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Although the Pythagorean philosopher Archytas of Tarentum (5th century bc) is the alleged inventor of the screw, the exact date of its first appearance as a useful mechanical device is obscure. Though invention of the water screw is usually ascribed to Archimedes (3rd century bc), evidence exists of a similar device used for irrigation in Egypt at an earlier date. The screw press, probably invented in Greece in the 1st or 2nd century bc, has been used since the days of the Roman Empire for pressing clothes. In the 1st century ad, wooden screws were used in wine and olive-oil presses, and cutters (taps) for cutting internal threads were in use.
In the Figure, which shows the main types of screws and screwheads in modern use, the cap and machine screws are used to clamp machine parts together, either when one of the parts has a threaded hole or in conjunction with a nut. These screws stretch when tightened, and the tensile load created clamps the parts together. Machine screws have various types of heads, most with screwdriver slots. They are made in smaller sizes than cap screws and bolts.
The setscrew in the Figure fits into a threaded hole in one member; when tightened, the cup-shaped point is pressed into a mating member (usually a shaft) and prevents relative motion. Setscrews are also made with conical and cylindrical points that fit in matching holes and with slotted and square heads.
A stud is a rod threaded on both ends. It is permanently screwed into one member and clamped by means of a nut on the other end.
Self-tapping screws form or cut mating threads in such materials as metals, plastics, glass fibre, asbestos, and resin-impregnated plywood when driven or screwed into drilled or cored (cast) holes. The self-tapping screw in the Figure forms threads by displacing material adjacent to a pilot hole so that it flows around the screw. Thread-cutting tapping screws have cutting edges and chip cavities that produce a mating thread by removing material.
Wood screws are made in a wide variety of diameters and lengths; when using the larger sizes, pilot holes are drilled to avoid splitting the wood. Lag screws are large wood screws used to fasten heavy objects to wood. Heads are either square or hexagonal.
Screws that modify force and motion are known as power screws. A screwjack converts torque (turning moment) to thrust. The thrust (usually to lift a heavy object) is created by turning the screw in a stationary nut. By using a long bar to turn the screw, a small force at the end of the bar can create a large thrust force. Workpiece tables on machine tools are moved linearly on guiding ways by screws that rotate in bearings at the ends of the tables and mate with nuts fixed to the machine frame. A similar torque-to-thrust conversion can be obtained by either rotating an axially fixed screw to drive a rotationally fixed nut along the screw or by rotating an axially fixed nut to drive a rotationally fixed screw through the nut.
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