Constrained layer damper with slit(s) and/or cutout(s)

A damped article comprising:

• (a) an article selected from the group consisting of rotatable storage articles and rotatable spacer articles:
• (b) a damper comprising:
• a construction comprising:
• a layer(s) of vibration damping material attached to one side of a backing wherein the backing has a Young's Modulus greater than that of the layer(s) of vibration damping material;
• wherein the construction has a hole passing through the center of the construction;
• wherein the construction has a perimeter and the hole has a perimeter;
• wherein the construction has at least four slits, each slit independently extending through the backing and optionally further extending through the vibration damping material layer(s), wherein for each slit only one of the following is true:
• (i) the slit intersects with the perimeter of the hole but not the perimeter of the construction (ii) the slit intersects with the perimeter of the construction but not the perimeter of the hole (iii) the slit intersects with neither the perimeter of the hole nor the perimeter of the construction,
• wherein each slit is of sufficient length and positioned such that each slit vector has a length at least 50% of the shortest distance from a point on the perimeter of the hole to a point on the perimeter of the construction,
• wherein the damper construction can be centrally positioned in a four quadrant grid defined by two intersecting perpendicular straight lines such that at least one separate slit vector is present in each of the four quadrants;
• wherein the damper is attached to an outer surface of the article.

A damped article comprising:

• (a) an article selected from the group consisting of rotatable storage articles and rotatable spacer articles:
• (b) a damper comprising:
• a construction comprising:
• a layer(s) of vibration damping material attached to one side of a backing wherein the backing has a Young's Modulus greater than that of the layer(s) of vibration damping material;
• wherein the construction has a perimeter;
• wherein the construction has a hole passing through the center of the construction, wherein the perimeter of the hole is defined by the largest circle that can fit within the hole;
• wherein at least one of (i) and (ii) is true:
• (i) the construction has at least one cutout therein, wherein each cutout independently extends through the backing and optionally through the vibration damping material layer(s), (ii) the construction has a combination of at least one cutout and at least one slit wherein each cutout independently extends through the backing and optionally further extends through the vibration damping material layer(s), and wherein each slit independently extends through the backing and optionally further extends through the vibration damping material layer(s);
• wherein the damper has improved vibration damping properties compared to an identical damper not having slit(s) and cutout(s);
• wherein the damper is attached to an outer surface of the article.

A damped article comprising:

• (a) an article selected from the group consisting of rotatable storage articles and rotatable spacer articles:
• (b) a damper comprising:
• a construction comprising:
• a layer(s) of vibration damping material attached to one side of a backing wherein the backing has a Young's Modulus greater than that of the layer(s) of vibration damping material;
• wherein the construction has a perimeter;
• wherein the construction has a hole passing through the center of the construction, wherein the perimeter of the hole is defined by the largest circle that can fit within the hole;
• wherein at least one of (i) and (ii) is true:
• (i) the construction has at least four cutouts therein, wherein at least one cutout has an internal angle of 90.degree. or less, wherein each cutout independently extends through the backing and optionally through the vibration damping material layer(s), (ii) the construction has a combination of cutout(s) and slit(s) such that at least one cutout is present and at least one slit present and the total number of slit(s) and cutout(s) combined is at least four, wherein each cutout independently extends through the backing and optionally further extends through the vibration damping material layer(s), and wherein each slit independently extends through the backing and optionally further extends through the vibration damping material layer(s);
• wherein each cutout is of sufficient dimensions and positioned such that each cutout vector has a length at least 50% of the shortest distance from a point on the perimeter of the hole to a point on the perimeter of the construction,
• wherein each slit is of sufficient length and positioned such that each slit vector has a length at least 50% of the shortest distance from a point on the perimeter of the hole to a point on the perimeter of the construction,
• wherein the damper construction can be centrally positioned in a four quadrant grid defined by two perpendicular intersecting straight lines such that at least one of the following is present in each quadrant:
• (i) a slit vector;
• (ii) a cutout vector;
• wherein the damper is attached to an outer surface of the article.