How Pencils, School Buses, Ballpoint Pens & More Are Made! | How It’s Made | Science Channel

[Music] hard cover books have bindings made of heavy paper boards covered with cloth leather or plastic soft cover books have flimsier paper bindings while book binding on a commercial scale is all mechanized today you can still find Crafts People Who skill fully bind books by hand book bindings date back to 2 Century Egypt where Christian monks sewed sheets of Papyrus together that enclosed them in leather covered boards connected by strips of hide monks in medieval Europe stitched together handwritten parchments binding them between wooden boards often covered in leather sometimes they were embellished with gold leaf

and gems the 16th century saw the AR of Cheaper printed books with simple pasteboard [Music] bindings today commercial book binding is highly mechanized the process starts with large sheets of paper each containing several consecutive pages of the book a worker positions a stack of each sheet in into a machine appropriately called the guillotine it sharp blade drops down and chops off excess paper after trimming the stack moves into a machine called the folder which folds each sheet into book size with the pages in the right order as we see here in slow motion the machine

starts by Perforating the fold line then the sheet moves along the conveyor belt until it hits a stopper to the far right that stop position aligns the perforation between two rollers watch in slow motion how those rollers pull the page down pressing a neat fold this process repeats itself for each fold of the sheet the result of all that folding is what's called a signature a unit of pages in the correct order but still attached to each other a book is made up of several signatures another machine now assembles them in the right sequence along

with the cover for binding there are many different binding methods this one is called wire stitching as we see here in slow motion the machine drives heavyduty Staples right through the spine of the signatures and cover the Staples are cut from steel wire that's so strong you have to tear the book apart to remove them here's another slow motion look at the stapling action this is another binding method called perfect binding first a scanner ensures the pages are in order then the covers go on with traditional book binding they sew these components together in the

perfect bind process they glue them together to do that the machine first feeds the assembled books spine side down onto trays the trays compress the pages then a saw underneath cuts off the folds detaching the pages from each other along the spine but that cut creates a smooth edge to which glue would have difficulty adhering so a second saw notches the spine creating a rough glue friendly surface the notched spine now runs over rollers that coated in hot [Music] glue finally two conveyor belts merge one with the books pages assembled with a notched and glue

coated spine and the other with a books cover the machine presses the cover onto the [Music] spine the book now travels along the conveyor belt for another 30 seconds during which time the glue air dries by this stage of the process with either binding method most pages on the Unbound sides of the book are still attached by folds to separate the pages the books go through a machine called a three knife trimmer it cuts the folds off the three sides simultaneously the book is now finished the highlighter pen was invented in the 1960 simply to

get your attention when text is shaded with transparent Vivid inks and hot pinks or warm yellows our eyee goes directly to it marketers have always known that color has impact and it's a principle highlighted by these pens highlighters come in lots of Shades and colors even neon this is how a highlighter pen gets its start a vacuum siphons plastic pellets into this container the red ons will tint the whole mix as it melts inside a heating to a mechanized steel screw pushes the melted plastic into pen molds the force applied is equal to the weight

of 350 elephants cooled by water the newly molded pen barrels spill into a container below now some clear colored pen barrels drop onto a conveyor track and ink reservoirs that look like pieces of chalk what are made of polyester drop down a shaft and a robotic arm thrusts them into the plastic barrels the backend plug goes in the same way the plugs fall to a robotic arm and it pushes them into the back of the pen now a chemist drops a concentrate of dye into a beaker of water just over a third of an ounce

or 10 drops is enough to turn it fire engine red a humectant already in the water will keep the ink from drying out when it's in the pen next he measures the Ink's thickness he lowers a steel probe into it and the probe turns a gauge measures the speed if the probe turns too fast it means the ink is too thin if it revolves too slowly then the mix is too thick at four revolutions per minute the ink is just the right consistency a vacuum pump sucks the ink into 6-in steel needles and a robotic

arm pushes the needles into the polyester reservoirs injecting them with ink now we arrive at the next part of assembly a combination of mechanical vibrations and Compressed Air Drive a conveyor belt carrying the pen nibs the nibs fall into the clutch of a mechanical claw which drops them to a circular Pusher it shoves the nibs onto the pens and they interlock the impact floods the reservoir inside the pen with ink now it's time to top it all off a conveyor transports caps to a mechanical gripper the gripper slides them over the nibs over on another

assembly line they're making a 3in1 marker a conveyor Bowl funnels smaller ink reservoirs into a shaft and they drop to a robotic arm the arm Stuffs the reservoirs into the small barrels and then a needle injects them with ink quickly saturating the reservoirs with vibrant color the next robotic arm shoves a receptacle onto the barrel and then another robot presses a polyester nib onto it a robot now slips a hood-like cap over the nib another mechanical arm suctions up the fuchsia color mini markers and transfers them to a triangular case down the line another suctioning

arm picks up a red mini marker and deposits it in the Triangle a steel probe presses it in finally a yellow colored marker completes the triangle now a robot uses an electrical charge to pick up metallic confetti when the charge is turned off the confetti drops into the triangle adding some glitter next a suctioning robot drops the top part of the triangle onto the lower case and a metal cylinder presses it shut another suctioning arm carries the 3 in1 marker to a conveyor belt which unloads it into a box this 3in1 highlighter makes it easier

to color code text a different color for each theme now an electrical conveyor moves the highlighters to a mechanical arm the arm flips it around positioning it for the next step a squeegee silk screens a logo onto it I wonder how they came up with that one now the highlighters enter an ultraviolet light chamber the light bonds the ink to the case and finally the ultimate test plastic grippers guide markers as they make circles 700 to 1,000 circles means this particular production line will definitely stand out the lead inside a pencil isn't actually lead it's

mostly graphite which was discovered in England in the mid 1500s giving birth to the pencil industry in 1795 a French chemist invented a new type of pencil lead made of graphite powder and Clay fired in an oven making it possible to produce leads with different hardness for the pencil's body you need a type of wood that's soft enough to sharpen yet strong enough not to bend under the writer's hand pressure this German Pencil Factory uses Cedar from California the wood is 2 in thick and arrives pre-cut and slight of 7x 2 1/2 in one by

one the slats pass under a giant cutting wheel it carves grooves that will become the channel down the middle that holds the lead the next machine fills the grooves with glue a special formulation that's slightly elastic this cushions the lead so that it's less likely to break inside the channel every second slat moves onto another conveyor belt the ones that stay on this line head toward the machine that lays in the lead the lead is made of a graphite and Clay mixture baked in an oven at almost 1500° F the lead laying machine's wheel loads

itself with leads they spacing matching the grooves in the slats it's the same process for color colored pencils only the leads are made of wax clay and pigments with no baking [Music] required now for the slats that move to that other conveyor belt an automated arm flips each one over slides it across a glue applicator then drops it onto a leaded slat on the other conveyor [Music] belt all the steps to this point have culmin in what is effectively a lead [Music] sandwich now a plunger squeezes those sandwiches together with a full ton of pressure

it compresses them for an hour while the glue dries after that it's just a matter of slicing the sandwiches into pencils this shaping machine makes the hexagonal profile in two steps first its upper cutter forms three sides on top then its lower cutter shapes three sides on the bottom as soon as the bottom side is cut the pencil separate a worker pulls a sample pencil from each batch coming off the line and manually sharpens it to spot check lead quality then he applies Force to the tip Until It Breaks for a pencil to pass the

strength test it has to withstand at least 4 1/2 lb of force now it's time to dress that bare wood one at a time the pencil shoot through a device called a lacquering head It Coats the wood in paint yellow in this case it takes four coats of paint to completely hide the wood grain a fifth lacquering head paints a black stripe this company's trademark then a sixth head seals the paint job with a transparent lacquer from the paint line the pencils make their way to a stamping machine at an astounding rate of 500 pencils

a minute the machine heat transfers foil lettering from a plastic film to the painted wood last stop the rubber tip assembly machine first it squeezes the top of the pencil to slide on an aluminum feral then it inserts a rubber eraser into the fal's other end and squeezes that tight [Music] European style pencils have a painted cap instead the color indicating how hard the lead is after a coat of transparent sealer the pencils take a series of dips in the first color then once that dries in the second color the final coat is a high

gloss [Music] lacquer the pencils are finally ready to roll across a grinding drum for sharpening [Music] by the time they roll off they're pointed [Music] Perfection looking as good as they perform today's pencils sure have the right [Music] stuff the ballpoint pen was designed as the answer to the Fountain Pen's many annoyances the hassle of having to manually refill the barrel with ink that dried slowly and often smudged the ballpoint has a tiny steel ball in its tip that applies quick drying ink from a ready-made [Music] cartridge when the ink cartridge inside these retractable pens

Runs Out you simply replace it with a new one working from the initial design the pen factory makes molds for all the Pen's plastic components the injection molder first shoots hot liquid plastic into molds for the Barrel's rigid core then into other molds for its soft rubber grip the tubes for the ink cartridges are also made of plastic Machinery aligns them in the same direction then prints on the company name model number and tip size here a filling machine injects 8 G of ink through the tip to prevent the ink from evaporating it plugs the

other end with1 G of silicone paste meanwhile High Precision machines progressively shape the Pen's tip out of stainless steel blanks the equipment drills a 1 mm Channel Through the blank then in quick succession fashion the tip into a cone Cuts five tiny ink flow channels in the ball socket and seats a 1 mm diameter St stainless steel ball in the [Music] center another machine that inserts a finished tip in each ink fill [Music] tube a scanner then checks the length and the ball of each cartridge this magnification shows the width of the five inkflow channels

next to a human hair random samples undergo an air pressure test to check the ball's position and movement anything less than perfect will clog the pen they close off the end of the cartridge with a plastic [Music] cap the cartridge is now going to a centrifuge which forces the ink to the tip eliminating any air bubbles that would obstruct ink [Music] flow every cartridge passes through this writing test machine that blue light is a sensor that triggers the machine to reject any defective cartridge the components now come together in the assembly Department the machine assembles

the clip sleeve and Barrel the clip is made of Chrome plated spring steel a strong metal that regains its shape when flexed the machine then flips the assembly over to receive the internal components first the Pen's two-part push button mechanism part one the plastic push button part two a device called a rotor with each click it rotates the refill 45° so the tip wears evenly the ink cartridge goes in tip side up the plug on the back fitting into the rotor this device forces spring steel wire through a coiling block this produces a tiny spring

that provides resistance to the push button mechanism a grabber places the spring over the cartridge [Music] tip now they close up the pen by adjoining the Barrel's bottom part the machine screws the two- part s together to a specific tightness the final assembly machine tests the push button mechanism to ensure it retracts the tip properly this also prepares the pens for packaging as they go into the boxes with tips [Music] retracted the factory subjects random samples to endurance testing this device clicks the push button 100,000 times only then does a printer put the logo on

the barrel this company's engineering of its inkflow channels and tip delivers on average 2 and 1/2 miles of writing per [Music] cartridge the big yellow school bus puts millions of children on the road to an education it all started in the 19th century with horsedrawn trucks known as kid hacks the word hack was short for hacking carriage in the 20th century they were motorized and became known as school buses every school day children across North America wait for the school bus appearance-wise it's hard to miss big in yellow it is deliberately conspicuous designed to stand

out in traffic so other drivers slow down and take notice Manufacturing starts with a support structure the steel underframe they arrange several short rails down the top of two long frame rails these cross rails will link the long rails and provide strategic support using a lift they raise the long rails and the cross rails slide into position just under the rims of the long ones now in a fixture that pins the rails together workers bolt them together with the school bus underframe assembled they roll in two enormous wheel axles complete with [Music] brakes overhead cables

lift the bus frame and workers guide it into place on the axles they attach the axles to the frame with metal brackets shackles and spacers where needed the chassis is ready for the engine they lower it onto the front of the frame and secure it with bolts the school bus engine packs a lot of power it's diesel fueled with six cylinders next up is the front Cal assembly which includes the instrument panel and steering column a worker wires the steering wheel to the controls in the column and slides it into place they mount the tires

and rims four on the back axle to handle the heavier passenger load and two on the [Music] front using a multi-prong tool the worker tightens numerous nuts to fasten the wheels to the [Music] axles they now encase the engine with a fiberglass Hood the hood has been prepainted and equipped with cross view mirrors and headlights they bolted to the vehicle frame and after adding any Freez and coolant the bus is technically drivable they roll it over to a test station to check the [Music] brakes the wheels turn on rollers so the bus runs in one

spot a computer monitors the performance of both the front and back brakes as a driver applies them [Music] they now move on to build the school bus body the body starts with the floor the unwind double-sided galvanized steel into a machine that slices it into panels it also Cuts holes to be used for assembly a forming machine folds the sides to create support beams two more steel beams will really stiffen the floor panel a worker positions those beams on the panel and an automated machine welds them to it it feeds the floor panel to the

welder incrementally so it can spot weld down the length of the [Music] beams it takes dozens of welds to solidly secure the steel supports [Music] and with those reinforcements the floor panel is complete it's ready for assembly workers arrange several panels upside down in a precise configuration then it's into a second automated welder that joins them to make one school bus floor after manually welding pockets for Wheels a machine called the floor flip picks up the bus floor and turns it right side [Music] up they're now ready to build the passenger [Music] compartment to build

the frame for the school bus walls and ceiling they Bend steel beams into bow shapes a hydraulic machine with pushers does the job in seconds achieving an exact radius [Music] the bows will serve as ribs for the school bus body they make several bows for each bus the precise number depends on the bus size and capacity workers plug the ends of the bows into holes in steel rails and secure them with bolts they weld lateral supports higher up and the cage-like skeleton of the school bus takes shape they're now ready to build on this framework

they attach the metal windshield surround the team then moves the steel side sheets and skirting into [Music] place they secure these panels with super strong adhesive and numerous [Music] rivets using cables and nylon straps they pull steel sheets to the roof structure to make them conform to the Contours the steel is 20 gauge a grade that's flexible enough to be easily bent the cables hold the steel panels tightly to the roof structure while the workers rivet them to it the number of rivets and the strength of the joints are among many government safety standards the

school bus must meet working from the the inside they glue fiberglass insulation into the pockets of the cage to keep the bus warm in Winter and cool in summer the insulation will also muffle road noise and absorb some of the student chatter for a quieter ride the team installs steel panels on the ceiling these panels have tiny perforations to allow sound to escape into the insulation they tape up the windows and doors and sand some areas as they now prepare to paint the exterior of the [Music] bus the paint National bus yellow takes the metal

from dll to Bal this shade was developed specifically for school buses and can be noticed even with peripheral vision with a paint now dry they open the doors and lay a plywood subfloor inside it too will absorb noise an employee drives the chassis over to the school bus body production line and Parks [Music] it using cables they lift the bus body over to the chassis at over 3 and 1/2 tons it's [Music] Hefty they gently lower it onto the frame rails and mate the front to the hood [Music] they tie the body to the frame

with heavyduty Clips they arrange the seating to surround the passengers with cushioning this creates compartments around the occupants to protect them in a collision outside a worker applies School Bus [Music] lettering another worker presses an adhesive manufacturers emblem to the hood they equip the bus with the flashing lights and stop signs to get the attention of other drivers when children are loading and unloading they also install a crossing gate to keep children within the bus driver sight line they test all of the warning lights and safety [Music] devices and satisfied that everything is operational the

bus rolls off the production line it's taken a day and a half to build it and when it comes to an education it's ready to [Music] deliver a stapler can instantly transform a pile of papers into a document its Story begins with the rapid increase in the use of paper in the middle of the 19th century the stapler was developed because people needed something better than string or pins to hold the pages together plier staplers open and close like pliers to tackle fastening jobs with quick Precision making these staplers starts with the cover plate a

press wields up to 176 tons of force to shape steel blanks to a slope profile a robot inserts tracks into nickel steel casings these are the vertical staple tracks for the front of the stapler tools Bend tabs on the ends of the casings to fasten the two parts another robot serves up covers for the stapler magazines to an automated welder the welder fuses an assembly attachment to each cover a worker immerses some of the staplers interior parts in a solution of water and zinc phosphate this solution forms an anti-corrosion coating on the surface of the

steel these particular parts are Pusher guides the top part has the protective coating the parts then take a ride with ceramic stones and polishing solution this Smooths rough bits and makes them shine next up is the die plate this is the part that shapes en closes the staple during stapling an automated system screws an iron ubolt attachment to the die [Music] plate a robot then inserts the spring block the part that allows the stapler to spring back to its original position after use meanwhile at the next station a robot places a piece of precision cut

steel on a mold a press drives it into the mold to shape it into the stapler body that holds all the working components [Music] more robots then work in perfect sequence to install thick metal pins across the stapler body these pins brace the stapler structure but that's not all some of the stapler working parts will hook onto these pins other robots now fasten the die plate to one end of the stapler body using a rivet hinge in the process they also fast the spring block securely to the die [Music] plate after cleaning and degreasing the

stapler bodies head into a paint booth spray guns apply primer and a curtain of water behind the parts prevents emissions from escaping from the booth the next sprayers coat the parts with green paint [Music] with the paint dry on the stapler body workers are ready to assemble all the working parts the assembler slides the front staple track into place and inserts the staple Pusher guide into the body she positions a metal plate over the guide and screws everything in place through holes in the body of the stapler the assembler Clips a retaining ring around each

screw next up is the driver this part detaches Staples one at a time during stapling after installing it the assembler inserts The spring-loaded Pusher and hooks the end on the staple guide another worker assembles the handle that allows the stapler to be wielded with plier likee accuracy he secures the handle with a rolling Fastener this rolling Fastener indirectly Bears down on the Staples to apply pressure during in [Music] stapling another team member then inspects the stapler satisfied with its fabrication she reaches for the cover plate and hammers the wings to bend them for a better

fit she slides the cover plate into the grooves of the stapler and loads the Staples to give it a trial run she Staples paper repeatedly to confirm that it's fully operated [Music] these plier staplers are now ready for the workplace where with a few quick crunches they'll help keep the paperwork in order [Music]