Editing Ballpoint pen (section)

{{Short description|Device dispensing ink over a metal ball at its point}}
{{Redirect|Ball pen|the 2012 Indian film|Ball Pen (film){{!}}''Ball Pen'' (film)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2018}}
{{Infobox product
| image        = Ballpoint-pen-parts.jpg
| caption      = A retractable ballpoint pen assemblage (Schneider K15)
| type         = [[Pen]]
| inventor     = [[John J. Loud]] (original)<br />[[László Bíró]] (modern)
| inception    = {{start date and age|1888}} (original)<br />{{start date and age|1938}} (modern)
| manufacturer = [[Bic (company)|Bic]] and others
}}
A '''ballpoint pen''', also known as a '''biro'''<ref name="About"/> ([[British English]]), '''ball pen''' ([[Hong Kong English|Hong Kong]], [[Indian English|Indian]], [[Indonesian English|Indonesian]], [[Pakistani English|Pakistani]],  and [[Philippine English]]), or '''dot pen'''<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Karn|first=Sajan Kumar|year=2012|title=On Nepalese English Discourse Granting Citizenship to English in Nepal via Corpus Building|url=https://www.nepjol.info/index.php/NELTA/article/view/6127|journal=Journal of NELTA|volume=16|issue=1–2|pages=30–41|doi=10.3126/nelta.v16i1-2.6127|issn=2091-0487|doi-access=free|access-date=2 August 2021|archive-date=2 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210802191255/https://www.nepjol.info/index.php/NELTA/article/view/6127|url-status=live}}</ref> ([[Nepali English]] and [[South Asian English]]), is a [[pen]] that dispenses [[ink]] (usually in paste form) over a [[Ball (bearing)|metal ball]] at its point, i.e., over a "ball point". The metals commonly used are [[steel]], [[brass]], or [[tungsten carbide]].<ref>{{cite web |title=How does a ballpoint pen work? |url=http://science.howstuffworks.com/question683.htm |work=Engineering |publisher=HowStuffWorks |year=1998–2007 |access-date=16 November 2007 |archive-date=25 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225032127/https://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/science-questions/question683.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> The design was conceived and developed as a cleaner and more reliable alternative to [[dip pen]]s and [[fountain pen]]s, and it is now the world's most-used [[Writing implement|writing instrument]];<ref name="bpp encyc"/> millions are manufactured and sold daily.<ref name="How ballpoints work"/> It has influenced art and [[graphic design]] and spawned [[ballpoint pen artwork|an artwork genre]].