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Synthetic leather, method for its manufacture, and its useRelated Patent Categories: Fabric (woven, Knitted, Or Nonwoven Textile Or Cloth, Etc.), Nonwoven Fabric (i.e., Nonwoven Strand Or Fiber Material), Including A Foamed Layer Or ComponentSynthetic leather, method for its manufacture, and its use description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060234589, Synthetic leather, method for its manufacture, and its use. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
[0001] This claims the benefit of German Patent Application No. 10 2005 014 317.2 filed Mar. 30, 2005 and hereby incorporated by reference herein. BACKGROUND [0002] The present invention relates to a novel synthetic leather derived from a polyurethane foam, its manufacture and use as surface lining for plastic parts. [0003] The use of polyurethane foam products in automobile interiors or in other interiors is known. [0004] Thus, WO-A-01/10637, hereby incorporated by reference herein, describes a multilayer material for use in automobile interiors, which includes an open-cell polyurethane foam, fibers of vegetable origin applied to its surface, a thermosetting resin for bonding the fibers to the polyurethane foam, and optional decorative layers applied thereon. [0005] WO-A-00/06375, hereby incorporated by reference herein, describes a multilayer laminate which has a single layer of polyurethane foam, to whose surfaces a nonwoven made of a mixture of endless fibers and finite-length fibers is applied, which are bonded to the polyurethane foam layer by an adhesive layer. The laminate may be used for sound dampening in automobile interiors. [0006] Leather manufacture is a complex process using chemicals which pollute the environment. Therefore, numerous attempts have been made to manufacture artificial leather using simpler processes and less polluting chemicals. [0007] Different principles for manufacturing artificial leather are known from the related art. [0008] WO-A-2004/060655 discloses a method for manufacturing a layer of polyurethane foam and a laminate manufactured therefrom. [0009] U.S. Pat. No. 6,566,287, hereby incorporated by reference herein, describes a synthetic leather which is manufactured by impregnating a special split-fiber nonwoven with an elastic polymer and subsequently coagulating this polymer. An elastic polymer layer may be laminated on this impregnated nonwoven. [0010] U.S. Pat. No. 6,737,004, hereby incorporated by reference herein, describes the manufacture of a stretched split-fiber nonwoven. After a shrinking process, this may be impregnated with an aqueous polyurethane solution and then combined with another layer. The laminate may be used as synthetic leather. [0011] EP-A-1 300 508, hereby incorporated by reference herein, describes a microfiber nonwoven, which is manufactured using the "islands in the sea" method and is impregnated with a polyurethane solution or polyurethane emulsion. The impregnated nonwoven is split and dyed. [0012] JP-A-8/060,556 describes a synthetic leather which is manufactured by impregnating a split-fiber nonwoven with a polyurethane solution, coagulating the polyurethane and subsequently subjecting it to a surface treatment. [0013] JP-A-4/185,777 describes a synthetic leather which is manufactured by laminating a non-porous polyurethane layer onto a porous substrate. The substrate is manufactured by impregnating a microfiber nonwoven with a polyurethane solution and coagulating the polyurethane. [0014] DE-A-199 47 869 describes a synthetic leather which contains a nonwoven, preferably a split-fiber nonwoven, impregnated and/or coated with a polymer, having mass per unit areas of 100 g/m.sup.2 to 500 g/m.sup.2 and high tensile strengths in the longitudinal and transverse directions. A polyurethane dissolved in dimethylformamide or an aqueous polyurethane latex is provided for impregnation and is precipitated or coagulated after being applied onto the nonwoven. The impregnated nonwoven is napped after the polyurethane surface containing the fibers is formed to lend this surface a suede leather-like texture. [0015] DE-A-38 20 296 describes a method for manufacturing a synthetic chamois leather. To do so, a synthetic sheet material is produced, which includes a porous polyurethane matrix containing fibers or a nonwoven and a cover layer of compact polyurethane. This material is split by separating into two thin sheets in the area of the fiber layer or the nonwoven, and the part having the cover layer is post-treated on the surface produced by the split by napping. In this method a relatively high proportion of waste occurs due to the further use of only one split sheet. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0016] On the basis of this related art, it is an object of the present invention to provide a synthetic leather having a fine surface structure which has virtually no free-standing fiber ends on the surface. [0017] Another alternate or additional object of the present invention is to provide a synthetic leather which is usable without problems in injection molding and in which no plastic comes into contact with the layer forming the imitation leather when it is back-injected. [0018] A further alternate or additional object of the present invention is to provide a simple method in which the least possible waste occurs and which can be operated economically. [0019] The invention relates to a synthetic leather including a microfiber nonwoven which has an adhesive on one surface and a layer of open-pore polyurethane foam thereon, the surface of the polyurethane foam layer facing away from the microfiber nonwoven having been obtained by splitting. [0020] The present invention also relates to the manufacture of the above-described synthetic leather including the following steps: [0021] i) applying an adhesive layer to a microfiber nonwoven; [0022] ii) applying a layer of open-pore polyurethane foam to the adhesive layer; [0023] iii) applying another adhesive layer to the open-pore polyurethane foam; [0024] iv) applying another microfiber nonwoven to the second adhesive layer; [0025] v) splitting the composite thus produced in the area of the open-pore polyurethane layer, and [0026] vi) if necessary, napping the surfaces of the open-pore polyurethane foam layer produced by splitting. [0027] Microfiber nonwoven is understood within this description as any nonwovens which have at least 50% by weight, preferably at least 80% by weight, and especially preferably 100% by weight of fibers having a diameter of less than 1 .mu.m. [0028] The fibers may be endless filaments, finite-length fibers, fiber or filament yarns, or a mixture thereof. Continue reading about Synthetic leather, method for its manufacture, and its use... Full patent description for Synthetic leather, method for its manufacture, and its use Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Synthetic leather, method for its manufacture, and its use patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. 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