Welcome to all our readers. We have been finding new techniques and products in which we learnt about silicone and various products. In this article, we will be having knowledge about ink follower that is used in water-based ballpoint pens. The pen is a very small thing to notice but can you imagine your daily tasks without this small thing? We need a pen to do every petty or important work. Have you ever thought about the functioning of the pen? Today we will explore the use of ink follower and the techniques of a water-base ballpoint pen.
The viscosity of ink:
Viscosity is the capacity of a fluid to change in shape or a movement of a fluid’s components and how does it mix with the neighbouring substance. There is a difference between the viscosity of ink in the water base ballpoint pen and the oil base ballpoint pen. The viscosity of ink in the water base ballpoint pen is 50mPa sec to 3 Pa sec.
Oil base ballpoint pen is having the same structure as a water base ballpoint pen. The ink present in it has a viscosity of 3 to 20Pa sec.
Use of conventional art:
The water-based ballpoint pen can get leaked or it can leave stains if it is kept upside down. In order to avoid such a situation, conventional art is used to give a proper structure to an ink follower.
The ink reservoir is present in the pen, it is having a gelled material or a mixture of solid substances. The intention of arts is to have a smooth flow of the ink and to prevent the pen from getting leaked if it is dropped. It gives a good appearance to a pen. The nib of the ballpoint pen is very delicate, even a single drop may lead to backflow of the ink. Ink follower is consisting of pseudo-plasticity as it is made up of hardly-volatile or non-volatile solvent along with some thickener. It supports the ink not to flow backwards even if the pen is kept upward or sideways.
Functioning of an ink-follower:
Ink follower in water base ballpoint pen is made up of a substance which is more like lubricant grease. Thickener is added to the ink in order to maintain its flow. The working of the fluid depends on its viscosity. If lubricant grease present in the ink has low viscosity, then it is likely to get separated in the pen. It can hold itself if it has high viscosity. The thickener component should maintain its homogeneity, otherwise, it may leave a portion in the pen, affecting the portion of inner walls in the ink reservoir. It leads to the loss of ink followers. Ink surfactant is also very important as it influences the writing. If the oil is separated from the fluid, then it affects the surfactant in the ink by blocking the ink passage.
Solvents used in an Ink follower
The solvent used for ink follower has to be such a substance that does not get dissolved in water base ballpoint ink and should lose much of its volatility. Solvents used in ink can be mixed with resins like polypropylene, polyethene as it gets the better wetting property. The solvents are selected from polybutene and liquid paraffin. Silicone oil can also be used and gives good performance at least for two years if its volatile loss is not more than o.2% by weight.
Polybutene is checked by its molecular weight. It should have an average molecular weight of more than 500 to carry the volatile loss.
Effect of temperature on ink follower
The temperature applied can be between 40 C to 130 C. There are various heating methods like steam heating, electric heating, direct fire and so on. Steam heating is the safest method among all the methods. It does not affect the homogenization even if it is heated at the temperature of 130 c. In an ordinary pressure, the preferred temperature can be 100 c to 130 c. If the thickener is in powder form, it may catch moisture but it can be solved by heating it. The heat will absorb the moisture.
Take Away:
In this article, we explored the functioning of ink follower in water base ballpoint pen. The functioning of the ink follower depends on the viscosity of the fluid. Low viscosity may lead to backflow. There is an ink reservoir in the pen which holds the fluid and allows the required flow to pass through the passage of the inner wall. Low viscosity may lead to leakage of pen or it may leave stains. Lubricant grease is added to the ink to provide smoothness. Solvents that do not get mixed with water are also added to the fluid. Steam heating is the preferable option for the ink fluid. It absorbs the moisture present in the solvents.
We hope that this article must have given contended knowledge about an ink follower and water base ballpoint pen. Kindly share your feedback right here in the suggestion box. Keep on reading and keep on exploring with us.