Technically, the barrels of both types of pens are similar. The main difference lies in the inks used. For example, rollerball has a liquid, water-based ink, while the paste used in ballpoint pens is much thinner, resulting in different writing characteristics: Rollerball, for example, is the pen with the most fluid ink flow in the literal sense, which makes it well-suited for particularly fast and gliding writing. The ballpoint pen, on the other hand, impresses with the longest writing length and is usually the more durable pen because the ink does not dry up even after a long time.
Rollerballs make sense wherever a robust tip and an adjustable ink flow are desired. For example, the technology is used in teach-to-write pens such as the EASYoriginal with a slow ink flow, as well as in office products for adults such as the worker+ with a very high ink flow. This ensures that children who write more slowly get less ink on the paper so that the letters dry quickly and do not smear. At the same time, a high ink flow in adult products results in particularly smooth and soft writing without dropouts, even at high writing speeds.
Rollerballs are pens that use a rollerball to transfer water-based ink onto paper. A distinction is made between free-ink and memory systems. In the former, the ink tank contains liquid ink whose flow intensity is regulated by a complex ink control system. In the case of memory systems, a reservoir impregnated with ink is located in the shaft of the pen, which transfers the ink to the paper via a physical effect (the capillary effect) without a control system. With both systems, the ink flow can be regulated independently of the user's writing pressure and thus optimally adapted to the needs of the target group.