Spring and Life

When the softness of the human body comes into contact with the hardness of materials, springs always intervene if comfort is demanded. Springs play widespread and profound roles in households, where human lifestyles are rooted.

Improvements in home life have largely been brought about by the development of electrical products. Various springs are used in electrical products. Vacuum cleaners use a variety of springs, for example, hose springs that keep the hose fixed after it is inserted into the main unit, springs that automatically wind-in the power cord, and indicator springs that measure the rate of dust absorption and indicate it by color. When bread gets suitably toasted and automatically pops out of a toaster, thereby breaking the circuit, such workings are made possible by springs and bimetal. The elevating plate carrying the bread lowers and is stopped by a hook at the bottom. This causes the switch to turn on. When it gets hot, the bimetal works to turn the switch off, and the spring used for raising and lowering the plate causes the bread to pop out.

In most household appliances such as washing machines, microwave ovens, and refrigerators, and devices for making our lives more enjoyable such as televisions, videos, and stereo units, springs are inconspicuously hard at work, pushing, pulling, bending, twisting, and sometimes being twisted while being bent.

The music box, which plays a melody when the lid of the box is opened, is said to have been introduced to Japan by Dutch traders in the mid-19th century.
The structure consists of a box with a metal diaphragm in the shape of a comb, which produces a musical scale, and a cylindrical drum called a "kinuta", which has many claws attached to it. When the drum is rotated by a spring mechanism, the claws of the drum bounce off the diaphragm to produce a melody. A diaphragm with a long slit produces low notes, while a short slit produces high notes.
When the top lid of the music box is opened, a clasp is released, causing the wind spring to start rotating, and the mainspring to start moving, but when the lid is closed, the rotation stops and the power remains stored in the mainspring.
Mainsprings, which can store large amounts of elastic energy in a small space, have also been used in clocks, phonographs, and other devices.

Bamboo has also been used as a material for toys since early times. Taking advantage of bamboo's ability to return to its original shape after being bent or twisted, people have played with bamboo guns, bamboo wheels and so on.
Among the bamboo crafts that were popular among children in the past, some such as "climbing monkeys" utilize the elasticity of bamboo to humorous effect. A U-shaped bamboo is passed through a shaft, and a monkey doll is placed on top of the U-shaped bamboo. The elasticity of the bamboo allows the monkey to smoothly climb up the shaft. Taishakuten Temple in Shibamata, which is famous for the movie character Tora-san, sold these monkeys as a good-luck charm on the day of the Koshin (57th day of the Chinese sexagenary cycle), and they became very popular. 

There is an inseparable relationship between sports and springs. Sports are a way to use the body's elasticity or innate spring. Sports help build a healthy and strong body and at the same time relieve stress. 
Of course, many springs are used in sports equipment. Springs support the dreams of mankind to go farther, faster, and higher.

Baseball and golf are two of the most popular sports in the world today.
Whether it be high school or professional baseball, the ultimate scene is the moment when the bat catches the ball at its true center. If you take a picture of this moment with a high-speed camera, you can see that the bat is flexing dynamically. This is the elasticity of the bat, and can be described as a spring effect. The same thing happens in golf too. A ball hit with a driver flies as if it were bounced off the club, but at the moment of impact, you can see it bending like a bow. It is the spring that allows a tool to project a ball much farther than can be thrown directly by hand. 
There are also many other sporting goods that utilize "bending," such as fiberglass fishing rods that seem to bend almost to the point of breaking.