Thumbtack

Thumbtack

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 piecemealed 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 will not 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 [http://www.push-pin.com/mpphist1.html] .

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 [http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:mowzVYM9mkoJ:www.berlin-partner.de/index.php%3Fpage%3D332%26modaction%3DshowItem%26id%3D161++Johann+Kirsten+thumbtack&hl=en&gl=au&ct=clnk&cd=6] . 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 [http://www.sax.info/en/lex-e/Firmenchronik-e.html] .

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 will not 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.


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • thumbtack — (n.) tack with a broad, flat head which may be driven by pressure from the thumb, 1884, from THUMB (Cf. thumb) (n.) + TACK (Cf. tack) (n.1) …   Etymology dictionary

  • thumbtack — ► NOUN N. Amer. ▪ a drawing pin …   English terms dictionary

  • thumbtack — ☆ thumbtack [thum′tak΄ ] n. a tack with a wide, flat head that can be pressed into a board, etc. with the thumb …   English World dictionary

  • thumbtack — UK [ˈθʌmˌtæk] / US noun [countable] Word forms thumbtack : singular thumbtack plural thumbtacks American a drawing pin …   English dictionary

  • thumbtack — I. noun Date: 1884 a tack with a broad flat head for pressing into a surface with the thumb II. transitive verb Date: 1914 to fasten with a thumbtack …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • thumbtack — /thum tak /, n. 1. a tack with a large, flat head, designed to be thrust into a board or other fairly soft object or surface by the pressure of the thumb. v.t. 2. to attach or tack by means of a thumbtack. [1880 85, Amer.; THUMB + TACK1] * * * …   Universalium

  • thumbtack — 1. noun A small nail like tack with a slightly rounded head that can be pressed into place with light pressure from the thumb; used for hanging light articles on a wall or noticeboard Syn …   Wiktionary

  • thumbtack — [[t]θʌ̱mtæk[/t]] thumbtacks N COUNT A thumbtack is a short pin with a broad flat top which is used for fastening papers or pictures to a board, wall, or other surface. [AM] (in BRIT, use drawing pin) …   English dictionary

  • thumbtack — thumb•tack [[t]ˈθʌmˌtæk[/t]] n. 1) bui a tack with a large, flat head, designed to be thrust into a board or other surface by the pressure of the thumb 2) bui to attach or tack by means of a thumbtack • Etymology: 1880–85 …   From formal English to slang

  • thumbtack — thumb|tack [ˈθʌmtæk] n AmE a short pin with a flat top that is used for fixing notices on walls British Equivalent: drawing pin …   Dictionary of contemporary English

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