Blog Search
Archive
Blog Statistics
  • Views: 3628176
  • Articles: 1366
  • Comments: 1026
  • Status: Public
  • Who's Viewing: 6
  • Guest
  • Guest
  • Guest
  • Guest
  • Guest
  • Guest
6 Guests  0 Members
Posted by bio_man   September 27, 2019   8731 views

Ever wondered why traditional ballpoint pens are capped with a vent? If you search online, you'll find several theories as to why, from the outrageous being that it prevents suffocation if a child were to inhale it, to the possibility that the company made it purposefully to dry out the ink and make the user buy a new pen.

Others have even suggested a greater science behind it, saying that the hole either creates the same level of air pressure inside and outside of the pen, allowing the ink to flow into the point, or to make it easier to remove the cap.

It turns out that one of these claims is actually true, can you guess which one?

According to the website of the ballpoint pen inventor, BIC writes that "all our BIC caps comply with international safety standards that attempt to minimise the risk of children accidentally inhaling pen caps. Some of these vented caps, like that used for the BIC Cristal, has a little hole in the top to comply with the existing safety standards."

The idea of adding the vent was implemented in 1991, because roughly 100 people die in the US each year from choking on pen lids - a number that used to be higher. As a result, other pen manufacturers have followed suit and added larger holes to the top of their pens too.

Check out our Instagram post below:


Pens Choking
Posted in Interesting Facts
2 Comments | Write Comment
1
How could a child swallow a pen cap?
Posted on Sep 27, 2019 by mathinator
2
Beats me, but there have been recorded deaths, so it's a problem clearly.
Posted on Sep 27, 2019 by bio_man
Random Article
   RSS Feed     Atom Feed     RDF Feed