Help deciphering this screwdriver manufacturer

[Leviton]

I picked up this screwdriver up today. It is a stubby wooden handled Phillips. Overall length = 3.78 inches (counting the thickness of the blue cover). Not sure if the blue outer covering is original.

I am trying to figure out the manufacturer. On the shaft there are 3 lines of text in a box.
Can anyone help decipher the first line?

_______RB_N
PAT. 2046840
MADE IN U.S.A.

I am guessing on two of the letters on the first line - the only one I am positive of is the "B".
The second line is the number for the 1936 patent by H. F. Phillips the "Phillips" screwdriver.

(FUN FACT: The Phillips screw and driver had their origins in Portland, Oregon: Phillips Screw and Driver)

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Is there a license number?

 

[Stadger]

Something carbon

 

[Leviton]

Is there a license number?

The only text that I can find is those three lines. If there is a license number it would have to be in that first line.

Thanks.

 

[woody 73]

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North Brothers Manufacturing Co.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Not sure if the blue outer covering is original.

Highly unlikely. It was made before 1950. Phillips head screwdrivers in the 50's often bear the first and second patent (2,507,231), granted in 1950. And even those don't typically have any kind of coverings, let alone bright blue. As Otg alluded to, the surest way to identify the OEM of an unbranded Phillips head screwdriver is through the License numbers almost always stamped on the shank with the patents. That stubby doesn't appear to have one. Stanley, who bought out North Brothers, was eventually issued License 1.

 

[Leviton]

Stadger: Nice job - you nailed it. I cleaned it up some more and now it is easier to see that CARBON is indeed the word. I'm guessing the word before it must have been HIGH or LOW.

Woody: Thank you for the manufacturer identification! How are you able to figure that out?

Lugz: Since you said the covering is not original, I pulled it off (it was on there TIGHT!). Attached is what it looks like now. Thanks.

Since the patent was issued in 1936, I'm guessing this screwdriver must date between 1936 and 1950.

Thank you for all your help gentlemen.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Since the patent was issued in 1936, I'm guessing this screwdriver must date between 1936 and 1950.

That is correct. There is another related patent (2,046,837), granted the same day, that you will also often see with the 2,046,840. Sometimes on separate lines, and sometimes, for efficiency, like this: "2046837-40". These are the patents that WWII collectors look for (the GMTK had a pair of Phillips head screwdrivers in it, a #2 (4" shank) and a #3 (6" shank)). And that 1950 patent I cited upthread is what we leave behind.

Have you tried chalking the marking? (If you don't know what I mean, rub a piece of chalk over it and thumb the chalk dust into the marking.) Not saying you're wrong, and anything is possible, but I have never seen a vintage screwdriver marked "HIGH-CARBON" or "LOW-CARBON." Typically, they are marked "CARBON STEEL", but those are #2, #3 and #4 tips with shanks 4 inches or longer. So they shortened it for the stubby shank. As I said upthread, I have also never seen one without a License number. (Phillips didn't make screwdrivers. Neither did the American Screw Company. They licensed the design.) One possibility is your shank reading something like "LIC 1 - CARBON".

EDIT: Also, unless I am mistaken, the ferrule is missing, correct? It may have had the branding on it.