Henry F. Phillips Patent # 2,046,837

woody 73 · May 16, 2016

Sure we tool Geeks know the name, but just in case a few of you do not recognize his name he invented the phillips head screwdriver.

So when I found this old girl sitting in a box full of water at a garage sale calling my name to take it home and clean it up I had to buy it. You can only make out the first three patent #'s of 2,04 because the rest of it is buried in the wooden handle of this old vintage blue-point screwdriver.

July 7th 1936 was a very important date for Henry F. Phillips and the rest they say is History. He was born on June the 4th 1889 and he died on April the 13th 1958.

I will leave you with some very nice links for you to look over along with a few pictures of a refurbished vintage blue-point screwdriver to enjoy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_F._Phillips

http://charlesandhudson.com/the-history-of-the-phillips-screwdriver/

http://chrisduke.tv/history-phillips-screwdriver

http://datamp.org/patents/displayPatent.php?number=2046837&typeCode=0

Ole Slewfoot · May 16, 2016

Most of those pat. marked drivers also have a license number..

I have a Craftsman WF with lic # 29.

might be a way to see who was making screwdrivers for who.

woody 73 · May 16, 2016

Ole slewfoot I can find a few Lic #'s on the following vintage screwdrivers but I am not able to give you any information as to who made them for which companies?

Pictures 1, 2, & 3 Dayton No. 1A302 with a Lic #29
Pictures 4, 5, & 6 Powr-kraft 4906-6 with a Lic # 7
pictures 7, 8, & 9 S-K 73003 with a Lic # 29
pictures 10, 11, & 12 Mac with a Lic #2
pictures 13, 14, & 15 Snap-On Octo-Grip SDP-42-S with a Lic 2

woody 73 · May 16, 2016

Next few pictures:

woody 73 · May 16, 2016

Last few pictures:

Ole Slewfoot · May 16, 2016

Cman circle I with #8
and a thorsen yellow handle with green **** #29

Sam'sAutoParts · May 19, 2016

Hmm...let me see what I have laying around.

XceLite LIC 14

DetailSeeker · May 9, 2025

As usual, GJ seems the best place to try for an answer:

I've got a Bridgeport screwdriver. Written on the shaft is

PHILLIPS–LIC.7
PAT. NO. 2046837–40
BRIDGEPORT–U.S.A
CARBON NO. 1 POINT

If the license is 7 (presumably meaning "made by the manufacturer with the 7th license issued"), then what is the "-40" after the patent number?

I checked DATAMP; it says that 40 is the license number, which doesn't seem to make sense.

The patent was granted July 7, 1936, so I thought maybe it was a way of noting the year that the license was granted; but this page says that there were twenty companies with licenses to produce the Phillips by 1939, so it seems unlikely that license no. 7 would have been granted in 1940.

Bridgeport was offering this screwdriver in 1940 (it's the smallest one, no. 351), but I can't imagine that the mark on the shaft would have been updated yearly. OTOH, I might be wrong - maybe that did happen, for tracking royalties or some such.

Thoughts? :dunno:

d42jeep · May 9, 2025

The 40 refers to the last two digits of the second patent that usually accompanies the first.

-Don

DetailSeeker · May 9, 2025

d42jeep said:
The 40 refers to the last two digits of the second patent that usually accompanies the first.
-Don

Oh good grief. I even noticed the Phillips patent numbers that were in sequence and didn't clue in!

Thank you. :beer:

Henry F. Phillips Patent # 2,046,837

woody 73

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