A lot of people take zip screws for granted, not realizing that a screw is a special kind of motor, called an actuator. An actuator is a motor that moves something. A linear actuator is an actuator that changes rotary motion into linear motion. Therefore, all types of screw are tiny, little motors. A screw has a pointed shaft with external, helical grooves and a flat head with one or two grooves.
There are many different kinds of linear actuators. One type has a single groove in the head which can be used for driving it forward into, say, a wall. These can be handled by a normal, straight screwdriver. Other types of linear actuator have two grooves arranged at right angles to one another. These are best manipulated using a crosshead, or Phillips, screwdriver. The man credited with inventing the crosshead screwdriver is Henry F. Phillips, who lived from 1890 to 1958.
It is amazing how little we know about the inventor of this household device that we all know about and need to use every now and again. Henry Phillips (1890-1958) came from Portland, Oregon. He purchased the design of the Phillips head, or "crosshead" from its creator, John P. Thompson. Phillips refined the design and secured the patent.
One of the first purchasers of the Phillips head screwdrivers and screws was the company that produced the Cadillac luxury sedan, General Motors Company. Phillips later sold the patents to Ford in 1945. Henry passed away in 1958.
It is interesting to note that a crosshead screw can be driven with an ordinary, straight screwdriver, but the reverse operation, using a crosshead driver to set a straight screw, doesn't work so well. It just can't get the necessary torque. When this happens, a table knife works just as well, or a thin coin like a British ha'penny or an American dime.
A screw is different from a bolt, although they perform a similar function, holding stuff together. A bolt has external threads at one end and a head at the other. The bolt is slipped through two holes and a nut, which has internal threads, is wound around the external threads until the whole apparatus fits together tightly.
A screw, on the other hand, does not require a nut to hold it in place. Say you are going to hang a painting. First, a hole is drilled, for example, in a wall. Then a rawl plug, a screw-sized plastic is fitted into the resulting hole. The screw is then driven in, first by hand, then by screwdriver, but not all the way in. The painting is hung onto the part of the screw that is sticking out of the wall.
Zip screws are used mainly for sheet metal (the kind used for ducting) and guttering. These have an especially sharp point that is easy to pierce through thin, soft metal. It gets its name because it zips straight through. If, on the other hand, you want to work with a harder or thicker sheet of metal, then you would use a TEK screw.
There are many different kinds of linear actuators. One type has a single groove in the head which can be used for driving it forward into, say, a wall. These can be handled by a normal, straight screwdriver. Other types of linear actuator have two grooves arranged at right angles to one another. These are best manipulated using a crosshead, or Phillips, screwdriver. The man credited with inventing the crosshead screwdriver is Henry F. Phillips, who lived from 1890 to 1958.
It is amazing how little we know about the inventor of this household device that we all know about and need to use every now and again. Henry Phillips (1890-1958) came from Portland, Oregon. He purchased the design of the Phillips head, or "crosshead" from its creator, John P. Thompson. Phillips refined the design and secured the patent.
One of the first purchasers of the Phillips head screwdrivers and screws was the company that produced the Cadillac luxury sedan, General Motors Company. Phillips later sold the patents to Ford in 1945. Henry passed away in 1958.
It is interesting to note that a crosshead screw can be driven with an ordinary, straight screwdriver, but the reverse operation, using a crosshead driver to set a straight screw, doesn't work so well. It just can't get the necessary torque. When this happens, a table knife works just as well, or a thin coin like a British ha'penny or an American dime.
A screw is different from a bolt, although they perform a similar function, holding stuff together. A bolt has external threads at one end and a head at the other. The bolt is slipped through two holes and a nut, which has internal threads, is wound around the external threads until the whole apparatus fits together tightly.
A screw, on the other hand, does not require a nut to hold it in place. Say you are going to hang a painting. First, a hole is drilled, for example, in a wall. Then a rawl plug, a screw-sized plastic is fitted into the resulting hole. The screw is then driven in, first by hand, then by screwdriver, but not all the way in. The painting is hung onto the part of the screw that is sticking out of the wall.
Zip screws are used mainly for sheet metal (the kind used for ducting) and guttering. These have an especially sharp point that is easy to pierce through thin, soft metal. It gets its name because it zips straight through. If, on the other hand, you want to work with a harder or thicker sheet of metal, then you would use a TEK screw.
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