What is a Hexagon Socket Head Cap Screw?
Hexagon socket head cap screws are becoming more popular every day for their superior holding power due to the amount of torque that can be generated. Their ingenious design enables this torque. The design cleverly utilizes the shaft of the screw. The shaft allows for a deep hexagon-shaped hole that provides more surface area for the Allen wrench to fit into. This hole is designed to fit standard-sized Allen wrenches securely. They provide the means to apply more torque than a slotted-head or Phillips-head screw can deliver.
Many people see an array of screws with different-shaped heads or no heads at all. They wonder if they're all classified as hexagon socket head screws. The hexagon in the description refers to the shape of the Allen wrench and the corresponding shape of the hole at the top of the screw, not the exterior shape of the screw itself.
Why Have a Hexagonal Shape
Hexagon socket head cap screws were designed to fit only one type of driver. At the beginning of the 20th century, an American named William G. Allen designed and patented a screwhead and accompanying driver. Both the screwhead and driver had six sides. Late in the 19th century, numerous people tried to market triangular and square socket head screws and drivers without much success. While these designers had the right idea, they needed to take the concept further.
Providing multiple contact faces for a screw and driver to work increases the force you can apply. Having a perfectly mated screw and driver also reduces the amount of slippage that wastes energy and causes stripping in slotted-head and Phillips-head screws. But it was found through practical use that triangular and square drivers could only be used from three and four angles, respectively. Workers had to spend time lining up the driver to work correctly, and these new fastening systems failed to impress the people using them.
Major Breakthrough
Allen realized the triangular and square drivers failed because they didn’t provide enough angles for ease of use. His solution was to increase the number of faces to six, which meant the driver had six angles from which it could be used. This made it much quicker and easier to use, and the Allen wrench became a major success.
In using the Allen wrench, people also discovered that the more faces there were, the easier the wrench would glide into place. The increase in productivity in the midst of the industrial revolution sealed the success of the Allen screw and wrench forever.
Refining the Hexagon Socket Head Cap Screw
With the Allen wrench accepted as the standard for improved fasteners and the benefits of socket head cap screws accepted and understood by everyone, many other designers and companies started to offer variations on the hexagonal cap screw to suit different applications.
The basic hexagon socket head cap screw has a cylindrical head containing the hexagonal hole at the top of the screw shaft. Viewed from the side, this head presents a tall, square profile that many designers saw as a problem as technology was trending toward closer tolerances and smaller machines.
Over time, different designers and companies introduced low socket head cap screws that had a shorter cap and were less dangerous and less likely to have machine parts hang up on them. The low socket cap screw was also the start of the streamlining process of the standard socket head screw.
Following the acceptance of the low socket head screw, designers introduced a button head cap screw, which went even further in preventing machine part hang-ups by reducing and rounding the cap even further. The designers of the flat head socket screw solved the problem completely by designing a hexagon socket head cap screw that could be countersunk into the surface of the material it was mounted in and present a completely smooth surface.
With the accepted range of socket head screws, designers and engineers had the tools they needed to create smaller and lighter products that fit the needs of modern technology.
Order Hexagon Socket Head Cap Screws Online
Thailand has quickly become a major hub for industrial manufacturing in Southeast Asia. There is an immediate need for a variety of socket head cap screws to meet the needs of manufacturers all over the country. Everyone can order a wide variety of hexagon socket head cap screws online for immediate delivery by ordering from the Nejireo website in Thailand.
Streamline your production capabilities and always have the parts you need on hand by ordering directly from the Nejireo website for immediate delivery anywhere in Thailand.