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Why is this ballpoint pen spring shaped like this? (lemmy.world)

submitted 2 days ago by NoSpotOfGround@lemmy.world to c/askscience@lemmy.world

33 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Why is the spring strengthened in the middle?

It doesn't seem to affect the spring's buckling characteristics.

My speculation is that it's to reduce spring noise. That strengthened region at the middle is where the spring will buckle outwards most, resting against the barely visible side rails on the inside of the case. Instead of just one wobbly contact point it now has three rigid ones as a "skate" to reduce the stick-slip noise when opening and retracting the tip. Is this right?

(The pen is a Mitsubishi Uni-Ball Power Tank, pretty much my favorite model.)

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[–] ggppjj@lemmy.world 29 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Could be that the machine they have to make springs is designed to make single length springs and they changed it up a bit to accommodate making a double-length version by only changing the cut frequency or something similar

[–] Glitch@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 2 days ago

This seems most plausible to me