John P. Thompson is named on the early 1933 patents for a cruciform screw and its matching screwdriver. Henry F. Phillips later refined, promoted, and helped bring the design into industrial use, and the familiar name comes from him. The short answer is that Thompson’s early patent work and Phillips’s later development and commercial role are both central to the story.
Who invented the Phillips screw and screwdriver?
The early patent records name John P. Thompson as inventor of both a screw with a cruciform recess and a matching screwdriver. His screw patent application was filed May 20, 1932, and his screwdriver application followed on June 17, 1932; both patents were published May 9, 1933. Thompson’s screw patent and his screwdriver patent provide the clearest record of that early work.
Henry F. Phillips became the better-known name because he played a major role in developing and promoting the design and bringing it into manufacturing. The National Inventors Hall of Fame says Phillips purchased rights to a socket screw in 1933 and redesigned it with a cruciform recess. Later patents document his work, including a 1936 screwdriver patent jointly naming Thomas M. Fitzpatrick. The Hall of Fame’s biography of Phillips describes his role in the design’s commercial development.
Why is it called a Phillips screwdriver?
The drive is known by Phillips’s name because of his role in its later development and promotion, not because the earliest patents name him. The Oregon Encyclopedia credits Thompson with the invention while noting that patent wording awarded it directly to Phillips. That distinction explains why short accounts can give different answers: one may emphasize the early patent record, while another focuses on the figure associated with the design’s adoption. See the Oregon Encyclopedia’s account of John P. Thompson.
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How the design moved from patent to industry
Thompson’s patents establish an early screw-and-driver design, but adoption depended on manufacturing and use at scale. The National Inventors Hall of Fame recounts American Screw Company’s manufacturing role and says General Motors used Phillips screws on its 1936 Cadillac. The Hall of Fame also reports that 85% of screw manufacturing companies had secured a license by 1940; that is a historical figure for 1940, not a current industry statistic.
| Date | What the record says |
|---|---|
| About six decades before Thompson’s work | The Oregon Encyclopedia says English inventor John Frearson had patented a screw with a “cruciform orifice.” It gives a relative interval, not a precise year. |
| May 20, 1932 | Thompson filed his screw patent application. |
| June 17, 1932 | Thompson filed his screwdriver patent application. |
| May 9, 1933 | Thompson’s screw and screwdriver patents were published. |
| 1933 | The National Inventors Hall of Fame dates Phillips’s purchase of rights to a socket screw and his redesign to this year. |
| 1936 | A screwdriver patent naming Henry F. Phillips and Thomas M. Fitzpatrick documents a later refinement. The Hall of Fame also says GM used Phillips screws on its 1936 Cadillac. |
| June 18, 1946 | Phillips’s later screw patent was published. |
Was the Phillips design the first cross-shaped screw?
No. The Oregon Encyclopedia places John Frearson’s “cruciform orifice” screw roughly six decades before Thompson’s work. The Phillips design’s importance is its own patent and commercial history, not that it was the first cross-shaped screw form.
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What the patent record does—and does not—settle
The patents identify named inventors, filing and publication dates, and the subject matter of particular designs. They show Thompson named on the early screw and driver patents, followed by patents documenting Phillips’s later work. The institutional histories add context about rights, redesign, manufacturing, and adoption. These sources do not establish the exact terms of every rights transfer, so a specific sale price or contract detail should not be treated as settled.
The later screwdriver patent states, “This invention is directed to new and useful improvements in screw drivers.” It names Henry F. Phillips and Thomas M. Fitzpatrick and was published July 7, 1936. The quote is from the patent text, rather than a personal statement by either inventor. Read the 1936 screwdriver patent. Phillips’s later screw patent, published June 18, 1946, is available as US2408983A.
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Why the matching screwdriver matters
The Phillips story concerns a paired fastener and driver: the early patent record covers both the screw and a tool shaped to engage it. That makes the screwdriver part of the invention’s history, rather than simply a later accessory. A Phillips screwdriver is also commonly called a crosshead screwdriver; the correct fit depends on matching the driver size to the screw.
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