The inkjet-printer pen
The
pen of the future will use inkjet technology to deliver a multitude of
colours from its tip, according to recent filings from prolific
patenter Silverbrook Research in Balmain, Australia.
Inkjet printer
heads are now cheaply mass-produced and small enough to fit into the
stem of a pen in place of a nib or ballpoint. Silverbrook’s pen body is
about as thick as a fountain pen, with a battery-powered
microelectromechanical print head near the tip that pumps out fine jets
of ink from a replaceable cartridge.
A smooth roller point at the
tip of the pen holds the jet at a fixed distance from the paper and
pressing the point onto the paper switches the jet on and off. Varying
the pressure varies the thickness of the line by controlling the number
of jets that pump ink – a hard push makes a thick line and vice versa.
The
roller point can also sense the direction of movement over the page and
make the jet change shape to mimic the behaviour of a pen nib. And if
the cartridge has separate chambers of cyan, magenta, yellow and black
ink, a switch on the side of pen will allow writing and drawing to be
done in a rainbow of colours.