Opening and closing – hundreds of times a day we perform this simple and seemingly irrelevant gesture, thanks to a small object, but at the same time quite visibile and whose importance is however hardly perceived: the door handle.
Its etymology comes from the Spanish word manilla deriving from the Latin word manicŭla, i.e. “small hand”. Its operation is strictly connected the hand, constituting its main reference point and going forward than the mere tooling function. The shape of an handle is studied and manufactured to take advantage of the hand’s common prehensile, entering deeply in our everyday life.

It opens and closes, but in many different ways

Mainly, this object is classified into three categories: vertical (perpendicular to the floor), horizontal (parallel to the floor) and compression handles. As regards their shapes, they can be defined as hammer handles, T-handles, L-handles and made from zinc alloy or polyamide.
In the industrial sector as well, handles have long been tested tofacilitate the opening and closing of metal furniture, cabinets, elctromechanic closing systems, stainless steel lockers and vending machines.

Particularly in handle and knob models with built-in key for the metal carpentry sector, the lever or turnbuckle movement effort is avoided by using built-in key rotating rods, therefore increasing the life cycle of the product. Such product, moreover, can be made from many different materials: sheet metal, wood, polymer, glass or plexiglass.
The peculiarity of a handle is not distinguished only by the shape and design of the handle, but also by its function which can be extremely particular such as for example the 1/4 turn compression models, those with anti-vibration, the compression or auto lock.

Each one of us has a direct experience with handles and despite its presence might go unseen, its qualities sure make everyday life easier but also, just like those with models with antibacterial and antimicrobial surfaces, lab certified, preserve our health by using an active protection against profileration og germs and bacteries, especially in a very particular moment like this one, during the Covid-19 pandemic.