Door knobs and handles

A door handle is an attached mechanism used to open or close a door. In the

United States, door handle generally can refer to any fixed or lever-operated door
latch device, including on car doors. The term door knob (or simply doorknob)
tends to refer to round operating mechanism.

The location of the door handle on the door may vary between a few centimeters
away from the edge of the door to the exact center of the door, depending on
local culture, decorative style or owner preference. The distance from the edge of
the door to the center of the handle is called the backset.

In Europe door levers are more common than the door knob, while in the US,
door knobs are traditionally preferred over door handles. However, door knobs
can be difficult for the young and elderly to operate. For this reason, door handles
in most American commercial and industrial buildings and in many households
use a lever-operated handle, rather than a knob, as the lever does not require a
tight grip. Levers are also beneficial on doors with narrow stile widths where the
reduced backset leaves insufficient space to comfortably turn a door handle.

Most household door handles use a simple mechanism with a screw-style axle
(called a spindle) that has at least one flat side, which is passed through the door
jigger, leaving some length exposed on each side of the door to which the handles
are attached. Some handles are attached on both sides by screwing or sliding
them directly onto the spindle, and then securing one or more retaining screws
(set screws) through the knob perpendicular to the flat of the spindle. Handles
that lose traction can frequently be repaired by replacing or adjusting the set
screw, which prevents them from slipping on the spindle. Other types of handles,
typically used in Europe, slide onto the spindle but are affixed only to the door
itself without use of set screws.
Types of household handles:

Entrance: These door handles are typically used on exterior doors, and include
keyed cylinders.

Privacy: Typically used on bedrooms and bathrooms; while they are lockable
(unlockable with a generic tool), they do not have keyed cylinders.

Passage: Also known as hall or closet, these do not lock and are used in hall or
closet doors.

Dummy: These types are used for ball catch doors or other applications where a
jigger mechanism is not needed, but a similar aesthetic effect is desired.

Car door handles might protrude from the vehicle's exterior surface or be
streamlined into the vehicle's contour. In some automobiles, especially luxury
vehicles, the door handles might be decorated with chrome and feature a key-less
entry pad utilizing either a numerical code or thumb scan.