The Story of the Phillips Head Eyeglass Screw

Henry F. Phillips (1890 – 1958) was a U.S. businessman from Portland, Oregon USA. The Phillips-head screw and Phillips head screwdriver were invented by him and justly named after him.

The importance of the crosshead Phillips head screw design lies in the self-centering property of the Phillips screwdriver head or bit. This proved useful on automated production lines that use electric or air powered screwdrivers. Phillips' major contribution was in driving the crosshead concept forward to the point where it was adopted by screw makers and automobile companies.

The design was purposely made to cam out when the screw stalled in the part, preventing the fastener from damaging the work or the screw head, and instead damaging the screwdriver. This was due to the relative difficulty in building torque limiting clutches into the early powered screwdrivers. (Compare this with the anti-cam out designs that are now prevalent from the latter half of the 20th century.) Although Henry Phillips received patents for his design in 1936, it was so widely copied that by 1949 Phillips lost his patent. (US Patent #2,046,343, US Patents #2,046,837 to 2,046,840)

The American Screw Company was responsible for devising a means of cold-heading the Phillips head screw, and successfully patented and licensed their method. Other screw makers of the 1930s dismissed the Phillips concept since it calls for a relatively complex cross-shaped recessed socket in the head of the screw, as opposed to the simple milled or sawn slot of a slotted head screw.

Today the Phillips head screw continues to be a favorite screw head style, found in everything from eyeglass screws to model boats and model cars, electronic devices, computer cases and more. Phillips head screws are easy to quickly install and remove.

There is no charge for this information. We just thought you might like to know who started it all. Free market capitalism works.