Patent ID: 8043531

Claim:
A surface conditioner having a pH of 3 to 12 that is used prior to phosphate conversion coating of a metal, the surface conditioner comprising: (A) zinc phosphate particles for which D 50 is not more than 3 μm, (B) a water-soluble organic polymer, (C) a laminar clay mineral, and (D) a function-imparting agent, wherein the function-imparting agent is selected from the group consisting of (a) a zeta potential modifier, (b) a nonionic surfactant having an HLB value of 6 or greater, and (c) a divalent or trivalent metal nitrite compound, in which a quantity of the metal nitrite compound, calculated as an equivalent quantity of NO 2 , is within a range from 10 to 500 ppm.