Marketing of ”Antistatic VIEWKOTE”

Nippon Steel Corporation (President CHIHAYA Akira) starts the full-scale marketing of ”Antistatic VIEWKOTE”， a pre-coated steel sheet that is less susceptible to static electricity generation.

Since 1992， the company manufactures and sells VIEWKOTE， a high-grade pre-coated steel sheet that excels in appearance， workability and formability. It is widely used both in Japan and overseas as external panels of the outdoor units of air-conditioners and kerosene fan heaters. Currently， the monthly production of VIEWKOTE amounts to 5，000 tons.

Nippon Steel recently developed the antistatic version of VIEWKOTE (Under patent application) by applying a special coat to the conventional VIEWKOTE. The new product has been adopted as side panels of the refrigerators made by Sharp Corporation (President MACHIDA Katsuhiko).

In the manufacturing process of home electric appliances like refrigerators， during the transport of pre-coated steel sheets and fabricated parts on belt conveyors or rubber suction cups， static electricity caused by friction attracts dust. The resulting extra work needed to wipe off the attached dust or prevent dust adhesion has been an operational problem.

Antistatic VIEWKOTE restrains the occurrence of static electricity and reduces dust attachment， greatly contributing to process-simplification and labor-saving in sheet shearing and product assembly.

The result of the experiment (measuring the static voltage caused by attaching and detaching rubber suction cups to and from a pre-coated steel sheet) performed by Nippon Steel confirmed that the static electrification of Antistatic VIEWKOTE is only a quarter of that of ordinary VIEWKOTE.

In completed electrical appliances， static electricity adversely affects the internal precision electronic devices， causing malfunctioning， or degrades the external appearance of products due to dust attachment. The use of antistatic VIEWKOTE also helps solve these problems.

The basic performances of Antistatic VIEWKOTE such as workability， formability and chemical resistance are comparable to those of ordinary VIEWKOTE. A chromate-free version is also available. A growing use of Antistatic VIEWKOTE is expected not only in home electric appliances but also in office and audio-visual equipment where pre-coated steel sheets are extensively used.


Note)Product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of Nippon Steel Corporation in Japan or other countries. Please be aware that Nippon Steel may not use or have registered some of the aforementioned marks in reader’s countries


For more information about this release， please call:

KANKE Takashi， Public Relations Center， 81-3-3275-5021