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Why pens have rubbery grips

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Re: Why pens have rubbery grips

#11

Post by daxorid »

yazan94 wrote: post #2

TLDR from the article: > Because the keratin softens when it is hydrated by the moisture secreted from the sweat pores, it requires many seconds for the contact area to increase to the value reached almost instantaneously with a soft material, such as a rubber.

This is interesting, yes, but it seems immediately ... odd to me.

Do we use rubber to manufacture tires because the frictional coefficient between rubber and asphalt is established rapidly due to asphalt sweating? No, it's because the frictional coefficient is already rather high to begin with. Is this not the case with rubber-keratin as well? Why involve sweat when static friction is sufficiently explanatory?

Re: Why pens have rubbery grips

#12

Post by tpeo »

katastic wrote: post #10
qwerty_asdf wrote: post #7

Most commodity ballpoint pens didn't have rubbery grips prior to the mid 1990's. I remember back-to-school shopping at the end of one summer, and most of the bags of pens were upgraded to have built-in grips. Prior to that, you'd buy triangular slip-on sleeves separately, if you wanted additional gripping traction. It was a trend that started, and progressed like many other marketing arms races. One stand-out product…

>triangular slip-on sleeves separately As someone who grew up in the 90's, I can almost guarantee you would get the crap beat out of them for walking into school with something like that. Thank goodness they're integrated into the pen now!

Being bullied for this? Really?

Re: Why pens have rubbery grips

#13

Post by kleer001 »

tpeo wrote: post #12
katastic wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>triangular slip-on sleeves separately As someone who grew up in the 90's, I can almost guarantee you would get the crap beat out of them for walking into school with something like that. Thank goodness they're integrated into the pen now!

Being bullied for this? Really?

It's a pecking order instinct. I'm sure even lobsters do it. The algorithm goes like this: find someone weaker than you, focus on any difference however small or imaginary, initiate pecking, preserve your place in the hierarchy.

Re: Why pens have rubbery grips

#14

Post by falcolas »

tpeo wrote: post #12
katastic wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>triangular slip-on sleeves separately As someone who grew up in the 90's, I can almost guarantee you would get the crap beat out of them for walking into school with something like that. Thank goodness they're integrated into the pen now!

Being bullied for this? Really?

Bullies don't typically need much of a reason. Having something that they don't is usually enough.

Re: Why pens have rubbery grips

#15

Post by hawski »

Are there any smartphones that have a rubber coating? Something akin to the Thinkpad lid coating. I use a rubbery case, buy that's something else.

That got me to thinking. Why doesn't Lenovo cash on Thinkpad brand with a smartphone line that would be branded as such. It could use the same rubber coating and maybe titanium skeleton or something. Maybe I'm just not aware that they indeed have such a thing.

Re: Why pens have rubbery grips

#16

Post by jaclaz »

It seems to me that research have learned titling from modern journalism.

It is the actual research title and it is clickbaity.

>Without a large true contact area made by our hands, it would be nearly impossible to lift a glass or to hold onto a handrail in a transport vehicle.

As a side note, the reason why usually you don't drop a glass when gripping it with your hand is largely due -besides friction - to the fact that the glass is usually a truncated cone with the larger base on the upper side, and as well handrails have a suitable outer diameter to be enclosed in the hand and allowing to tight your fingers around it - between 40 and 50 mm.

Try holding (in a transport vehicle) onto an 80 or 90 mm handrail (rubber covered) ...

Re: Why pens have rubbery grips

#17

Post by schwap »

katastic wrote: post #10
qwerty_asdf wrote: post #7

Most commodity ballpoint pens didn't have rubbery grips prior to the mid 1990's. I remember back-to-school shopping at the end of one summer, and most of the bags of pens were upgraded to have built-in grips. Prior to that, you'd buy triangular slip-on sleeves separately, if you wanted additional gripping traction. It was a trend that started, and progressed like many other marketing arms races. One stand-out product…

>triangular slip-on sleeves separately As someone who grew up in the 90's, I can almost guarantee you would get the crap beat out of them for walking into school with something like that. Thank goodness they're integrated into the pen now!

As someone who also grew up in the 90s, all the cool kids had these things.

Re: Why pens have rubbery grips

#18

Post by christoph »

kleer001 wrote: post #13
tpeo wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Being bullied for this? Really?

It's a pecking order instinct. I'm sure even lobsters do it. The algorithm goes like this: find someone weaker than you, focus on any difference however small or imaginary, initiate pecking, preserve your place in the hierarchy.

So true. My nephew has a small mole on his nose. I never notice it, nobody in my immediate family notices it, but he gets bullied at school over it, to the point he wants it surgically removed. He’s six.

Re: Why pens have rubbery grips

#19

Post by city41 »

daxorid wrote: post #11
yazan94 wrote: post #2

TLDR from the article: > Because the keratin softens when it is hydrated by the moisture secreted from the sweat pores, it requires many seconds for the contact area to increase to the value reached almost instantaneously with a soft material, such as a rubber.

This is interesting, yes, but it seems immediately ... odd to me. Do we use rubber to manufacture tires because the frictional coefficient between rubber and asphalt is established rapidly due to asphalt sweating? No, it's because the frictional coefficient is already rather high to begin with. Is this not the case with rubber-keratin as well? Why involve sweat when static friction is sufficiently explanatory?

They are talking about non rubbery surfaces

> When encountering a smooth, stiff, and impermeable surface, such as polished metal or glass, the actual contact area is initially small as is the friction. Because the keratin softens when it is hydrated by the moisture secreted from the sweat pores, it requires many seconds for the contact area to increase to the value reached almost instantaneously with a soft material, such as a rubber.

Re: Why pens have rubbery grips

#20

Post by euyyn »

city41 wrote: post #19
daxorid wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is interesting, yes, but it seems immediately ... odd to me. Do we use rubber to manufacture tires because the frictional coefficient between rubber and asphalt is established rapidly due to asphalt sweating? No, it's because the frictional coefficient is already rather high to begin with. Is this not the case with rubber-keratin as well? Why involve sweat when static friction is sufficiently explanatory?

They are talking about non rubbery surfaces > When encountering a smooth, stiff, and impermeable surface, such as polished metal or glass, the actual contact area is initially small as is the friction. Because the keratin softens when it is hydrated by the moisture secreted from the sweat pores, it requires many seconds for the contact area to increase to the value reached almost instantaneously with a soft material,…

As compared to rubbery ones.

> the value reached almost instantaneously with a soft material, such as a rubber

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