LEATHER-LIKE SHEET AND PROCESS FOR PRODUCING THE SAME

• Main Authors: FUJISAWA, Michinori, ANDO, Yoshiyuki, MAKIMURA, Masaru, ANDOH, Hidekazu, MAKIYAMA, Norio, MURATE, Yasunori, NOBUTO, Yoshiki
• Format: Patent
• Language: English; French; German
• Published: 26.12.2018
• Subjects: BRAIDING; COTTON-WOOL; FABRICS MADE BY SUCH PROCESSES OR APPARATUS, e.g. FELTS,NON-WOVEN FABRICS; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; FLEXIBLE SHEET MATERIAL NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; KNITTING; LACE-MAKING; LAUNDERING; MAKING TEXTILE FABRICS, e.g. FROM FIBRES OR FILAMENTARYMATERIAL; NON-WOVEN FABRICS; TEXTILES; TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; TRIMMINGS; WADDING; WALL, FLOOR OR LIKE COVERING MATERIALS, e.g. LINOLEUM,OILCLOTH, ARTIFICIAL LEATHER, ROOFING FELT, CONSISTING OF AFIBROUS WEB COATED WITH A LAYER OF MACROMOLECULARMATERIAL

A leather-like sheet comprising a microfine long-fiber nonwoven fabric comprising an entangled web structure made of bundles of microfine long fibers and an elastic polymer impregnated in the microfine long-fiber nonwoven fabric. The leather-like sheet has the following features: (1) each of the bundles of microfine long fibers comprises 5 to 70 microfine long fibers having an average single fiber fineness of 0.5 dtex or less; (2) the bundles of microfine long fibers have an average fineness of 3 dtex or less; (3) the entangle web structure comprises superposed webs each comprising the bundles of microfine long fibers; (4) a ratio of the microfine long fibers and the elastic polymer is 70/30 to 40/60 by mass; (5) the elastic polymer is substantially continuous; and (6) a machine direction/transverse direction ratio of breaking strength is 1/1 to 1.3/1, an elongation at break in each of the machine direction and the transverse direction is 80% or more, and a machine direction/transverse direction ratio of elongation at break is 1/1 to 1/1.5. With these features, the leather-like sheet has a natural dense feeling resembling natural leathers, a soft hand a small difference of mechanical properties in the machine direction and the transverse direction, a moderate resistance to elongation and a durable recovery.