Mechanical
Pencils
By: Mary Sumner K.
And
Felix S.
Design
 There
are many different designs for
mechanical pencils. It usually depends
on the brand. There are different brands
such as BIC, office depot, and sharpie.
And also different prototypes such as the
BIC velocity. There is also concepts such
as what materials are needed, how it will
be made, and how long it will last.
Materials Needed
 Plastic
 Graphite
 Metal
 Synthetic
Rubber
How it will be made
First they make barrels that are made from plastic,
though sometimes rubber is used. Then, a mold is
created, and from there machines are used to
duplicate this mold as many times as they need to.
Also, in the making of a pencil is the mechanical
action itself. It is designed out of metal, working on a
spring system. When a button is pressed, this spring
pushes the lead forward, and then pushing back so
the lead is locked into place.
Then things like graphite and erasers are added to
the pencil before it is placed in packaging and
shipped off to stores.
How long it will last
Depending on how much you write it will last
for a different amount of time. If you write
every single day, it should last about one
month per pencil. The softer that you use it,
the longer it will last. It also depends on
which brand the pencil is.
Materials Acquisition and
Materials Processing
 This
step requires you to know what
materials you need and how you will get
them.
Plastic
 We
get plastic from oil and natural gases.
Oil and natural gas are the major raw
materials used to manufacture plastics.
They usually start by treating the crude oil
and natural gas. This changes it into
hydrocarbon monomers.
Graphite

Graphite is mined around the world by both open
pit and underground methods. The open pit mines
usually need machinery like bulldozers to scoop up
the ore which is usually put in trucks and moved to
the plant. The underground graphite mines
employ drilling and blasting to break up the hard
rock (ore), which is then moved by mine cars
pulled by a truck to the surface and then to the
plant. In less-developed areas of the world, the
ore can be mined by pick and shovel and
transported by mine cars pushed by a laborer.
Synthetic Rubber

Synthetic Rubber comes from a milky white juice
which some trees and plants have instead of sap.
This liquid, called latex, can be found in the roots,
stems, branches, bark, leaves, and fruit of over 400
different plants. Most latex comes from the inner
bark of the rubber tree found in Brazil.

To get the latex, workers cut narrow slits in the bark
of the rubber tree for the latex flows easily when
the air is still cool. The latex is then allowed to drip
into cups attached to the tree
The latex, is then taken to a rubber factory. There,
it is heated and mixed with acid.

Metal



Heavy machinery is needed in mining for metal, to
break and remove rocks of various hardness, to
process the ore and for reclamation efforts after
the mine is closed. Bulldozers, drills, explosives and
trucks are all necessary for excavating the land.
Metal goes through many complicated processes.
you place the ore in a very hot oven until the
metal melts and the slag is separated. Slag is all
the unwanted minerals and other metals in the
ore.
It then goes through several chemical and
electrical treatments to further purify the ore until
you get purified metal and close to zero slag.
Metal
In Mechanical pencils metal is used to make
things such as springs. Springs are put in a
mechanical pencil so that when you press
the button to get more led the spring
compresses and feeds out the led.
Manufacturing
 This
step is the step where you Make the
final product. You have to make the
product with all the materials (In this case
plastic, metal, graphite, and synthetic
rubber).
Plastic

Plastic, though sometimes rubber is then
shaped in a mold. From there machines
are used to duplicate this mold as many
times as they need to. This mold is used for
the shell or the outer piece of plastic on
the mechanical pencil.
Graphite
 Graphite
is used in a Mechanical pencil
so that you can actually write. The
graphite is shaped in to long skinny
circular pieces so that they fit perfectly in
to the mechanical pencil.
Synthetic Rubber
 Synthetic
rubber is used in a Mechanical
pencil for the small eraser on the top of
the pencil. The most common eraser
colors are pink and white but can also be
other types of colors by adding dye.
Packaging
The packaging for mechanical pencils
depends on which company you buy them
from. For BIC they use plastic. So all 8 pencils
are isolated I a plastic bag. Once the
individual packs are finished they ship the
pencils to stores across the globe in
cardboard boxes.
Distribution
Mechanical Pencils must be sold to be
used. And in order to sell it must be
distributed to stores like office max, office
depot and staples. The manufacturing
plant is in Century Corners Pkwy, Euclid,
Ohio. So to transport the mechanical
pencils from Ohio to Michigan is not that
far away, but it still gives off Co2 .
Use
 When
you use a Mechanical pencil it
eventually creates waste but not until the
pencil is either broken or you don’t have
any more lead. Also, when you do throw it
away it doesn't create that much waste.
But there are ways to dispose of it safely
Reuse/Recycling
A mechanical pencil can be reused a lot
because all you have to do is put in more
lead.
There are places where you can go to
recycle them. You take the materials to the
plant and they will recycle it.
Disposal
You
can recycle mechanical pencils so for
disposal you take it to the recycling plant
then they take the materials apart and
separate them into categories to be
recycled.
Thanks
for
Watching
!!!!