Toray Industries, Inc.

Masaru Ueno

Yoshikazu Yakake

Yasuhiro Ishikura

Takaaki Taguchi

Makoto Nishimura

Yukihiro Matsuzaki

Satoshi Yanagisawa

Gen Koide

Hajime Nishimura

Katsuya Okajima

Tomoharu Hirose

Akito Kuroda

Makoto Sumida

Nobuhiro Maeda

Tatsuya Hagiwara

Koji Yamano

Yu Matsuoka

To provide an artificial leather which simultaneously achieves uniform and elegant surface quality, good touch sensation, and wear resistance while suppressing the total amount of heat generated at the time of combustion. Provided is an artificial leather including: a fiber-tangled body containing a nonwoven fabric made of fine fibers having an average single fiber diameter of 0.01 μm or more and 10.0 μm or less; and a polymer elastic body. The artificial leather satisfies the following requirements:

Artificial leather and production method therefor, and composite artificial leather

Stretchable sheet and method for producing the same

A sheet is produced by (i) producing a sheet by entangling woven or knitted material including a thread composed of a composite fiber such that two kinds or more of polyethylene terephthalate polymers different in intrinsic viscosity are stuck together in a side-by-side type along the fiber length direction and/or of a core-in-sheath type composite fiber such that two kinds or more of polyethylene terephthalate polymers different in intrinsic viscosity form an eccentric core-in-sheath structure, with a fiber capable of converting into ultra fine fibers composed of two kinds or more of polymeric substances different in solubility in solvent, (ii) developing an ultra fine fiber with an average single fiber fineness of 0.001 dtex or more and 0.5 dtex or less by treating the sheet with a solvent to thereafter provide elastomer having polyurethane as a main component by impregnating and solidifying solvent solution of elastomer having polyurethane as a main component into the sheet, or of providing elastomer having polyurethane as a main component by impregnating and solidifying solvent solution of elastomer having polyurethane as a main component into the sheet to thereafter develop an ultra fine fiber with an average single fiber fineness of 0.001 dtex or more and 0.5 dtex or less by treating the sheet with a solvent, and (iii) rubbing and shrinking the woven or knitted material under the condition of 110&#xb0; C. or more.

A sheet-shaped object which is thin and, despite this, has a surface that is dense and is soft to the touch and which has practicable strength and a process for producing the sheet-shaped object are disclosed. This sheet-shaped object comprises ultrafine fibers having an average single-fiber diameter of 0.1-7 &#x3bc;m and a polymeric elastomer comprising a polyurethane as a major component, wherein when a layer extending from one surface to a depth of 50% of the thickness is referred to as layer (A) and a layer extending from the other surface to a depth of 50% of the thickness is referred to as layer (B), then the ratio of the density of fibers (A') in the layer (A) to the density of fibers (B&#x2032;) in the layer (B) satisfies the following expression (a) and the ratio of the density of the polymeric elastomer comprising a polyurethane as a major component (A&#x2033;) in the layer (A) to the density thereof (B&#x2033;) in the layer (B) satisfies the following expression (b). The sheet-shaped object as a whole has a density of 0.2-0.6 g/cm. 1&#x3e;(A&#x2032;)/(B&#x2032;)&#x2267;0.5 (a) 1&#x3e;(A&#x2033;)/(B&#x2033;)&#x2267;0.6 (b).

Sheet-shaped object and process for producing same

The invention provides a leather-like sheet material which is excellent in surface appearance, texture and physical properties and considerate of the environment; a process for the production thereof; and interior, clothing, and industrial materials made by using the same. A leather-like sheet material made from a nonwoven fabric which is constituted of ultra-fine fibers having a mean single-fiber fineness of 0.001 to 0.5 dtex and impregnated with a self-emulsifiable polyurethane, wherein the self-emulsifiable polyurethane and the ultra-fine fibers do substantially not adhere closely to each other, the moieties of the polyurethane have a nonporous structure, and the polyurethane has a structure crosslinked by siloxane bond in the molecular structure.

Leather-like sheet material, process for production thereof, and interior, clothing and industrial materials made by using the same

A sheet comprising a non-woven fabric in which ultra-fine fibers of a single fiber thickness of 0.5 dtex or less are entangled and an elastomeric binder mainly composed of a polyurethane, wherein the polyurethane is a polycarbonate-based polyurethane having a polycarbonate skeleton represented by both of the following general formulas (1) and (2), and having a gelation point of 2.5 ml or more and less than 6 ml.  Rand Rare aliphatic hydrocarbon groups with 7 to 11 carbons, and they may be same or different, n and m are positive integers, and when Rand Rare different, it is a block copolymer or a random copolymer.  Rand Rare aliphatic hydrocarbon groups with 3 to 6 carbons, and they may be same or different, x and y are positive integers, and when Rand Rare different, it is a block copolymer or a random copolymer.

Sheet and interior material

Growing community of inventors

Gifu, Japan

Masaru Ueno