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ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER
Abelman, Frayne, &Schwab
This Week In Intellectual Property History for the Week of July 5, 2010
On July 7, 1936, the U.S. Patent Office issued several patents for the "Phillips-head" screw and screwdriver to its inventor, Henry F. Phillips of Portland, Oregon (U.S. Patent Nos. 2,046,343, and 2,046,837 - 40). The five Patents disclosed a fastening system involving a shallow cruciform recess and a matching driver with a tapering tip that conveniently self-centers in the screw head.
The importance of the crosshead screw design lies in its self-centering property, useful on automated production lines that use powered screwdrivers. Phillips' major contribution was in driving the crosshead concept forward to the point where it was adopted by screwmakers and automobile companies.
Phillips founded the Phillips Screw Company to license his patents.
After three years of rejection, he finally persuaded the American Screw Company to spend $500,000 developing a manufacturing process and manufacture the screws. General Motors was convinced to use the screws on its 1936 Cadillac and 1940 virtually every American automaker had switched to Phillips screws.
Due to failing health, Phillips retired in 1945 and died quietly in 1958.
