Ciba® IRGASTAT® P permanent antistatic agent prevents electrical charging in hoses used in Bosch’s “Ventaro” dust-free power tools.

The Power Tools Division of Robert Bosch GmbH, located in Leinfelden-Echterdingen, Germany, recently developed an exciting new tool for the DIY market: a virtually dust-free power tool, called “VENTARO”.  In this tool, an electrical power drive runs a multi-sander as well a vacuum cleaning system for immediate dust collection. With “VENTARO”, the dust gets pulled through a highly flexible plastic hose into the vacuum cleaner’s dust bag, leaving the tool clean as a whistle.

Sanding wood or varnished surfaces is now possible virtually without dust as in traditional power tools.

In the past, the flow of the fine dust generated charge separation and accumulation on the plastic surface of the hose. The effect was especially pronounced with plaster dust. This accumulation and charge separation often led to unexpected electrostatic discharge (ESD) and unpleasant sudden electroshocks when the user accidentally touched the charged hose. Furthermore the charge accumulation increased the dust attraction of the hose surface and caused accumulation of dust on the power tool housing. This was especially pronounced on the green, red and black colors, which are essential for the design of the VENTARO system and are visibly sensitive to any kind of dust particles.

The problem was solved by the incorporation of Ciba® IRGASTAT® P permanent antistatic agent into the EVA-substrate of the hose. Extensive tests showed that the surface resistivity, a measure for the ability to charge the material, dropped from isolative level of >1E15 Ohm/sq down to values of electrostatic dissipative properties at 1E11 Ohm/sq. Charging and charge accumulation on the plastic surface is now effectively suppressed.

Project manager for the VENTARO system, Frank Fuchs, noted that in all praxis tests Robert Bosch GmbH has carried out during the development phase, the negative effects like unexpected electroshocks and dust pollution are no longer been an issue, regardless of the surface and material that was sanded.

Ciba® IRGASTAT® P remains permanent in contrast to many, so called “classical” migrating antistatic agents. The discharging performance will provide a reliable effect over the lifetime of the VENTARO power tool. Ciba® IRGASTAT® P is now an essential element in supporting the message of the new VENTARO system for virtually dust-free working and remaining clean under typical processing conditions: “Clean DIY is here with the new VENTARO system.”

The recent market introduction started quite successfully. Robert Bosch GmbH expects to sell more than 200,000 systems per year. Convinced of the advantages of such equipped plastic parts, Robert Bosch GmbH intends to revise other plastic applications to incorporate Ciba® IRGASTAT® P permanent antistatic agent.

For more information about the VENTARO power tool system, please visit the VENTARO website of the Robert Bosch company.