Door Handle—a Beginners Guide

Door handles that you use today on daily basis to open and close doors, may look like a simple mechanism, which has been in existence since antiquity. However, it was only in 1878 the first design was patented with modern inbuilt lock mechanism by inventor named Osbourn Dorsey. Later in the beginning of the 1990s, the design was further improved and patented by Schlage, which at present is the biggest manufacturers of door handles, be it a simple cylinder based lock or Schlage electronic locks.

Now days, there are more than 114 million door handles only in the USA. This figure gives a perspective how important this piece of item is in modern life. However, they have transformed from a lock and key system into a decoration item—more of fashion statement.

The modern people have more preference towards contemporary style of door handles, with attractive chrome finish and straight modern lines.

However, there are numbers of consumers having taste for traditional style, epitomizing their home with antique handles, which gives Victorian era feel. Those handle are usually polished with antique brass finish, mounted against back plate, which too looks traditional.

The popular designs and types of door handles include, T-Bar handles, Schlage latitude levers, glassy door handles, PVS or PVS door handles, Victorian lever, Wittgenstein handles, and rim door handles.

Types of door handles:

They are differentiated based the place they are installed. Those that are installed at entrance use keyed cylinders, where as handles used for privacy are installed in bedrooms and bathrooms. They are lockable; however, they do not have keyed cylinders. The other types are installed at passages, which does not have lock mechanism. The last types of handle doors are dummy; these are used for aesthetic purposes installed on ball catch doors. As the name suggests, they are decoration piece does not include lock mechanism.

Mechanisms:

The most simple door handles mechanism incorporates a screw-style axle, also known as spindle, having a flat side that passes through the door jigger. At the both ends of spindle, the handles are installed, either by screwing or by sliding.

There are popular types of handles, mainly in use in Europe, which slide onto the spindle; however, they are fixed to the door, without any screws.

Types of lock incorporated in door handle:

Single Cylinder Deadbolt is keyed only on one side. For exterior it requires a key to unlock, however, from inside there is one thumb turn mechanism that opens the door. Similarly, there are double cylinder deadbolts which are keyed on both sides and requires key to open from either side. When cylinder deadbolts are installed at the entrance door, they are combined with a latch, which works independent of deadbolt.