Components of a Ballpoint Pen

What are the components of a ballpoint pen?

Accordingly, a pen is the tongue of the mind. A pen has a deeper purpose than how it looks like. It can sometimes be a sword in a war that it can destroy a whole society or change a country.

Nowadays, there are so many different types of pens. In this article, we will talk about the ballpoint pen. The Ballpoint pen is the innovation of a simple pen that can make writing or drawing. We use it in our daily life but have we ever wonder how does ballpoint pen form? Have we ever become curious how does it functions and what makes it functions? So in this article, we aim to give an insight into what ballpoint pen composed of.

The ballpoint pen was invented by a Hungarian journalist named Laszlo Biro in 1938. Fountain pens were already popularly used during those times, however, the ink in those pens have to be refilled regularly, not to mention it smudged easily. Laszlo noticed that newspaper ink dried fast and he thought of a way to incorporate its use with the pen.

Together with his brother George Biro, Laszlo devised a pen that made use of newspaper ink. The ink was thicker inconsistency, however, and didn’t flow smoothly from the pen nib. He solved the problem by fitting a minuscule ball bearing in the tip of the pen which regulated the flow of the ink. The bearing would rotate when the pen is being moved across the paper, transferring ink from the cartridge inside the pen to the paper. The pen could be used for over a year.

The size of a ballpoint pen’s line is determined by the width of the ballpoint. A “point five millimeter” (0.5 mm) pen has a ball that will produce a line that is 0.5-mm wide, and a “point seven-millimeter” pen (0.7 mm) has a ball that will produce a 0.7-mm line.

Components of a Ballpoint Pen

In the modern world, there are some changes in the components of a ballpoint pen but it is still the old ones. Ball point pen is composed of Tip, Grip, Decorative ring, Barrel, Clip, Ink Chamber, Twist Mechanism, and Ballpoint Tip.

Ballpoint Pen Tip

First, the tip of a ballpoint pen is what makes it a ballpoint pen. At the tip, a freely rotating ball is held in a small socket which connects it to an ink reservoir that allows the pen to write or draw lines. The tip is commonly made up of the metal is steel, brass, or tungsten carbides.

Ballpoint Pen Grip

Second, the grip in the ballpoint pen was used to makes it more convenient to use. It was usually made of rubber, an elastic substance so that the ballpoint pen can hold with ease and comfort because commonly the body of the ballpoint pen was very firm or solid. It was placed after the tip.

Ballpoint Pen Ring

The third one is the decorative ring. The use of the decorative ring in the ballpoint pen is to make it look more appealing or attractive. It can say that it is just an additional component of a ballpoint pen.

Ballpoint Pen Barrel

Next is the barrel. The barrel simply covers what is inside and that is the ink chamber. It is the foundation of the clip so that the ballpoint pen can be hung or clipped properly. It can be found in the upper part of the ballpoint pen.

Ballpoint Pen Clip

Also, we have a clip. The clip was simply described as the holder of the ballpoint pen. It allows the writer to accessibly reach it when needed or in other words, it was handy. Handy that you can hang it by the clip in the shirt, pocket or even at the bag.

Ballpoint Pen Ink Chamber

Then we have the ink chamber. Ink chamber is where the ink is being placed it is the storage of it. The ink of the ballpoint pen usually contains the solution of dyes water or organic solvents such as propylene glycol (is a synthetic organic compound. It is a viscous odorless liquid which is nearly odorless), propyl alcohol.

Twist mechanism, on the other hand, was used to get in and out the ballpoint tip when it was needed. It was like the switch where you turn it on or off the ballpoint pen.

This summarizes the components of a ballpoint pen. It may differ over time but still have the same function and objectives.

Our purpose in life cannot be known easily by our own selves. We need others that can help us determine our purpose in life. Just like the ballpoint pen, it will not function without something that makes it function. Meaning, without its parts, the ballpoint pen will be nothing.

In addition, looking at a different perspective, ballpoint pen components can represent the things in our life that make us whole us a person. By these components, we become more meaningful that we can do something that we could ever imagine.