The reliability of the regular ballpoint pen was tested in space [40] by Pedro Duque, an ESA astronaut in 2003. In modern disposable pens, narrow plastic tubes contain the ink, which is compelled downward to the ball by gravity. Biros don’t drain batteries, they don’t require plugging in in the middle of nowhere, and even the tightest pocket can accommodate them. Reynolds went to great extremes to market the pen, with great success; Gimbel's sold many thousands of pens within one week.

Bic Biro - Design Museum Bic Biro - Design Museum

The inexpensive, disposable Bic Cristal (also simply "Bic pen" or "Biro") is reportedly the most widely sold pen in the world. Kids can safely use them at school, no ink splatters on school uniform, no blobs of ink on text books. Once the pens have been received for recycling, they are cleaned and separated into different materials, then the plastic is melted down and used to make new products. He says Bic not only found the way to produce vast quantities cheaply, but crucially hit upon a winning design right from the start.In 1953 advertising executive Pierre Guichenné advised Bich to shorten his family name to Bic as an easy-to-remember, globally adaptable trade name for the pen, which fit in with product branding trends of the post-war era. Some ballpoint pens use a hybrid ink formulation whose viscosity is lower than that of standard ballpoint ink, but greater than rollerball ink. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page.

BBC Future The cheap pen that changed writing forever - BBC Future

The design was conceived and developed as a cleaner and more reliable alternative to dip pens and fountain pens, and it is now the world's most-used writing instrument; [4] millions are manufactured and sold daily. Bíró's innovation successfully coupled ink-viscosity with a ball-socket mechanism which acted compatibly to prevent ink from drying inside the reservoir while allowing controlled flow.As László and his brother were Jews, they decided to flee Europe in 1941, and emigrated to Argentina. In pre-war Argentina, success of the Birome ballpoint was limited, but in mid-1945, the Eversharp Co. The function of these components can be compared with the ball-applicator of roll-on antiperspirant; the same technology at a larger scale. Gimbels was the first to sell a new kind of ink pen, the design of which had taken several decades to come to fruition.