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2007 News Release

February 14  Product

February 14, 2007
Hitachi Metals, Ltd.
NEOMAX Co., Ltd.

 

Development of a New Ferrite Magnet
with the World's Highest Magnetic Strength


Tokyo, Japan, February 14, 2007— Hitachi Metals, Ltd. and NEOMAX Co., Ltd (hereinafter, NEOMAX) announced today that NEOMAX Co., Ltd. is the world’s leading company in the manufacture of high-performance ferrite magnets*1 that are used in motors for automotive electrical equipment and motors for household electrical appliances. NEOMAX would like to announce that a system has been established for the mass production of the new composition ferrite magnet it has developed. The magnetic strength of this magnet greatly exceeds that of what had been the most powerful magnet in the world*2. The new battery magnet contributes greatly to minimizing the size of motors.
With the development of this new ferrite magnet and the move to mass production, NEOMAX enhances its product lineup and reinforces its position as the world’s strongest and largest manufacturer of magnets, including rare-earth magnets*3, and alnico magnets*4.
* NEOMAX was established following the merger of the magnetic materials and applications operations of Hitachi Metals and Sumitomo Special Metals Co., Ltd. in April 2004. Effective April 1, 2007, Hitachi Metals and NEOMAX have decided to merge forming a new entity with NEOMAX positioned as an internal company.

1. Background and overview

Ferrite magnets, which are a type of permanent magnet, are used in many of the motors for automotive electrical equipment, and in such household electronic products as air conditioners and refrigerators.With ferric oxide the main constituent, the raw materials for these magnets are easy to obtain. This makes superior cost performance an important feature of this product. These products are so commonly used that, by weight, they account for approximately 80% of domestic production of magnets. They play a very important role in the global economy.
As seen in recent moves made in the area of protecting the global environment, industries are being called on to make automobiles and consumer electronic products significantly lighter, more compact, and more energy-efficient.Smaller motors that use energy with high efficiency are needed to meet these requirements. The performance of the magnets used in motors is a key factor in their efficiency.For this reason, magnets are generally required to be small, yet powerful, and have superior magnetic characteristics.Currently, the most powerful magnets in the world are neodymium-iron-boron magnets, but the need is also great for ferrite magnets that have merits not found in neodymium-iron-boron magnets. This means that magnets with even greater magnetic characteristics are in demand.To meet the needs of this market, NEOMAX has applied the knowledge and development power it has acquired as a general maker of magnets to the development of a new ferrite magnet. This successful development is greatly superior to conventional ferrite magnets in terms of magnetic strength. The company has also established a system for the mass production of this new magnet.

[photo]New Ferrite Magnet

2. The new ferrite magnet

The ferrite magnet that previously had the best magnetic characteristics was also developed by Hitachi Metals (whose Magnet Division was integrated with NEOMAX in 2004) in 1998. This was the Lanthanum-Cobalt (La-Co) substituted strontium (Sr) ferrite magnet (9B series)*5. The company’s new ferrite magnet (12B series) is greatly superior to this earlier product. Among ferrite magnets, it provides the world’s best magnetic characteristics. At the same time, it is hard to demagnetize at low temperatures. This is truly an innovative ferrite magnet. These superior characteristics contribute to gains in energy-efficiency and further reductions in the size of many types of devices. For this reason, this product is expected to become the main type of ferrite magnet used from now on.

3. Features of the new ferrite magnet

(1) Its superior magnetic characteristics make smaller, lighter, and thinner motors possible.
Graph 1: Distribution of Magnetic Characteristics Reference data
Graph 1: Distribution of Magnetic Characteristics Reference data

Graph 2: Temperature Coefficient of Intrinsic Coercive Force Reference data
Graph 2: Temperature Coefficient of Intrinsic Coercive Force Reference data

(2) It uses a mass production process similar to that used for conventional materials
  • ・ The basic production process used is the same as that used for conventional ferrite magnets, which means it is possible to use the same equipment for mass production.

4. Patents

Applications for relevant patents have been filed in Japan and overseas


5. Sales plan

1 billion yen/year in fiscal 2008
2 billion yen/year in fiscal 2010
5 billion yen/year in fiscal 2012

6. Manufacturing Bases

NEOMAX: Kumagaya Works, NEOMAX FERRITE: Kyushu Works



Customer Inquiries:
    Eiji Sakaguchi
Engineering Department
Magnetic Appliances Business Headquarters
NEOMAX Co., Ltd.
Facsimile: +81-75-961-4038

Masaru Koizumi
Planning Department
Magnetic Appliances Business Headquarters
NEOMAX Co., Ltd.
Facsimile: +81-3-5326-2092
Press Inquiries:
    Akio Minami
Corporate Communications Div., Hitachi Metals, Ltd.
Telephone: +81-3-5765-4079 Facsimile: +81-3-5765-8312

Reference: Explanation of Terms
*1 Ferrite magnets

Magnets with superior cost performance that have ferric oxide as the main component.

*2 The world's most powerful magnetic strength, the world's leading magnetic properties

Source: NEOMAX

*3 Rare-earth magnets

Magnets that contain rare-earth elements and have greater magnetic characteristics compared to other magnets.There are two types: Samarium-Cobalt magnets and Neodymium-Iron-Boron magnets. The latter have the best magnetic properties. Neodymium-Iron-Boron magnets were developed in 1982 by NEOMAX (formerly Sumitomo Special Metals).

*4 Alnico magnets

These are magnets created from an alloy in which aluminum, nickel and cobalt are added to iron.They are also called casting magnets because they are mainly made by casting.

*5 La-Co Substitute Sr Ferrite Magnets

A high-performance magnet developed by this company in 1998, in which a portion of a conventional Sr ferrite magnet is replaced by La and Co.

*6 Residual Flux Density (Br)

The magnetic induction remaining when the strength of the magnetizing field is returned to zero after magnetic material is completely magnetized by adding a magnetic field. Also, magnetic flux density (T) refers to the amount of flux (Wb) for each unit of surface (m2).

*7 Intrinsic Coercive Force (iHc)

The value of the demagnetizing force when the intrinsic magnetic force of a material has become zero by adding a demagnetizing field to a saturated magnet.

*8 Temperature coefficient of Intrinsic Coercive Force(β)

In ferrite magnets, the rate of change of intrinsic coercive force over a temperature range of -40 to 20 degrees （-233 to 293 Kelvin）
Temperature coefficient of Intrinsic Coercive Force(β)

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