Tag: Capillary Action

The Makers of Cross Pens Focus More on Quality Than on Design

Muna wa Wanjiru asked:

The name “pen” is derived from the Latin word “penna”, which means feather. This is a writing instrument that, manually through capillary action 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, blue, red, and sometimes green. There are many different kinds of pens, some of which are listed here i.e. Reed pens, Quills, Metal nibs, Fountain pens, Ballpoints, Felt tips, Roller balls and the Porous Point. All the pens of the world are made around these different. Pens are also classified depending on the type of tip that accompanies the pen, there is the ballpoint pen, the rollerball pen, the fountain pen, the felt-tip pen and also the gel pen.

Cross pens appeared in 1846 as the elegant creation of Richard Cross; throughout his life Richard Cross patented an incredible number of twenty one pens until he passed the company over to his son Alonzo. At present the company is proud to be preserving the oldest tradition in the design and manufacturing of chirography instruments.

In 1879 the precursor of the ballpoint pen was released by the company with a considerable commercial effect, and later on, in 1930 the company’s first fountain pen appeared. In 1946 the company’s new logo, the Century, was introduced, and it still preserves its meaning even today. Since its beginnings the company has sold more than one hundred million pens becoming a symbol of quality and longevity.

Cross pens are known as being more traditional than trendy, they focus more on quality than on design, and here, the Century II model is the best example possible since this is the one to combinerefinement with high class style. In 1916 Walter R. Boss bought the company and encouraged his son Ellery to share his passion for good pens. Ellery joined his father in 1920 and led the company for more than forty years retiring only in 1966.

In those years Cross become a company known more as a line of personal leather accessories than as a pen maker. However, following a definitely ascending path, in 1971, it was listed to the American Stock Exchange, and later on, new partners were attracted to start designing other types of appreciated fine products.

Over the last two decades Cross pens imposed themselves more as being a work of art than simple writing tools; and their price has often been considered relevant for the tradition they represent. In 1993 the Townsend fountain pen and the Selectip ballpoint pen were designed; only high quality materials were used in the process of which we could mention eighteen and ten karat gold, black lacquer, medalist and titanium. The Century II appeared in 1996, it mainly relied on fourteen or ten karat gold, blue wood, black lacquer or rose wood.

These features strictly belonged to the Century model for the international market. Another variety was produced exclusively for the American continent, and the pen was plated with gold of twenty three karats, medalist, black lacquer and chrome, the set also included a ballpoint pen, a rolling ball pen, a 0.5 millimeters pencil and a fountain pen. Later models like the ATX, Verve and Apogee respected the luxurious line the company has followed from its beginnings.

This is What Inspired the Mechanism of Ink Pens

Muna wa Wanjiru asked:

The name “pen” is derived from the Latin word “penna”, which means feather. This is a writing instrument that, manually through capillary action 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, blue, red, and sometimes green. There are many different kinds of pens, some of which are listed here i.e. Reed pens, Quills, Metal nibs, Fountain pens, Ballpoints, Felt tips, Roller balls and the Porous Point. All the pens of the world are made around these different. Pens are also classified depending on the type of tip that accompanies the pen, there is the ballpoint pen, the rollerball pen, the fountain pen, the felt-tip pen and also the gel pen.

Ink pens have developed very slowly over time, ink pens are practically the quill pens that evolved in the 19th century into the fountain pen. For more than three thousand years the quill was the writing instrument found in most cultures all around the globe. Despite what movies say, the first quill pens used only a small part of the quill as a nib and the rest was thrown away. In other parts of the world like Asia, the pen was replaced with some kind of brushes which are still present in traditional writing forms. The first step in the development of ink pen industry was the invention of steel and the mass production of steel pen points. They were sold in many sizes and shapes according to the large varieties of writing styles. Those simple pen points were simply fitted to a holder and dipped into ink, then you could write a few words and dip again and so on.

If we look back into historical records we can trace the first patent for ink pens, it was owned by Lewis Waterman the man who created the Waterman company. He was the first in the modern history to develop a fountain pen model without any flowing problems. It is true that pens with ink carrying capacity had existed for more than one hundred years before him, but all those models suffered from common problems such as ink leaks. In 1702 a Frenchman called M. Bion created a fountain pen that was very advanced for those days. In America the fist to obtain a patent in the pen industry was Peregrin Williamson who got his recognition in 1809. Furthermore the first self filling pen was recorded by Jacob John Parker in 1831, yet the common problem for all these old ink pens remained ink spills and material issues, this is why they had a close to zero commercial success.

The mechanism of ink pens was simple, they contained three parts, the first was called “the nib”, the second “the feed” and the third was the barrel, which bound the nib and the feed together. Lewis Waterman’s genial idea was to introduce a small hole in the nib for the air to enter, and three small grooves in the feeding mechanism, the combined solution successfully prevented ink spilling. As for the reservoir, the first ink pens with reservoir used an eyedropper, and then, from 1915 self filling sacks of rubber were used. The sack was usually pressed with a metallic plate to produce the needed pressure that once released would **** the ink inside the reservoir.