Package handle

Package handles, or carriers, are used to help people use packaging. They are designed to simplify and to improve the ergonomics of lifting and carrying packages. Handles on consumer packages add convenience and help facilitate use and pouring. The effect of handles on package material costs and the packaging line efficiencies are also critical. A handle can be defined as “an accessory attached to a container or part for the purpose of holding or carrying.” Sometimes a handle can be used to hang a package for dispensing or use. Handles can be built into a package, sometimes in the form of hand holes or hand holds. They can also be attached to a finished complete package after filling and closing, or even at the point of purchase. The performance and design criteria for handles are often detailed in a contract or specification. For example handles for some US government containers are specified in Mil-Std-648. People have long seen a need to have package forms which are easy for people to carry and to use. Some of these, such as amphora, date from the Neolithic period. Handles have been formed into packages and containers such as pottery and stoneware. Wire, rope, and wicker have been added when needed. File:Amphora olive-gathering BM B226 01.jpg|Amphora with built in handles File:Study of a Bearded and Turbaned Man Carrying a Chest MET DP837789.jpg|Man carrying a wooden box or chest, 1625 File:Portugal. (A man carrying a jug.) - NARA - 541753.jpg|Man carrying a jug with woven wicker handle. Portugal, 1950 File:Jerrycan 20180507.jpg|[[Jerrycan]] of fuel, WWII. Middle handle for empty can; two outer handles for two people carrying full can. File:BicyclesMilkChurnsKolkata gobeirne.jpg|Handles on metal milk churns allow easy carrying File:Red Wing Pottery Jug 2006 110 1.jpg|[[Stoneware]] jug Wooden boxes often have hand holes or attached metal handles to facilitate handling. Steel boxes also frequently have attached handles or hinged bails. Corrugated boxes can have hand holes die-cut into the ends to assist material handling tasks.