In 1935 Ladislas Biro and his brother Georg (who was a chemist) set about designing a new pen. The instigator was Ladislas, who was editor of a small newspaper at that time, and was fed up with In September 2006, the Bic Cristal was declared the best selling pen in the world after the 100 billionth was sold. [9] Design [ edit ] Four Bic Cristal pens and additional caps Cresce, Greg (11 August 2012). "book review, "Politics, human intrigue flow through ballpoint pen's history" ". Gyorgy Moldova; Ballpoint: A tale of Genius and Grit, Perilous Times, and the Invention that Changed the Way We Write; Winnipeg Free Press. Archived from the original on 22 November 2015 . Retrieved 30 March 2017. Ballpoint pens are sometimes provided free by businesses, such as hotels and banks, printed with a company's name and logo. Ballpoints have also been produced to commemorate events, such as a pen commemorating the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. [4] These pens, known as "advertising pens," are the same as standard ballpoint pen models, but have become valued among collectors.

The Bic Biro | The Designed World The Bic Biro | The Designed World

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Russell-Ausley, Melissa (April 2000). "How Ballpoint Pens Work". Howstuffworks, Inc. Archived from the original on 4 May 2017 . Retrieved 30 March 2017. Neither Reynolds' nor Eversharp's ballpoint lived up to consumer expectations in America. Ballpoint pen sales peaked in 1946, and consumer interest subsequently plunged due to market saturation. [10] By the early 1950s the ballpoint boom had subsided and Reynolds' company folded. [1]Ball-point fountain pen". United States Patent Office. Archived from the original on 12 May 2016 . Retrieved 30 March 2017– via Google Patents. The world's most popular pen is Bic's Bic Cristal, the 100 billionth of which was sold in September 2006. It was launched in 1950 and has gone on to sell 57 per second, much faster and more than other brands. [62] ISO 14145-2:1998 – Roller ball pens and refills – Part 2: Documentary use (DOC)". Iso.org. 12 June 2009. Archived from the original on 1 December 2005 . Retrieved 11 September 2010. Simply adding fountain pen ink to a ballpoint pen was not the solution, however. The ink itself needed to be rethought.

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Effects not generally associated with ballpoint pens can be achieved. [45] Traditional pen-and-ink techniques such as stippling and cross-hatching can be used to create half-tones [46] or the illusion of form and volume. [47] For artists whose interests necessitate precision line-work, ballpoints are an obvious attraction; ballpoint pens allow for sharp lines not as effectively executed using a brush. [48] Finely applied, the resulting imagery has been mistaken for airbrushed artwork [49] and photography, [50] causing reactions of disbelief which ballpoint artist Lennie Mace refers to as the "Wow Factor". [48] [49] On 29 October 1945, the New York City branch of Gimbels department store unveiled a new product. Billions upon billions would follow in its wake. Types of ballpoint pens [ edit ] Bic Cristal ballpoint pens shown in four basic ink colors Twist action ballpoint pen with large capacity G2 type refill. Model: Waterman Stainless Steel Commonly used ballpoint refill types (diameter and length given in millimeters)

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It is generally believed that because of a ballpoint pen's reliance on gravity to coat the ball with ink, most cannot be used to write upside-down. However, the reason most ballpoint pens on the Earth do not work when writing upside-down is because the Earth's gravity pulls the ink inside the pen away from the tip of the pen, resulting in a bad writing experience. However, in space, the regular ballpoint pens can work upside-down because the microgravity in space is not strong enough to pull the ink away from the tip of the pen and capillary action prevails. [39] The reliability of the regular ballpoint pen was tested in space [40] by Pedro Duque, an ESA astronaut in 2003.