A video created by Illinois University professor Bill Hammack, known as 'the engineer guy' on the web, has gone viral gaining more than 200,000 views on social media since it was first uploaded on Tuesday.

In the video Hammack described how the Parker jotter pen was first created and how the mechanisms in the pen work.

Hammack also explained that the Parker company was originally concerned that the pen 'would damage their reputation' and therefore initially left their trademark arrow off the pen. But it was so successful that Parker placed the arrow back on the jotter pen within four years of the product's release.

"This particular model of pen has sold over three quarter of a million units since its debut. It took a team of 66 people to design this pen and although it is a mechanical marvel the Parker company worried that this retractable ball point ink pen would damage their reputation.

"Parker pens were fountain pens and so the company left off their iconic arrow clip, but within four years the pen earned its arrow and inspired other pen makers to design click and lock mechanisms all different to avoid patent infringement," Hammock said in his video.

The creation of the pen with its 'click' and 'retractable' design led to the creation of multiple new designs from pen makers across the engineering world.