Pen 75838 225819157 2008-07-15T15:30:49Z MattieTK 434929 Reverted edits by [[Special:Contributions/Time for action|Time for action]] to last version by 122.53.104.134 (using [[WP:HG|Huggle]]) {{otheruses}} [[Image:Pen.jpg|frame|A ballpoint pen]] A '''pen''' (Latin ''penna'', feather) is a [[writing instrument]] used to apply [[ink]] to a surface, usually [[paper]]. There are several different types, including [[ballpoint pen|ballpoint]], [[rollerball pen|rollerball]], [[fountain pen|fountain]], and [[felt-tip pen|felt-tip]]. Historically, reed pens, [[quill]] pens, and [[dip pen]]s were used. ==Types== The main modern types can be categorized by the kind of writing tip: *A [[ballpoint pen]] dispenses [[viscosity|viscous]] oil-based [[ink]] by rolling a small hard sphere, usually 700–1200 [[micrometre|µm]] and made of [[brass]], [[steel]] or [[tungsten carbide]].<ref>{{cite web | title = How does a ballpoint pen work? | work = Engineering | publisher = HowStuffWorks | date= 1998–2007 | url = http://science.howstuffworks.com/question683.htm | accessdate = 2007-11-16 }}</ref> The [[ink]] dries almost immediately on contact with paper. This type of pen is generally inexpensive and reliable. It has replaced the [[fountain pen]] as the most popular tool for everyday writing. *A [[rollerball pen]] dispenses a water-based liquid or gel [[ink]] through a ball tip similar to that of a ballpoint pen. The less-viscous ink is more-easily absorbed by [[paper]] than oil-based ink, and the pen moves more easily across a writing surface. The rollerball pen was initially designed to combine the convenience of a [[ballpoint pen]] with the smooth “wet ink” effect of a [[fountain pen]]. [[Image:UniballElitePenTip.jpg|thumb|right|A letter written on paper with a rollerball pen, and the tip of that pen]] *A [[fountain pen]] uses water-based liquid [[ink]] delivered through a ''[[Nib (pen)|nib]]''. The ink flows from a reservoir through a “feed” to the nib, then through the nib, due to [[capillary action]] and gravity. The nib has no moving parts and delivers ink through a thin slit to the writing surface. A fountain pen reservoir can be refillable or disposable, this disposable type being an ''ink cartridge''. A pen with a refillable reservoir may have a mechanism, such as a piston, to draw ink from a bottle through the nib, or it may require refilling with an [[Pipette|eyedropper]]. Refillable reservoirs are available for some pens designed to use disposable cartridges. *A [[felt-tip pen]], or ''marker'', has a porous tip of fibrous material. The smallest, finest-tipped markers are used for writing on [[paper]]. Medium-tip markers are often used by [[children]] for coloring. Larger markers are used for writing on other surfaces such as cardboard boxes and [[whiteboard]]s. Markers with wide tips and bright but transparent ink, called ''[[highlighter]]s'', are used to mark existing text. Markers designed for children or for temporary writing (as with a whiteboard or overhead projector) typically use [[non-permanent marker|non-permanent inks]]. Large markers used to label shipping cases or other packages are usually [[permanent marker]]s. *A [[gel pen]] is a less common type of ball-tipped pen. While the more common ballpoint pens use paste ink based on a [[solution]] of a [[dye]] solute in an [[alcohol]] [[solvent]], gel pens use a gel ink consisting of a [[pigment]] [[Suspension (chemistry)|suspended]] in a [[water]]-based gel. Common pigments are [[copper]] [[phthalocyanine]] and [[iron oxide]]s. The gel is made up of water and [[thickeners]] such as [[biopolymer]]s (including [[xanthan gum]] and [[tragacanth gum]]) and some types of [[acrylate polymer]]s. Since pigments are [[opacity (optics)|opaque]], a gel pen with a bright-colored ink can produce marks that stand out on dark surfaces. Gel inks are available in a range of colors, including [[metallic paint]] colours and [[glitter]] effects. [[Image:Reynolds ball point pen.jpg|50px|right|Reynolds pen used in India]] These historic types of pens are no longer in common use: *A [[dip pen]] (or ''nib pen'') consists of a metal [[Nib (pen)|nib]] with [[capillary action|capillary channels]], like that of a [[fountain pen]], mounted on a handle or holder, often made of wood. A dip pen usually has no [[ink]] reservoir and must be repeatedly recharged with ink while [[drawing]] or [[writing]]. The dip pen has certain advantages over a [[fountain pen]]. It can use waterproof pigmented (particle-and-binder-based) inks, such as so-called ''[[India ink]]'', drawing ink, or acrylic inks, which would destroy a fountain pen by clogging, as well as the traditional [[iron gall ink]], which can cause [[corrosion]] in a fountain pen. Dip pens are now mainly used in [[illustration]], [[calligraphy]], and [[comics]] (notably [[manga]]). *A [[quill]] is a [[pen]] made from a [[flight feather]] of a large [[bird]], most often a [[goose]]. Quills were used as instruments for writing with [[ink]] before the metal dip pen, the fountain pen, and eventually the ballpoint pen came into use. The shaft of the feather acts as an ink reservoir, and ink flows to the tip by [[capillary action]]. Quill pens were used in [[medieval]] times to write on [[parchment]] or [[paper]]. The quill eventually replaced the [[reed pen]]. *A [[reed pen]] is cut from a reed or bamboo, with a slit in a narrow tip. Its mechanism is essentially similar to that of a quill. ==History== [[Ancient Egypt]]ians had developed writing on [[papyrus]] scrolls when scribes used thin reed brushes or [[reed pen]]s from the Juncus Maritimus or sea rush <ref>[http://www.lib.umich.edu/pap/exhibits/writing/reed_pen.html Egyptian reed pen] Retrieved [[March 16]], [[2007]].</ref>. In his book ''A History of Writing'', Steven Roger Fischer suggests that on the basis of finds at [[Saqqara]], the reed pen might well have been used for writing on parchment as long ago as the First Dynasty or about 3000 BC. Reed pens continued to be used until the [[Middle Ages]] although they were slowly replaced by quills from about the seventh century. The [[quill pen]] was used in Qumran, Judea to write some of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and then introduced into Europe by around 700 AD. It was used in 1787 to write and sign the Constitution of the United States of America. The [[Dead Sea Scrolls]] discovered in 1947 on the northwest bank of the [[Dead Sea]] date back to around 100 BC. At that time they were written in [[Hebrew]] dialects with bird feathers or quills. After the fall of the [[Roman Empire]], Europeans had difficultly in obtaining reeds and began to use quills. There is a specific reference to quills in the writings of [[St. Isidore of Seville]] in the 7th century<ref>[http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780511217593&ss=ind The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville], Cambridge Catalogue Retrieved [[March 11]], [[2007]].</ref>. [[Quill pen]]s were used until the nineteenth century. A bronze [[Nib (pen)|nibs]] was found in the ruins of [[Pompei]] showing that metal nibs were used in the year 79<ref>[http://www.arnoldwagner.com/dippens/dip_pens1.htm Arnold Wagner - Dip Pens]. Retrieved [[March 11]], [[2007]].</ref>. There is also a reference in [[Samuel Pepys]]' diary for August 1663. A metal pen point was patented in 1803 but the patent was not commercially exploited. John Mitchell of [[Birmingham]] started to massproduce pens with metal nibs in 1822<ref>[http://jquarter.members.beeb.net/morepentrade.htm More about the pen trade] from The Birmingham Jewellery Quarter site. Retrieved [[March 11]], [[2007]].</ref>. During the 19th century metal nibs replaced quill pens. By 1850 the quality of steel nibs had improved and [[dip pen]]s with metal nibs came into generalized use. [[Image:WATERMAN CONCORDE.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Waterman pen and fountain pens made for Air France’s Concorde]] The earliest historical record of a reservoir [[fountain pen]] dates back to the 10th century. In 953, [[Al Muizz|Ma'ād al-Mu'izz]], the [[caliph]] of [[Egypt]], demanded a pen which would not stain his hands or clothes, and was provided with a pen which held ink in a reservoir and delivered it to the nib via gravity and capillary action.<ref>{{citation|journal=[[Journal of Semitic Studies]]|volume=XXVl|issue=i|date=Autumn 1981|title=A Mediaeval Islamic Prototype of the Fountain Pen?|first=C. E.|last=Bosworth}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = "Origins of the Fountain Pen " | publisher = Muslimheritage.com | url = http://www.muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?articleID=365 | accessmonthday = September 18| accessyear = 2007 }}</ref> In his ''Deliciae Physico-Mathematicae'' (1636), [[Germans|German]] inventor [[Daniel Schwenter]] described a pen made from two [[quill]]s. One quill served as a reservoir for [[ink]] inside the other quill. The ink was sealed inside the quill with [[cork (material)|cork]]. Ink was squeezed through a small hole to the writing point. [[Image:US68445.png|left|thumb|M. Klein and Henry W. Wynne received US [[patent]] #68445 in 1867 for an ink chamber and delivery system in the handle of the fountain pen.]] [[Quill]] pens began being replaced with steel dip pens in the first years of the 1800s. In [[Newhall Street]] [[John Mitchell]] pioneered mass production of steel pens. The first fountain pens making use of all these key ingredients appeared in the 1850s. While a student in Paris, [[Romania]]n [[Petrache Poenaru]] invented the fountain pen; an invention which the [[French Government]] patented in May 1827. Starting in the 1850s there was a steadily accelerating stream of fountain pen [[patent]]s and pens in production. The first patent on a ballpoint pen was issued on [[October 30]] [[1888]], to John J Loud<ref> GB Patent No. 15630, [[October 30]], [[1888]]</ref>. In 1938, [[László Bíró]], a Hungarian newspaper editor, with the help of his brother George, a chemist, began to work on designing new types of pens including one with a tiny [[ball]] in its tip that was free to turn in a socket. As the pen moved along the paper, the ball rotated, picking up ink from the ink cartridge and leaving it on the paper. [[Bíró]] filed a British patent on June 15, 1938. In 1940 the Bíró brothers and a friend, Juan Jorge Meyne, moved to [[Argentina]] fleeing Nazi Germany and on June 10, filed another patent, and formed ''Bíró Pens of Argentina''. By the summer of 1943 the first commercial models were available<ref>[http://www.quido.cz/objevy/propis.a.htm The Ballpoint Pen], Quido Magazin. Retrieved [[March 11]], [[2007]].</ref>. Erasable ballpoint pens were introduced by [[Papermate]] in 1979 when the [[Erasermate]] was put on the market.<ref>[http://www.papermate.com/sanford/consumer/papermate/history_frame.jhtml;jsessionid=JTONJ1CFIIJOSCQHUB2CF3Q?timeframe=60 Papermate official site.]</ref> [[Image:Marker1.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Modern marker pens]] In the 1960s the fibre, or [[felt-tipped pen]] was invented by Yukio Horie of the Tokyo Stationery Company, [[Japan]]<ref>[http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blpen.htm History of Pens & Writing Instruments], About Inventors site. Retrieved [[March 11]], [[2007]].</ref>. Papermate's Flair was among the first felt-tip pens to hit the U.S. market in the 1960s, and it has been the leader ever since. [[Marker pen]]s and [[highlighter]]s, both similar to felt pens, have become popular in recent years. [[Rollerball pen]]s were introduced in the early 1980s. They make use of a mobile ball and liquid ink to produce a smoother line. Technological advances achieved during the late 1980s and early 1990s have improved the roller ball's overall performance. A [[porous point pen]] contains a point that is made of some porous material such as felt or ceramic. A high quality drafting pen will usually have a ceramic tip, since this wears well and does not broaden when pressure is applied while writing. ==Manufacturers== {{globalize|section}} ====United States==== Statistics on writing instruments (including pencils) from [[WIMA]] (the U.S. ''Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association'') show that in 2005, retractable ball point pens were by far the most popular in the United States (26%), followed by standard ball points (14%). Other categories represented very small fractions (3% or less)<ref>[http://www.wima.org/industry/index.htm WIMA website]. Retrieved [[March 12]], [[2007]].</ref>. There is however also a thriving industry in luxury pens, often fountain pens, sometimes priced at $1000 or more.<ref>[http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/16886417.htm Low-tech luxury Gift or accessory, jewelry designers see business in luxe writing tools], [[Fort Wayne Journal Gazette]], [[March 12]], [[2007]].</ref> == Bibliography == *Fischer, Steven R., A History of Writing, London: Reaktion, 2001, 352 p., ISBN 1861891016 ==See also== *[[Calligraphy]] *[[Counterfeit banknote detection pen]] *[[Gel pen]] *[[Ink]] *[[Pen and ink]] *[[Pen spinning]] *[[Space Pen]] *[[Technical pen]] ==External links== *[http://www.penheaven.co.uk/pen_history.php/ History of the Pen] *[http://www.wima.org/directory/index.htm Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association] ==Footnotes== {{reflist}} [[Category:Pens| ]] [[Category:Writing instruments]] [[Category:Stationery]] [[ar:قلم]] [[cs:Pero (psací náčiní)]] [[de:Stift (Werkzeug)]] [[dv:ގަލަން]] [[eo:Plumo (skribilo)]] [[fr:Stylo]] [[gd:Peann]] [[ko:펜]] [[bpy:পেন]] [[id:Pen]] [[he:עט]] [[ms:Pen]] [[nl:Pen]] [[ja:ペン]] [[no:Penn]] [[pt:Caneta]] [[ru:Ручка (канцелярия)]] [[simple:Pen]] [[sk:Pero (nástroj na písanie)]] [[sr:Перо]] [[fi:Kynä]] [[sv:Penna]] [[th:ปากกา]] [[vec:Pena]] [[yi:פעדער]] [[zh-yue:筆]] [[zh:筆]]