Information about Pen

PEN may refer to:

• International PEN, the worldwide association of writers
• Penang International Airport in Penang, Malaysia (IATA airport code)
• PEN, the ISO 4217 code for Peruvian nuevo sol, the currency of Peru
• Polyethylene naphthalate, a polymer

See also:

• Pen (disambiguation)

---

A pen (Latin penna, feather) is a writing instrument that applies ink to a surface, usually paper. Pens can be used with inks of many colors but commonly make use of inks in shades varying between black and blue, red is sometimes used for titling, bullets and numbering etc.

Types of pen

Pens may be categorized by the kind of tip on them. The main modern types are:

• Ballpoint pen
• Rollerball pen
• Fountain pen
• Felt-tip pen
• Porous Point Pen

Historically, pens also came in the form of:

• Quills
• Dip pens

History

Reed pens

The Ancient Egyptians had developed writing on papyrus scrolls when scribes used thin reed brushes or reed pens from the Juncus Maritimus or sea rush ^[1]. 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 as 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 7th century.

Quills

The Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in 1947 on the northwest bank of the Dead Sea date back to around 100 BC. 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^[2]. Quill pens were used until the nineteenth century.

Metal nibs

Metal nibs appear to have very early origins. A pen with a bronze nib was found in the ruins of Pompei showing nibs must have been in use in the year 79^[3]. 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^[4]. During the 19th century metal nibs replaced quill pens. By 1850 the quality of steel nibs had improved and dip pens with metal nibs came into generalized use.

Fountain pens

While a student in Paris, the Romanian inventor Petrache Poenaru invented the world's first fountain pen, an invention for which the French Government issued a patent on May 25, 1827^[5]. Lewis Edson Waterman, a New York insurance broker invented the capillary feed fountain pen in 1884 producing a much more reliable flow of ink^[6].

Ballpoints

The first patent on a ballpoint pen was issued on October 30 1888, to John J Loud^[7]. 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^[8]. Erasable ballpoint pens were introduced by Papermate in 1979 when the Erasermate was put on the market.^[9]

Felt tips

In the 1960s the fibre, or felt-tipped pen was invented by Yukio Horie of the Tokyo Stationery Company, Japan^[10]. 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 pens and highlighters, both similar to felt pens, have become popular in recent years.

Rollerballs

Rollerball pens 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.

Porous Point

A porous point pen contains a point that is made of some porous material such as felt or ceramic.

A high quality draughting pen will usually have a ceramic tip, since this wears well and does not broaden when pressure is applied while writing.

The pen industry

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 percentages (3% or less)^[11]. There is however also a thriving industry in luxury pens, often fountain pens, sometimes priced at $1000 or more^[12].

Other types

roller felt tips (currently made exclusively in South Africa)

Bibliography

• Fischer, Steven R., A History of Writing, London: Reaktion, 2001, 352 p., ISBN 1861891016

See also

• Calligraphy
• Gel pen
• Pen and ink
• Pen Spinning
• Technical pen

External links

• Urban Legends: the "Space Pen"
• Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association

Footnotes