Bolgrafo

Antes de que el bolgrafo se puso de moda, se utiliz la pluma para dibujar con
tinta de un depsito interno para que una persona pueda escribir o dibujar en
una hoja de papel u otra superficie.
Bolgrafos se construyeron dcadas antes de que el periodista e inventor
hngaro nacionalizado argentino Ladislao Biro creara su utensilio de escritura.
Ladislao Jos Biro (1889-1985) fue un hombre incansable. Hngaro de
nacimiento, para cuando la idea del bolgrafo comenzaba a rondarle la cabeza,
ya haba inventado, entre otras cosas, una mquina para lavar la ropa, un
sistema de cambios automticos para los coches de la poca y un vehculo
impulsado gracias al electromagnetismo.
Sin embargo, el periodismo fue su principal trabajo y el que le dio la idea de su
invento. Ladislao, cansado de que su pluma se atascase y no dejase fluir la tinta
uniformemente, trat de idear una solucin. No solo eso, las plumas de la poca
eran un verdadero tesoro familiar, que sola suponer un desembolso importante
en tinta y recambios para las plumillas a lo largo de los aos.
Junto con su hermano, el qumico Georg Biro, consigui una tinta que permita
un trazo ms fluido y uniforme, pero que atascaba el mecanismo de las plumas.
El principal problema era la forma de distribucin de la tinta por la superficie del
papel. Mientras paseaba por un parque, Ladislao Jos Biro, comprob como un
grupo de nios atravesaba un charco de agua jugando con una pelota. La pelota
mojada distribua una fina capa de agua de manera uniforme, sin trazos en
blanco como suceda con las puntiagudas puntas; por lo que se di cuenta de
que las puntas deberan ser esfricas.
Tras patentar un prototipo de su bolgrafo, Ladislao Jos Biro nunca lleg a
comercializarlo. El coste de fabricar en masa, ya que su objetivo era idear un
mtodo barato de escritura, era demasiado alto y no dispona de apoyo con el
que idear nuevas maneras de produccin.
Sin embargo, el bolgrafo de Ladislao Jos Biro funcionaba. La punta en forma
de esfera se impregnaba de manera uniforme de tinta y la aplicaba de la misma
manera con diferentes grados de presin, sin aplicar demasiada en algunos
trazos, ni demasiada poca en otros. De esto, se di cuenta el expresidente de
Argentina, Agustn Pedro Justo, quien le vi escribir notas para su peridico
sobre Yugoslavia.
Maravillado con el invento, le ofreci la estancia en Argentina; invitacin
que Ladislao Jos Biro rechaz en un primer momento. Sin embargo, con el
estallido poco despus de la Segunda Guerra Mundial y con la previsible invasin
de Hungra y su pblico origen judo, temi por su vida y las de su familia.
Recurriendo de nuevo a las influencias del poltico argentino, consigui la doble
nacionalidad para l y su familia.
Instalado en Buenos Aires y gracias a financiacin de Agustn Pedro Justo, abri
un garaje con 40 operarios, perfeccion su invento, registrando el 10 de junio de
1943 una nueva patente en Buenos Aires. Cre la empresa Birome, de la unin
de su apellido y el de su socio Meyne, y lanz un nuevo prototipo, a un menor
coste, conocido como esferogrfica, vendindose los primeros bolgrafos en
Argentina en 1945 . Tan bajo fue era su precio y tan acostumbrada estaba la
sociedad argentina al gastar grandes sumas en plumas y tinta, que no tomaron
en serio su invento, que se dedic como ayuda a la escritura de los nios en las
escuelas.
Con el tiempo, el hecho de que el bolgrafo de Ladislao Jos Biro secase la tinta
en el acto, no la malgastase, que era muy fcil y barata de rellenar y que su tinta
fuera indeleble le hicieron ganar popularidad. Poco antes de morir, vendi
licencias sobre su patente a Eversharp Faber, en EE.UU., y a Marcel Bich,
fundador de Bic, en Francia.
Al momento de su muerte, las licencias haban llevado millones a las arcas
argentinas y su invento, aunque fabricado por otras marcas y no Birome,haba
sustituido a la pluma en las clases medias , bajas y en el sistema de
enseanza americano. Con el tiempo, el invento de Ladislao Jos Biro se ha
convertido en parte invisible e indispensable de la vida diaria de miles de millones
de personas en todo el mundo.
 Pen

Before the pen became fashionable, the pen was used to draw with ink from an
inner reservoir so that a person could write or draw on a sheet of paper or other
surface.
Pens were built decades before the journalist and Argentinean nationalist
Hungarian inventor Ladislao Biro created his writing utensil.

Ladislao Jos Biro (1889-1985) was a tireless man.

When the idea of the ballpoint pen began to creep around, he had already
invented, among other things, a washing machine, a system of automatic
changes for cars of the time, and a vehicle driven by electromagnetism.

However, journalism was his main job and the one that gave him the idea of his
invention. Ladislao, tired of his pen getting stuck and not letting the ink flow
evenly, tried to come up with a solution. Not only that, the pens of the time were
a real family treasure, which used to be an important disbursement in ink and
spare parts for the pens over the years.

Together with his brother, the chemist Georg Biro, he obtained an ink that allowed
a more fluid and uniform stroke, but which jammed the mechanism of the
feathers. The main problem was the distribution of the ink on the surface of the
paper. While walking in a park, Ladislao Jose Biro, he watched as a group of
children crossed a pool of water playing with a ball. The wet ball distributed a thin
layer of water evenly, without traces in white as with the pointed tips; So he
realized that the tips should be spherical.

After patenting a prototype of his pen, Ladislao Jos Biro never got to market it.
The cost of mass-manufacturing, since his goal was to devise an inexpensive
method of writing, was too high and had no support with which to devise new
ways of production.

However, Ladislao Jos Biro's pen worked. The sphere-shaped tip was uniformly
impregnated with ink and applied in the same way with different degrees of
pressure, without applying too much in some strokes, nor too much in others.
From this, the former president of Argentina, Agustn Pedro Justo, noticed that
he wrote notes for his newspaper on Yugoslavia.

Marvel at the invention, he offered the stay in Argentina; Invitation that Ladislao
Jose Biro rejected at first. However, with the outburst shortly after World War II
and with the foreseeable invasion of Hungary and its Jewish public, he feared for
his life and those of his family. Resorting again to the influences of the Argentine
politician, he obtained double nationality for him and his family.

Installed in Buenos Aires and thanks to the financing of Agustn Pedro Justo, he
opened a garage with 40 workers, perfected his invention, registering on June
10, 1943 a new patent in Buenos Aires. He created the company Birome, from
the union of his surname and that of his partner Meyne, and launched a new
prototype, at a lower cost, known as ballpoint pen, selling the first pens in
Argentina in 1945. So low was its price and so accustomed was the Argentine
society to spend large sums in feathers and ink, that did not take seriously its
invention, that was dedicated like aid to the writing of the children in the schools.

Over time, the fact that Ladislao Jos Biro's pen dried the ink on the spot, did not
waste it, that it was very easy and inexpensive to fill and that his ink was indelible
made him gain popularity. Shortly before his death, he sold his patent licenses to
Eversharp Faber in the US and to Marcel Bich, founder of Bic in France.

At the time of his death, the licenses had brought millions to the Argentine coffers
and his invention, although manufactured by other brands and not Birome, had
replaced the pen in the middle classes, lower classes and in the American system
of education. Over time, the invention of Ladislao Jos Biro has become an
invisible and indispensable part of the daily lives of billions of people around the
world.