Abstract: A rotary viscous damper having a disc surrounded by a housing and cover, the disc rotatable with a shaft which penetrates the housing, a gap provided between opposite sides of the disc and the inside surfaces of the housing and cover for receiving viscous fluid, and triangularly shaped indentations formed on opposing surfaces of the disc and the housing and cover, the indentations on the housing and the cover arranged at selective rotational positions. Rotation of the disc aligning opposing indentations on the discs and the housing and cover to create a rotary position of minimum torque and when misaligned, a rotary position of maximum torque. The oscillating torque value creates a nominal torque associated with the damper, but can be selectively installed to present a minimum torque at a particular rotational position. The invention is particularly adapted to rotary devices where rotational position can effect the available torque for driving the shaft, such as an exercise bicycle.

Abstract: A viscous damper for influencing and retarding rotation of a shaft, particularly the reel shaft of a roll-down fire door. The viscous damper unit comprises a housing having radially extending lugs, a cover for mounting to a side face of the housing, and a rotor arranged to be trapped between the cover and the housing and rotatable with respect to the housing. The rotor provides a bore for receiving the roll-down shaft for the fire door. The housing lugs are positioned to be selectively locked with respect to the framework of the fire door to prevent rotation during down rolling of the fire door. A viscous material is applied between the housing, the cover, and the rotor which retards the rotation of the rotor with respect to the housing by, shear forces. The housing is arranged to be compatible with a plurality of damping units being axially stacked along the shaft and provides aligned apertures for pinning or bolting the plurality of the housings together.