I would like to start a series of posts siting specific applications for friction hinges and rotary viscous dampers. Blogging these specific applications might give insight into the potential use of our product. One of our most popular applications is to dampen a delicate advertising sign. Much like an over-damped pendulum would act. The motion was for the sign to drop from the 12 o’clock position to 6 o’clock position with out slamming. The environment it was used in was a convenience store similar to 7-11 or Quik-Chek.  The sign had glass illumination and electronics inside. The signs were mounted in front of storage shelves. The clerk needed quick access behind the sign and the need to drop the sign quickly and turn to face the customer. He could not be worried about letting the sign slam closed. This is where our Rotary viscous damper comes into play. We embedded, disguised as a hinge, our slimline rotary viscous damper with a one way clutch (for easy lifting). This was a perfect, cost effective quality solution for the problem.  A simple torsion spring closure would have been to noisy and jarring for the delicate sign. Visit out site www.mmtech.us  to see an animation of the drop-down application. We specialize in engineering our product into your system for optimum performance. Manufacturing ,prototyping and technical assistance is available at any time. We have added 3D printing technology to our capabilities for faster prototyping lead times.