When was screw invented

He discovers that all of these tools were invented during the Roman age if not before. The chisel, for example, dates from the Bronze Age. This is a common mistake. Spiral staircases form helixes, not spirals. Screws were first used in olive presses and grape presses. In the Middle Ages, this mechanism was adapted for use in the printing press and the paper press.

The screw mechanism allows for tremendous force to be exerted on the object being pressed with minimal effort. For example, imagine a press whose large screw has a pitch of one inch and which is turned by means of a handspike three feet long. A pressure of only 40 pounds on the handspike will exert a pressure of more than nine thousand pounds on the olives or grapes. Instrument maker Jesse Ramsden invented the first screw-cutting lathe in , which inspired subsequent inventors to create machinery for mass production of the screw.

These machines were able to replicate accurate sizes and the threading necessary to make the screws functional on a large scale. In the early s, different types of screw heads came about.

The Robertson screw, which features a square head, was invented in and was favored for its non-slip qualities during installation. The Model T car used over Robinson screws! In , the Phillips head screw was invented, which was ideal for the now-popular car assembly line. To overcome these problems Joseph Whitworth collected sample screws from a large number of British workshops and in put forward two proposals: 1.

The angle the thread flanks should be standardised at 55 degrees. The number of threads per inch should be standardised for various diameters.

His proposals became standard practice in Britain in the 's. In in America, William Sellers independently proposed another standard based upon a 60 degree thread form and various thread pitches for different diameters. This became adopted as the U. The thread form had flat roots and crests that made the screw easier to make than the Whitworth standard that has rounded roots and crests.

Fast forward to the last twenty years, and fastener design developments have moved even faster, thanks to the introduction of nickel-based alloys. Unlike steel, Nickel-based alloys can retain their form in high temperature environments like those in engines and turbochargers.

This has been a brief history of fasteners. Stay tuned!