Ballpoint pens are used as a writing instrument that replaced quill pens and fountain pens during the mid-nineteenth century. Most ballpoint pens are relatively inexpensive thanks to their popularity and the materials used. Undeniably one of the world's most treasured inventions, the ballpoint pen is used by countless people around the globe each day. We use it so often that we hardly even think twice about it; it is an innate item in our daily lives.

A Plastic Ballpen is formed of an ink-filled chamber capped by a small sphere. When pressure is applied the ink flows forward and is stopped by the ball. When the pen is moved, the ink slides around the ball and leaves an even mark on paper.

Types

Ballpoint pens have two types: refillable and disposable. Refillable ballpoint pens can be refilled with ink. Disposable ballpoint pens are useless once the ink has run out or becomes dry. Because of environmental concerns, many people prefer refillable ballpoint pens as they produce less waste and save money.

Space Pens

Space pens are ballpoint pens that use a more free-flowing ink than normal ballpoints, and they also include a small piston that forces the ink toward the ball. This is why space pens can write in zero gravity and upside down, since the ink is unable to retract back into the chamber.

Rollerball Pens

Rollerball pens use a gel-based ink instead of an oil-based ink that most ballpoints use. This results in a more fluid flow of ink and a larger diversity of color.

The Ball

The ball of a ballpoint pen is made of tungsten carbide, a material that resist deformity under great pressure.

What makes a ballpoint unique?

For most of the industrialized, modern world, the ballpoint pen is a staple in our daily lives. Understanding the history and "pen science" behind the ballpoint certainly helps to explain this. Nowadays ballpens are designed with many different types and functions like Retractable Plastic Ballpen, Twist Plastic Ballpen, etc.

From its very inception, the ballpoint was specially designed for the purpose of practicality and convenience. The ballpoint as we know it was born in the 1930s when László Bíró noticed that ink used in newspapers dried immensely faster than that used in fountain pens. He subsequently set out to design a pen that could support this type of ink, creating the ballpoint pen. A few decades later, The Parker Pen Company released the now world-renowned Parker Jotter, a ballpoint pen which featured a revolutionary click mechanism. The ease and convenience of this mechanism rapidly swept the world, and other manufacturers soon made and sold their own versions of this type of pen.

Compared with ballpen, Metal Pen is a more traditional type of pen, and it can also be devided into many kinds such as High-grade Metal Pen, Economical Metal Pen and so on. Besides, there are ECO Pen, Multi-function Pen, Stylus Multi-function Pen and Others Multi-function Pen.