Who invented the Phillips screwdriver?

Answer 1

The Phillips screwdriver was invented by John P. Thompson in the 1930s. It was specifically designed to prevent cam-out, which occurs when a traditional screwdriver slips out of the screw head while turning.

Answer 2

1936: Henry F. Phillips receives patents for a new kind of screw and the new screwdriver needed to make it work. It changes the worlds of mass production and machine repair, not to mention your home toolbox.

Phillips was a Portland, Oregon, businessman who invented something to solve a problem that few home-repair folk or do-it-yourselfers even knew existed. In those days, if you wanted to drive a screw into a hole, you just grabbed the right-size slotted screwdriver and did the deed.

The only thing you needed to puzzle over was the size. Too big wouldn't fit; too small wouldn't give you enough torque.

So why do you now need to grab the right kind, as well as size, of screwdriver? It's enough to make you cross.

Phillips wasn't trying to make life with hand tools easier. He was trying to solve an industrial problem. To drive a slot screw, you need hand-eye coordination to line up the screwdriver and the slot. If you're a machine - especially a 1930s machine - you ain't got no eye, and your hand coordination may depend on humans.

The Phillips-head screw and Phillips screwdriver were designed for power tools, especially power tools on assembly lines. The shallow, cruciform slot in the screw allows the tapering cruciform shape of the screwdriver to seat itself automatically when contact and rotation are achieved. That saves a second or two, and if you've got hundreds of screws in thousands of units (say, cars), you're talking big time here.