ballpoint pens without volatile organic compounds. events. Usage common sense 1. This pen is stronger and more durable than ordinary pens, but if it is used and stored improperly, it is often impossible to write. This is mainly because the dry ink sticks around the steel balls and blocks the ink from flowing out. Ink is a viscous oil, which is prepared from linseed oil, synthetic pine nut oil (mainly containing terpene alcohols), mineral oil (oil obtained by fractionating minerals such as petroleum), hard glue and oil smoke. . 2. When using a ball pen, do not write on paper with oil or wax, otherwise the oil and wax will embed in the copper bowl along the edge of the steel ball, affecting the ink flow and making it impossible to write. Also, avoid impact and exposure of the pen. Keep the pen cap on when not in use to prevent damage to the pen tip, deformation of the pen barrel, and oil leakage from the pen core to prevent contamination. In case of cold weather or if it has been left unused for a long time. When the pen does not produce oil, you can soak the pen tip in warm water for a while and then stroke the pen tip on the paper to write. 3. The ball pen has a big shortcoming: the handwriting it writes is very clear at first; but it cannot withstand the test of time. Over time, the handwriting will slowly become blurred. This is because ball pen ink is made from dyes and castor oil. Oil is different from water. It is not easy to dry. Over time, the oil will slowly soak into the paper and the writing will become blurred. Therefore, the ball pen can only be used as an ordinary writing pen. If you want to preserve your handwriting for a long time, you need to use a pen. 4. If the ball pen falls to the ground, if the pen tip hits the ground at 90 degrees, the ball pen tip will not be damaged. However, if the closing area is damaged, "oil leakage" will occur at the gap. In severe cases, the ball will fall off. , occurrence of writing difficulties and other phenomena. Classification Ball pens come in many varieties and styles. In terms of quality, there are different grades such as high, medium and low. However, in terms of category, they can be divided into oil-based ball pens, water-based ball pens, neutral ball pens, etc. Water-based ball pen is also called ballpoint pen or ballpoint pen.

A ballpoint pen whose barrel and cover are made of plastic injection molding is called a full-plastic ballpoint pen; a pen cover that is stamped and ground from stainless steel is called a semi-steel ballpoint pen; a penholder and cover made of stainless steel is called an all-steel ballpoint pen. The fully plastic ones are basically one-time use, that is, they are scrapped when the ink is used up; the semi-steel and all-steel types mostly use replaceable refill structures. The pen tips of ballpoint pens are divided into two types: cannonball type and needle tube type, which are made of copper alloy, stainless steel or engineering plastic respectively. Balls are mostly made of materials such as stainless steel, carbide or alumina. The diameter of the ball with medium writing is 0.7 mm, and the diameter of the ball with fine writing is 0.5 mm. There are two types of water storage: fiber bundle water storage and fiber bundle water storage. Ink colors include red, blue, black, green, etc. The ballpoint pen has the characteristics of both a fountain pen and an oil-based ballpoint pen. It writes smoothly and smoothly, with even lines. It is an ideal writing tool. In addition to the above classifications, ball pens are also commonly classified by the color of the ink and the structure of the pen. Oil-based ball pens may be referred to as ball pens without causing misunderstanding and confusion. The pen tip balls used are mostly made of stainless steel or carbide materials. The diameter of the ball determines the thickness of the writing lines. Common ball diameters include 1 mm, 0.7 mm, and 0.5 mm (which are often indicated on the pen body or ballpoint pen refill of the product). The ink of the ball pen is specially made and is mainly made of a mixture of colorants, solvents and tackifiers. Common colors are blue, black and red. Ordinary inks are mostly used for general writing, while special inks are mostly used for archival writing. The ink used for archival writing is usually marked on the refill. For example, the refill made in China is marked with the word DA. Ball Pen Oil-based ball pen is the first generation of ball pen series products. It has been more than 60 years since it was put on the market in batches. After long-term improvements and improvements, the oil-based ball pen production process has matured, with stable product performance, long shelf life, and stable writing performance. It has now become a traditional product variety among ball pen products. The ink used in oil-based ball pens has high viscosity, so the writing feel Relatively heavier. Gel ball pen Gel pen, short for gel ink ball pen, originated in Japan and is a novel writing instrument that is currently popular internationally. Gel pens can be divided into different types according to pen tip type, ink color, structure, etc. You can choose according to your own needs. Gel pens have the advantages of both fountain pens and oil-based ball pens. They have a comfortable writing feel, lower ink viscosity, and added substances that are easy to lubricate. The viscosity of the writing medium is between water-based and oil-based, so it is smoother than ordinary oil-based ball pens. Slippery, it is an upgraded product of oil-based ball pens. Gel pen tip sizes are roughly divided into two types: 1.0mm and 0.5mm. Divided by color ⑴ Monochrome ball pen: This is the most common ball pen, often available in blue, black, red, etc. ⑵ Two-color ball pen: usually red and blue. ⑶ Three-color ball pen: red, blue and black. ⑷ Four-color ball pen: red, blue, black and green. In addition to these four kinds, there are also six-color, eight-color, and even twelve-color ball pens. According to structure: ⑴ For disposable ball pens, the pen barrel is the refill. It can neither add ink nor replace the refill. When the ink is used up, it can only be discarded. ⑵ A refillable ball pen with buttons, springs, locking, recovery and other functions. ⑶ The pen barrel can be rotated to extend or retract the pen core. ⑷ There are new ball pens that combine ball pens with fountain pens, ball pens with pencils, ball pens with electric test pens, ball pens with tiny light bulbs, etc. When using, please note that if the angle is too small, it will easily wear the closing area of ??the ball seat (the material of the ball seat is nickel-platinum copper or stainless steel, which is much easier to wear than balls). If it comes into contact with the object to be written on for a long time, even if the object to be written is paper, the ball seat will be damaged. It cannot withstand wear and tear, which will cause the balls to fall off. When writing with a ball pen at the correct angle, it is ideal to control the angle between 55° and 70°. At this time, only the ball is in contact with the paper (the ball is very hard, made of tungsten carbide or ceramic, and is not easy to wear), and the closing edge is not in contact. Writing materials, thereby ensuring that the ball pen can extend its service life in good writing condition.

When writing, the pad paper is too thick, and the end of the pen tip contacts the paper, which is easy to wear and loosen the beads. It is recommended that: 0.4 beads cannot be copied; 0.5 beads can only be copied once, no more; 0.7 beads are not suitable for more than one copy. Copy a maximum of 3 to 4 sheets, no more. It is best to write at an angle of 75° when copying. Dyes The role of dyes is to give the ink sufficient color depth. The dyes used in ball pen inks can be divided into oil-soluble dyes and alcohol-soluble dyes. The dye used in this test is a phthalocyanine dye. This dye is insoluble in solvents and has good properties in the ink. It has good dispersion and strong adhesion to the film-forming agent, so that it does not penetrate into the inside of the paper, and the color should be bright and have good weather resistance. Dispersant: An appropriate amount of dispersant can reduce the adhesion between the ink and the paper surface, making the ink erasable within a certain period of time when written on the paper surface. The dispersant can also maintain the writing fluency and long-term stability of the ink. The substance used in this experiment is a mixture of phthalate esters and ethylene glycol esters prepared in a certain proportion. Film-forming agent Film-forming agent is an important component of erasable ball pen ink. Its main function is to form a film evenly on the paper surface and serve as a carrier for dye. It is required to have a certain adhesion to the paper, not easy to peel off, but can be gently wiped off with an eraser, has strong adhesion to the colorant, has good solubility in solvents, is mutually stable with other ingredients, and can be stored for a long time. . Rubber film-forming agents were used in this experiment. In erasable ball pen inks, the role of the solvent is to dissolve dyes, film-forming agents and be compatible with various additives to provide a certain fluidity and just the right volatility to be effective during the writing process. Control drying speed. Tests have shown that using a multi-solvent is better than a single solvent. This experiment used a multi-solvent system of solvent A: solvent B = 1:1.5~2.5, which has the best effect. Other additives (1) Lubricants and corrosion inhibitors usually use fatty acids as lubricants in the ink components. The lubricants are also co-solvents. The functions of the lubricants include: A. Lubricating the beads to provide fluent writing; B. Preventing The ink dries so that the ball pen has stable and good initial writing performance; C. Increases the dye dissolution depth and improves the dye color. The introduction of fatty acids is corrosive to some pen tip metals (such as copper alloys), causing a non-homogeneous crystalline substance in the ink to block the channel, thus shortening the service life of the ball pen. The use of fatty acids combined with corrosion inhibitors can solve corrosion problems while meeting lubrication requirements. The corrosion inhibitor used in the experiment is saturated and dissolved in fatty acids, which can achieve anti-corrosion purposes. (2) Antioxidant and anti-desiccant Another reason for the agglomeration blockage and crystal crown in ball pen ink is that oxidation occurs between brass and the interface, and copper and zinc compounds are produced in the solution. Antioxidants contain substances that can adsorb and absorb surrounding oxygen, so they can effectively prevent oxidation. The combination of antioxidants and corrosion inhibitors can more effectively prevent or inhibit the corrosion of copper alloys. Experiments have shown that the antioxidant effect we use good. In the experiment, we also used an anti-desiccant. Its main function is to prevent the oxidation and drying of the ink surface or ink marks, so that the ink and ink marks have better visual effects, while extending their service life and retention period. When applied, it can also improve the performance of the ball pen. Performance, anti-desiccant is also an antioxidant. Removal method 1. Soak the stained area in warm water (40℃) and scrub with benzene or use cotton balls dipped in benzene, then wash with detergent and rinse with clean water (warm water). Ball pen 2. Soak the stained area with cold water, wipe it gently with carbon tetrachloride or acetone, then wash it with detergent and rinse it with warm water. 3. When the stain is deep, you can wipe it with gasoline first, and then rub it with 95% alcohol. If there are still traces, you need to clean it with bleaching powder. Finally, rub it gently with toothpaste and soap, and then rinse with water. But it is strictly forbidden to soak in boiling water. 4. If it is stained on paper, it is most appropriate to use correction fluid or correction tape. Additional Information There have been some more interesting developments in the ball pen world, two of which are the space pen and the erasable ball pen. 1. Space pen Space pen, also known as pressurized ball pen, is a novel technology. Take the Fisher Space Pen as an example. The refill of the space pen is pressurized (~0.28MPa), and its ink is a special viscous ink (like thick rubber glue).

To turn the viscous ink into a liquid, the ball must rotate, allowing the ball pen to write smoothly on most surfaces and even underwater. Ordinary ball pens rely on gravity to feed ink, and have an opening above the pen core to allow air to replace the used ink. The space pen has no small holes, which avoids evaporation and waste of ink, and prevents ink from leaking from the back of the refill. In addition, the service life of the space pen can be as long as 100 years. In comparison, the storage life of ordinary ball pens is only two years on average. Since the beginning of the "space race" in the 1960s, the space pen has been used by American astronauts in all manned space flights, including the moon landing project. In addition, they were used by many Russian astronauts during the Soyuz space flight and aboard the Mir space station. Ball pen drawing 2. Erasable ball pen Erasable ball pens were launched in the early 1980s and were very popular at first. They combine the legibility of bright colored or black ink with the erasability of pencil. Although such ballpoint pens are still produced under brands like Gillette Eraser Mate, they are not as popular as they once were. Patent documents such as US2966418 and US4097290 describe these ball pens in detail. What sets an erasable ball pen apart is its "ink" - it's made from liquid rubber glue rather than oils and dyes. As you write, the ball rolls and releases the rubber glue ink onto the paper (the resulting marks are called tracks). Modern erasable ball pens leave clear, thick black or colored traces on paper that look similar to regular ink but can be easily erased shortly after writing (usually up to 10 hours). After that time, the tracks will harden and become indelible. Erasable ball pen inks typically contain 15 to 45% (by weight) natural rubber dissolved in a range of volatile organic solvents with different boiling points. Purchasing Points 1. High-end ball pens have obvious trademarks, brand names and model marks on the pen cover. There are also obvious brand names, production dates and "DA" marks on the tail of the pen core (the "DA" mark means the Chinese word for "file"). combination of the first letters of Pinyin). 2. The pen refill must be equipped with a metal oil tube. The pen head ball must be made of hard alloy - tungsten carbide ball. The writing performance is better than that of ordinary ball pens. The ink poured into the pen refill must be 424 pure blue produced at a designated location. ink and 322 black ink. These two inks have the advantages of light resistance, water resistance and impermeability. Ball pen refills filled with these two inks can be used for archival writing (including plastic tubing refills, but the color of the tubing must be light yellow tubing). 3. On the packaging of the goods, there are signs and marks such as trademark number, model, manufacturer name, place of origin and quality inspection certificate. Fake and shoddy products. The ink filled in the pen refill is not archival ink approved by the State Archives Administration. There is no "DA" mark on the refill, and there is no trademark, model, factory name, or origin. Some are unbranded pens smuggled in from abroad. Core, assembled and passed off as an imported high-end ball pen. Related News On January 4, 2016, Prime Minister *** presided over a symposium on resolving excess production capacity and achieving development out of difficulties in the steel and coal industries in Taiyuan, Shanxi. He revealed a "secret": "Last year, we were in a situation of serious overproduction of steel. We still import some special types of high-quality steel. We do not have the ability to produce mold steel, including the 'balls' on the ball pen heads, which still need to be imported. "If it is not ***. If the Prime Minister says it, many people probably don’t know it. There are more than 3,000 pen-making companies, more than 200,000 employees, and an annual output of more than 40 billion ball pens... China has become a well-deserved major pen-making country. However, behind a series of proud figures, it is that core technologies and materials are highly dependent on imports. The embarrassing situation of the proliferation of inferior and counterfeit products requires the import of a large number of "balls" for ball pen tips.