screwdriver

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Screwdriver with a wooden handle

Screwdrivers or screwdrivers are mechanical tools , consisting of a handle and a blade, which are intended to screw screws into or out of materials, to tighten or loosen them or to block them from turning. Although in the standards such as DIN or ÖNORM only the term screwdriver is used, is still the designation screwdriver in use, the designation screwdriver could not prevail in the current language.

Structure and application

Screwdriver with shortened blade; called miniature or carburetor screwdriver, Stubby, in Austria also hand screwdriver

A hand screwdriver consists of a blade and a handle .

The blade tip (output) is shaped accordingly for one or more of the different screw head driving profiles ( drive ), for example:

  • Slotted screwdriver for simple straight or flat slotted screws (code SL)
  • Phillips screwdriver for manufacturer-specific Phillips screws . The Phillips-Screw company , not to be confused with the electronics company Philips , brought two different types onto the market:
    • Phillips cross recess (mark PH)
    • Pozidriv cross recess (cross recess with small teeth between the cross arms; code PZ)
  • Hexagon screwdriver for screws with external (see socket wrench ) or internal hexagon head ( Allen )
  • Torx screwdriver in the shape of a six-pointed star (six-round profile, code TX).

See also: List of screw head drives

There are different ways of attaching the blade and handle, including blades that run through the handle. This can also be hit with a hammer to z. B. loosen stuck screws. Insulated screwdrivers have insulation down to the blade so that the risk of electric shock is reduced. Specifically for use in the electrical installation there is a screwdriver that for work on under voltage are explicitly allowed stationary parts. Some screwdrivers have a magnetic blade to keep the loose screw from falling, or a mechanical device for the same purpose. Watchmakers and other precision mechanics use screwdrivers that have a rotating plate attached to the top of the handle. The palm of the hand can be supported on this while the fingers rotate the handle.

Especially for electrically and pneumatically driven screwdrivers (e.g. cordless screwdrivers ), short, replaceable screwdriver shafts ( bits ) that have the necessary shape and size for the corresponding screw are used.

Special forms of screwdrivers are sometimes combined with other functions; For example, there are slotted screwdrivers that can also be used to chisel and torque measuring screwdrivers with exchangeable blades that are used in quality assurance or industrial production.

Single-pole voltage testers (sometimes also called phase testers or lying pencils) are usually designed with screwdriver blades - but their mechanical resistance is generally not suitable for loosening and tightening screws.

History and title

The screwdriver has been used since the end of the 17th century, although the iron screw only gained importance with the invention of the machine tool in the middle of the 19th century . Up until then, screw production was very laborious because the thread had to be filed into it by hand .

Metal screws were not used to a greater extent until the industrial revolution . In the beginning, most of the craftsmen did not know what to do with it. So the screws were mostly driven in with a hammer and only then tightened with a screwdriver . As recently as 1895, a specialist book complained: "Screws driven in with a hammer act like nails [...], which amounts to useless nonsense." However , this does not apply to nail screws ; these are intended to be driven in and tightened or screwed out again.

The term screwdriver originated from pulling in or tightening a wood screw in wood. At the beginning of the 20th century, the term screwdriver came up for this . It has not been able to establish itself in general linguistic usage to this day, while great value is placed on the term used in standards in craft training. The German and Austrian standards ( DIN , ÖNORM ) use “screwdrivers”, while the ÖWB uses “screwdrivers” as the main term in Austria. In the meantime, bits are already being offered by the trade under the name screwdrivers .

Standards (selection)

  • ISO 2380–1 Screwdrivers - Screwdrivers for slotted screws - Part 1: Tips for hand and machine operated screwdrivers
  • ISO 2380-2 Screwdriving tools - Screwdrivers for slotted screws - Part 2: General requirements, lengths of blades and marking of hand-operated screwdrivers
  • ISO 2936 screwdriver tools, offset screwdrivers for screws with hexagon socket
  • ISO 8764-1 Screwdriving tools - Screwdrivers for Phillips screws - Part 1: Screwdriver tips.
  • ISO 8764-2 Screwdriving tools - Screwdrivers for Phillips screws - Part 2: General requirements, lengths of blades and marking of hand-operated screwdrivers
  • DIN 905 screwdriver for square socket screws
  • DIN 5200 offset screwdriver for slotted screws, dimensions
  • DIN 5208 offset screwdriver for screws with cross recess
  • DIN 5264 screwdriver for screws with slot, screwdriver blades
  • ÖNORM M 4930 screwdriver for slotted screws

Similar tools

For nuts and bolts with square heads can wrench be used. Powered devices are the electric screwdriver ( drill or impact wrench ) and the pneumatic screwdriver .

literature

  • Witold Rybczynski: One Good Turn: A Natural History of the Screwdriver and the Screw. New York, NY [u. a.] 2000, ISBN 0-684-86729-X

Web links

Commons : Screwdriver  - Collection of Images
Wiktionary: screwdriver  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
Wiktionary: screwdriver  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Atlas of everyday German language. Uni Liege / Uni Salzburg, 10th survey
  2. Kraftform Plus - Flag Keys and Stubbies Series. In: online catalog. Wera , accessed March 17, 2015 . SoftFinish® ESD slotted screwdriver Stubby. (No longer available online.) In: Online catalog. Wiha , archived from the original on April 2, 2015 ; accessed on March 18, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
     @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.wiha.com
  3. Operating instructions single-pole voltage tester. P. 1 , accessed December 19, 2018 .
  4. Section wood screws, d. H. iron screws for wood , page 80. Theodor Krauth, Franz Sales Meyer (Ed.): Building and art carpentry. Seemann, Leipzig 1895. New edition: Das Zimmermannsbuch 1895. Th. Schäfer, Hanover 1981, ISBN 3-88746-004-9 .
  5. For example Franz Kafka : In der Strafkolonie . Kurt-Wolff-Verlag, Leipzig 1919, p. 10.