It's basically a sheet of paper rolled up really tight

Nov 24, 2014 14:51 GMT  ·  By

Pencils normally have a stick of graphite enclosed in two sections of wood, plastic or some byproduct of them. Four Chinese designers decided to come up with a new way of creating such writing and drawing implements.

All pencils come out of a factory, usually, but it's ultimately not that hard to make them if you have the proper tools.

The Chinese designers, called Chengzhu Ruan, Yuanyuan Liu, Xinwei Yuan and Chao Chen, decided to combine all instruments in one.

So instead of an assembly line, you get an electronic that's about as large as a soda can. In fact, it's a fair bit thinner than those things as well.

It's not perfectly cylindrical, since the paper has to be stuffed into it somehow, but that's not really a disadvantage.

The waste paper-based pencil maker

Called the P&P Office Waste Processor, the item will accept sheets of paper you no longer need and wound it tight around a thin stick of graphite. You only need to press one button and the device will do everything else. A bit of glue will make sure the paper doesn't unfurl once the process is complete.

All in all, it's a pretty straightforward approach to solving two of the most common problems in an office: too much refuse paper lying around and not having a writing implement ready nearby.

The invention will probably not resonate that well with people who prefer pens over pencils, but should suit amateur artists quite well if they like to sketch things all the time.

We don't even have to comment on the legends that you can never do perfectly on a test unless you have a pencil. Although since the myth is about the Number 2 pencil specifically, the P&P Office Waste Processor might not impact it much at all.

If nothing else, it will provide people with a means to create unique, even personalized versions of what would otherwise be an easily overlooked office tool.

Of course, since paper-based pencils are already up for sale, the newcomer will hit the market a bit if it ends up selling at the rate of standard office supplies instead of as random curiosity.

Availability and pricing

The P&P Office Waste Processor hasn't been given a price yet, and it's not really in production either, despite how popular it could be in schools. Especially since it can throw out the pencils already pre-sharpened. On that note, the hole can be used solely as a pen sharpener if needed. We can only wait and see if the device is marketed.

If you're wondering about the "Liteon" brand on the side, it's because this invention earned the designers a Liteon award.

P&P Office Waste Processor (5 Images)

P&P Office Waste Processor
P&P Office Waste Processor, idleP&P Office Waste Processor side views
+2more