Abstract: A vibration damper for cables utilizing the frictional properties of a close-wound spiral spring, that is, a spring wound in spiral form from a flat strip and having contacting faces. Vibrational energy is dissipated in the spiral spring by the lateral motion of the turns of the spring relative to one another. Typically, two spiral springs are contained in a housing suspended from a cable conductor. The housing of the device including such supplementary weight as required by the design forms an inertial mass which tends to remain fixed in space. During vibration of the cable, the turns of the spring are forced to move up and down against each other and the frictional resistance to their motion dissipates the vibrational energy in the cable, thereby reducing the vibration amplitude to a safe low level.

Abstract: A device for damping vibration, such as aeolian, of a suspended conductor. The device comprises at least one helical spring, at least a portion of the turns of which are close wound, and means for attaching the spring to a conductor in spaced relation thereto. At least one inertial weight is mounted on or attached to the spring so that the weight can be resiliently suspended from the conductor by the spring and attaching means. The inertial weight is effective to relatively translate and thereby provide sliding friction between the close wound turns of the spring in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the spring when an associated conductor undergoes vibration above a given magnitude, and to bend the helical spring such that adjacent close wound turns of the spring separate from and impact against each other, the sliding friction and impacts between the turns of the spring being effective to dissipate the energy of the vibration of the conductor in the form of heat.