Dr. Cock:
Hello everyone, so in today's seminar we're going to be listening to a short presentation.
Dr. Cock:
That's you Roger and your partner Josie.
Roger:
That's right Dr. Cork.
Dr. Cock:
So what are you going to talk about?
Josie:
We had some problems choosing a topic actually.
Dr. Cock:
I thought you both wanted to examine the effects of the invention of the aerosol spray.
Roger:
Well that was our first idea but the problem was that we found there was a group in the other class who wanted to do that too.
Josie:
Also today's application of the invention seemed too much linked to its influence on the painting industry and we looked at that a few weeks ago.
Dr. Cock:
Yes, I think you were wise to steer clear of that.
Dr. Cock:
What other ideas did you have?
Josie:
We were stuck for a good topic for some time.
Josie:
In the end Roger had some reasonable ideas.
Roger:
So one idea was that we could look into how the industrial revolution was affected by the invention of the spinning machine.
Roger:
This invention revolutionised the garment manufacturing industry and led to the loss of many jobs in factories.
Dr. Cock:
That seems like a good project.
Josie:
Yes we thought so too but it was hard finding the right sources.
Dr. Cock:
I thought there would be plenty on that.
Josie:
So did we but the library had very little.
Josie:
We then had a look at a couple of other inventions for example Volta's invention of the chemical battery.
Josie:
Although this happened a long time ago and we wanted to link it to the development of the mobile phone and how its development depended largely on getting a battery small enough to make them portable.
Dr. Cock:
That might be too big a time between the invention and its effect.
Roger:
But we came to that conclusion too though it's a shame as it was such an interesting topic.
Dr. Cock:
What came next?
Roger:
We looked at how the sextant was invented which was interesting as it was invented in the US and the UK simultaneously.
Roger:
By measuring angular distances between objects people were able to work out their geographical position relative to celestial objects.
Roger:
This allowed ships at sea to be able to work out their positions reasonably accurately and no doubt save thousands of lives.
Dr. Cock:
Was there a problem with that topic?
Josie:
We thought so the effect of the invention was so long ago that we thought it was no longer very relevant.
Dr. Cock:
I see what you mean. You probably have been all right though.
Roger:
We decided not to take a chance.
Roger:
Well it's often good to play safe.
Roger:
I then wanted to look at the invention of modern light polarisers which were created by the American physicist Edward Land.
Dr. Cock:
What do they do?
Josie:
They eliminate glare and were used in the first instant cameras.
Dr. Cock:
And what was wrong with that?
Josie:
That was my fault I'm afraid.
Josie:
I just found the topic really boring.
Roger:
I didn't want to force her so we finally just chose a different subject.
Dr. Cock:
So what did you finally decide on to talk about today?
Josie:
We chose the invention of the ballpoint pen.
Dr. Cock:
Off you go then.
Roger:
So like many inventions the ballpoint pen came from a need and this need for a different type of pen came about because of ink.
Roger:
Traditional fountain pens used an ink that dried too slowly.
Roger:
Quick drying ink was available as it was used in the printing business.
Roger:
This ink was soft and acidic as was needed but it was not suitable for pens as it was too thick to pass through the nib of the traditional pen.
Dr. Cock:
Am I right in saying that the ballpoint pen was invented by a Hungarian?
Josie:
In the early 1930s Laszlo Bayerow, a Hungarian journalist, thought about how printing ink could be used in a pen.
Josie:
Bayerow's idea was to fit a tiny metal ball bearing at the end of the pen.
Josie:
This was not a new idea.
Josie:
In 1888 the American John Loud patented a roller ball tip marking pen.
Josie:
Loud invented his pen which had a reservoir of ink and a rollerball in order to apply thick ink to leather hides.
Josie:
Loud's pen was never produced and neither were 350 other patented designs for ballpoint pens over the next 30 years.
Josie:
The problem was the ink.
Josie:
If it was too thin the pen leaked.
Josie:
If it was too thick the pen clogged and sometimes it did both.
Dr. Cock:
So Bayerow's was the first ballpoint pen commercially successful?
Roger:
That's right but not in Hungary.
Roger:
Bayerow had to leave Hungary just before the start of World War II and he created a new home for himself in Argentina.
Roger:
There Bayerow set up a business producing his new pens which were later also manufactured under license in the UK and the US.
Josie:
Bayerow's original design is still the one that's used by most manufacturers of pens.
Josie:
In fact the Bayerow company has problems with people using the word Bayerow because the Bayerow pen has been so successful people often use it as a generic term rather than as a trade name.
Dr. Cock:
So how did Bayerow's ballpoint pen work?
Roger:
At the bottom or point of the pen is a small ball bearing from which the name ballpoint comes.
Roger:
Above the ball bearing is a channel for the ink to flow down known as the ink tube.
Roger:
In the middle of the ink tube is a central spring.
Dr. Cock:
It already sounds complicated.
Dr. Cock:
Is this the process that is used in the cheap ballpoint pen nowadays?
Roger:
It does sound complicated but it isn't really and yes all modern ballpoint pens use this process.
Dr. Cock:
Anyway please carry on.
Roger:
The idea is that the pen is pressed down onto the paper when writing.
Roger:
This action forces the spring to rise so that its top section lifts and allows a gap to open between the ink tube and the ink tank which is found above the spring in the body of the pen.
Roger:
The ink can then flow down to the ball bearing coating it as the ball bearing revolves during the writing process.
Roger:
In this way quick drying ink was able to be used in what was called the ballpoint pen.
Dr. Cock:
That's very interesting.
Dr. Cock:
Now let's hear your section on the effects of this invention.
