When ball pens appeared in the market, nobody thought that they will be popular. The first models were very unreliable and ink often proceeded. The composition of ink was one more problem. Only after elimination of all shortcomings they became the most bought type of writing-materials in the world.
Origin
Ink pens and feathers were used from the very beginning of a written era. Despite such problems as degradation of ink and unreliability of writing-materials, they had rather great popularity.
The first ball pen was invented by the producer of leather products in 1888 which found out that the ink pen does not write on the uneven surface of skin.
Its ball pen was far from perfect, but it was a prototype of all future products. The small ball was kept on the place by a latch. From above it there was a tank with ink. When the sphere began rotated, ink flowed and remained on the surface of material.
The new type blackened
Within the next 50 years, inventors tried to make a ball pen suitable for the letter on paper. In early options used ink which flowed by gravity. In combination with a ball, this ink either filled the canal, or left stains on paper. László Biro, the Hungarian editor of the newspaper, came very close to creation of a modern ball pen. He noticed that ink which he used for the press quickly dried and never spread, unlike the substances used in pens. He created dense viscous mix and improved a ball pen, having replaced ink.
Properties of ink
Ink is specially developed to write accurately and to dry quickly. Their viscosity is strictly controlled. Thickness of the line has to be rather small that it was possible to write. Therefore ink in the handle has to be moderately fluid and not blur. Ink consists of the pigment or dye dissolved or suspended in solvent. Pigments represent the tiny color particles diluted in solvent. Dyes are completely soluble in liquid. Solvent of the majority of ink is water or oil.
Blackened components
Ink in the handle makes about 50 percent of dye. Black color turns out thanks to soot (the small powder made of it). Several dyes are used to make blue ink, but the most widespread of them consist of a trifenilmetan, phthalocyanine of copper. Black-blue ink often contains sulfate of iron and tannic acids. These additives are used since the Middle Ages to make a formula of more stable. Dyes and additives mix with solvent. Often it is ethylene glycol or propylene glycol. Then synthetic polymers are added to help to disperse paint and also to adjust viscosity and a superficial tension. Also such additives as pitches, preservatives and the moistening agents are used. They can be added for correction of final properties of ink.