Rotary Viscous Dampers and Cymbals

I sometimes get inspired in different situations  for applications for my rotary viscous dampers. I was thinking of a rock concert where I was watching the drummer intently and noticed his technique for hitting and damping the sound of the long decay on large thin cymbals. He would hit the cymbal in the course of a song or solo and them use his hand to damping the decay of the sound waves to give a quick muffled decay.  I noticed the same drummer a few years later (Neil Peart of Rush)  using very small cymbals that would “splash” and decay very quickly.  Well that got me thinking that we could achieve a new kind of quick decay by using a rotary damper in a spherical configuration to slow the decay in a unique way  unlike anyone drumming now. I guess I have a little experimenting to do on my Ludwig drumset pictured above.  I knew I could get a musical idea once in my life! please come see our web site and contact us if there is any application you need to consult us for, it could be music to our ears.  http://www.mmtech.us

Rotary Viscous Dampers Made in The USA

Made in the USA. We have all heard it and here at Mechanical Motion Technologies LLC we live it.  Having our production parts and prototypes molded, machined and assembled in the US gives us many advantages, quick access to vendors to forge a good working relationship and expedited, high quality parts.  This is extremely important.  I have compared the cost and quality between offshore and homegrown parts and we win on all accounts.  Which means our customers also win. We can get to production quicker and the product can get into the customers hands faster. The cost savings is worth it.  We have all of our parts engineered and manufactured in the USA. Give us a call or go to our website at http://www.mmtech.us

Aerospace Applications-Rotary Viscous Dampers

Aerospace applications dominate our product line because our dampers and friction hinges are passive devices that need no maintenance and are very light in weight and slimline. The airplane manufacturers enjoy the fact that our dampers do not vibrate during turbulence, maneuvers, take off or landing. Silence is a major concern during these operations. We can customize our rotary viscous dampers to many difference sizes and configurations.So if  you need assistance in your aerospace application please contact us.

http://www.mmtech.us 203-406-7900

Rotary viscous dampers and their proper application

When looking over the requirements of a new project designers must balance the price of the product and features that are implemented.  Rigorous requirements sometimes yield higher cost materials. Environmental concerns will also guide the feasibility of using a viscous damper. Physics usually gets in the way of pipe dream  features and practical use. For the most part rotary viscous dampers add value and a high quality feel to a product.  But, is it in the budget? You must decide whether you are a high end product manufacturer or not.  What is your niche? Who are you appealing to? Consider these things before product realization occurs.  Contact us at www. Mmtech.us for a consultation. 

Custom Friction Hinges

We are having great success with our new line of lightweight friction hinges. Using engineering polymers and FEA analysis we have created a new generation of customizable friction hinges and rotary viscous dampers. Many applications have crossed our path such as automotive, industrial, aerospace, gas storage systems and medical application just to name a few. By the nature of our technology friction hinges can be made more reliable, robust and wash-down  capable without losing performance. Automotive and aerospace applications are endless because we have reduced part weight, part count and removed the need for additional lubrication.  Come visit us at http://www.mmtech.us to see what we can do to help your project move along.

Rotary Viscous Dampers and Automotive

Automotive is a great industry where rotary viscous dampers  could be used. Although their application must be carefully planned. All dampers that use viscous fluid are affected by temperature by some degree, usually at the extremes it is most noticeable.  If you were to use a rotary viscous damper in the winter in Minnesota early in the morning, clearly the damping would be dramatically increased and inversely in Mexico. So the best environments for rotary viscous dampers is between 35 deg F and 100 deg F.  There can be exceptions. For example if the damper is used in combination with a torsion spring  or a friction hinge you may be able to alleviate slamming lids in extreme hot temperatures, because the friction hinge is much less affected by temperature. contact me for your next application at http://www.mmtech.us or call 203-406-7900

Rotary Viscous Dampers and Toys

As in all consumer products safety is a great concern. Safety for the user and others. Since toys involve children mostly, you would expect the designer to incorporate safety features especially when fast moving parts are involved. One classic example is the toy box, some have heavy lids and if there is no safety device to stop it from slamming and injury to a body part can occur. Both friction hinges and rotary viscous dampers can help with lids slamming down but I think rotary viscous dampers would be better  because a partially open lid would eventually close safely , not allowing babies or pets to get in and unable to exit. Its also a cleaner look if the lid was closed all the time.  A friction hinge would need a larger force to close which a child may not be able to exert, maybe even hurting themselves while closing it. contact us at http://www.mmtech.us for your next design project or call at 203-406-7900.

 

Rotary Viscous Dampers and Material Considerations

We find that during our product design process that customer requirements have us design with certain specific materials. General requirements for our specific brand of damper usually needs materials with low coefficient of thermal expansion. For most environments engineering materials such as POM and stainless steel can be used. In a controlled environment like a sterile lab, household and clean rooms we can use a wider array of materials.  Since our product is non-particulating we can be used in any class clean room without reservations. Medical devices that need a lid or the rooms they are assembled in, can use our type of damper.  So please contact us for all your friction hinge and damper needs at http://www.mmtech.us for a free initial consultation. Phone us at 203-406-7900

Dampers and Economics

We often come across problems that are natural to product design.Specifically features verses cost.If a customer is willing to pay the higher price to add a high end feature like a damping hinge then it usually is a good idea to include it in the design. This can become a double edged sword. Once the products in the market and competition starts to appear will the damping hinge become a cost cutting item? Maybe customers are willing to pay for a quality item and keeping the damping feature incorporated into the design will keep you ahead of the competition. Only the sales and marketing team will be able to determine that. One thing we know for sure is that  incorporating a rotary damper is a feature that is both a safety item and a wow feature that adds the feeling of class and high end to any product .

See us at http://www.mmtech.us to see how we can add a high end feel to your product.

Rotary Viscous Damper Temperature

Most applications requiring a rotary viscous damper must consider the temperature consequences. As the ambient temperature rises the damping fluid’s viscosity lowers and vice-versa when it gets cold. In applications that work in a range of temperatures we may take a different approach to achieve controlled damping. Multiple damping greases which complement each other when the units are exposed to temperature extremes is possible. Sometimes a combination of damping grease and springs can achieve success at high frequencies. In essence ambient temperatures need to be know when design a damper.Contact us at http://www.mmtech.us or 203-406-7900 for a free consultation.