Tech Tip: JIS vs Philips screwdrivers

[Hooli]

I've been discussing this on another forum & someone has found several things to say that the new DIN standard screwdrivers fit JIS. Anyone tried?

[Irish in Oz]

I thought DIN was a standard i.e. quality/strength 

[Hooli]

I think DIN is a standards organisation, so the standards can apply to anything.

[Eric GSX1400K3]

DIN = Deutsche Industrie Norm, or German Industry Standard

JIS = Japan Industry Norm.

Woyld need to check, but DIN is one of the most widely used standards for anything mechanical, and I would not be surprised if there's a DIN for "cross drive screws"

BS, AS and NZ standards are based on, or derivatives of, or sometimes the basis for other standards.

PHILLIPS heads or PH drivers are a "manufacturers" standard and not an industry standard, and are engineered to suit their own products, and in this case has made its way into everyday life.

TORX is another example, not an industry standard  but a manufacturers standard that has some popularity.

A lot are copied from each other, especially European standards, so this is why we EN (European Norm) and ISO (international standards organisation) designs too.

[VladTepes]

Yeah it's like phillips designed their screws to be easy to strip the heads/torque to a unusable mess.

JIS is just like a firmly fitting flat blade driver BUT twice as effective as it can't slip.
It's just better-er.

[SA14]

Yeah it's like phillips designed their screws to be easy to strip the heads/torque to a unusable mess.

JIS is just like a firmly fitting flat blade driver BUT twice as effective as it can't slip.
It's just better-er.

Vlad, you nailed it! That's exactly why they were designed that way. From that other thread I linked to above...

Portland native Henry Phillips invented the Phillips screws/drivers in the 1930s for application in automobile assembly lines.

His Phillips screwdrivers were built with an angle on the flanks and rounded corners. This taper on the driving faces causes the screwdriver bit to "cam out" of the slot before twisting a screw head off, which was a requirement for automated assembly lines. But what made it do well in that environment makes it prone to stripping when used by hand. Unlike a machine, a person has no way to deliver the specific downward force required, and the chances of stripping the head go way up. On the other hand, JIS screwdrivers have virtually parallel faces on the driving flanges and will not cam out. As a result, they will break whatever corrosion was keeping the screw from turning (good), or even strip the thread with excessive torque (bad).