Everything about Thumbtack totally explained
A
thumbtack (known as a
pushpin or a
drawing-pin in the
UK,
India,
Australia and
New Zealand) is a short
nail or
pin with a large, slightly rounded head made of metal which is used to fasten documents to a background for public display and which can easily be inserted or removed by hand.
Types of Thumbtack
The most common thumbtacks are made by attaching a
brass stem to a flat brass head. Some have coloured
plastic tops, to make them more attractive.
Map Pins, or
push pins, are also a type of thumbtack. Map Pins have a handle-like cover of plastic, which brings the pin out of the wall, allowing quick and easy removal from surfaces. Some other map pins have a round 1mm head to allow for easy removal. Both types come in a variety of colors. Map pins are safer than flat-headed thumbtacks when dropped on the ground or discarded on a surface, since they won't normally rest with the point upward.
History
The map pin was invented by
Edwin Moore around 1900, the year in which he founded the
Moore Push-Pin Company (External Link
).
As far as is currently known, the thumbtack was invented by the clockmaker
Johann Kirsten in the year 1903 in the town of
Lychen in
Uckermark,
Germany (External Link). He sold the rights to the invention to
Otto Lindstedt, a businessman, who received a
patent for the thumbtack on 8th January 1904. Lindstedt became a wealthy man while Kirsten, the clockmaker, remained in poverty.
Other sources ascribe the invention of the thumbtack to
Austrian factory owner
Heinrich Sachs in 1888
(External Link).
Physics
A thumbtack can be inserted by hand because of the large
area of its head relative to the area of its point. When a relatively low
pressure is applied across the large head of a thumbtack, a high pressure will be applied by the tip of the thumbtack. The low pressure on the head means the thumbtack won't pierce a person's finger. The high pressure at the tip allows it to pierce the surface to which the document is being fastened.
The thumb tack has a flat head in order to place the thumb, where as the drawing pin has a longer head which is gripped between two fingers to place.
Facts
- A thumbtack can be made to spin on its tip like a spinning top by holding the pin (with head facing up) between thumb and forefinger and rapidly spinning and releasing it in one fluid motion.
Push pins can be loaded directly into the breech of a Tippmann 98 Custom paintball gun and fired as projectiles. A flying pushpin rapidly loses stability after a few feet due to poor aerodynamics.
Thumbtacks are used as a weapon in professional wrestling.Further Information
Get more info on 'Thumbtack'.
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