KR101885253B1 - Artificial Leather and Method for Manufacturing The Same - Google Patents

Abstract

An artificial leather having a high quality of appearance, a soft touch, and excellent mechanical properties and a method of manufacturing the same are disclosed. The artificial leather of the present invention comprises a composite nonwoven fabric; And a polymeric elastomer impregnated in the composite nonwoven fabric, wherein the composite nonwoven fabric comprises first microstructures having a fineness of 0.001 to 0.3 denier, and has an apparent density of 0.15 to 0.35 g / cm ³ ; And second staple fibers having a fineness of 1 to 6 denier, wherein the reinforcing nonwoven fabric has an apparent density of 0.25 to 0.45 g / cm < ³ >, wherein the microfine nonwoven fabric and the reinforcing nonwoven fabric are entangled.

Description

Technical Field [0001] The present invention relates to an artificial leather,

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an artificial leather and a method of manufacturing the same, and more specifically, to an artificial leather having a high quality appearance, a soft touch feeling, and excellent mechanical properties, and a method of manufacturing the same.

The artificial leather is made by impregnating a nonwoven fabric formed by three-dimensionally entangled microfine fibers into an elastomeric polymer, and has a soft texture and a unique appearance similar to natural leather. Thus, shoes, clothes, gloves, miscellaneous goods, And the like.

Such artificial leather is produced by using various kinds of fibers such as polyethylene terephthalate fiber, polytrimethylene terephthalate fiber and polyamide fiber.

However, it is true that artificial leather has a somewhat deteriorated mechanical property as well as emotional quality such as appearance quality and fullness as compared with natural leather, because artificial leather has a structure which is less compact than internal leather.

In order to overcome the limitation of the artificial leather, a method of increasing the density of the nonwoven fabric used for producing artificial leather through the shrinking process has been proposed. However, when the nonwoven fabric is shrunk to such an extent as to satisfy the mechanical properties required for the artificial leather, the density of the surface of the artificial leather is also excessively increased so that the nap formed by the buffing process is formed too short, There is a problem that the appearance quality deteriorates due to the low bulk characteristic.

On the contrary, when the density of the nonwoven fabric is decreased in order to lengthen the nap length of the artificial leather, there arises a problem that the mechanical properties required for the artificial leather can not be satisfied.

On the other hand, as one method for simultaneously satisfying the appearance characteristics and mechanical properties of artificial leather, a method of entangling a fabric for reinforcing fabrics or knitted fabrics with nonwoven fabrics is disclosed in Korean Patent Application No. 10-2007-0124874 Has been filed.

However, when the reinforcing fabric of the fabric or the knitted fabric is entangled with the nonwoven fabric, a soft texture and a soft texture can not be produced in the artificial leather finally produced due to the stiff characteristics of the fabric or the knitted fabric, There is a problem in that it can not satisfy the elongation required particularly when it is applied.

The present invention relates to an artificial leather and a method of manufacturing the artificial leather, which can prevent problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.

An aspect of the present invention is to provide an artificial leather having an elegant appearance quality, a soft touch feeling / texture, and excellent mechanical properties.

Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a method for producing an artificial leather having a high quality of appearance, a soft touch feeling / texture, and excellent mechanical properties.

As one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a composite nonwoven fabric comprising: And a polymeric elastomer impregnated in the composite nonwoven fabric, wherein the composite nonwoven fabric comprises first microstructures having a fineness of 0.001 to 0.3 denier, and has an apparent density of 0.15 to 0.35 g / cm ³ ; And reinforcing nonwoven fabric comprising second staple fibers having a fineness of 1 to 6 denier and having an apparent density of 0.25 to 0.45 g / cm < ³ >, wherein the microfine nonwoven fabric and the reinforcing nonwoven fabric are entangled Artificial leather is provided.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of producing a nonwoven fabric, comprising: forming a first nonwoven fabric with sea-island short fibers; Forming a second nonwoven fabric with high shear short fibers having a water shrinkage of at least 10%; Entangling the first and second nonwoven fabrics; Shrinking the entangled first and second nonwoven fabrics; Impregnating the polymeric elastomer into the first and second nonwoven fabrics; And dissolving the sea component from the sea-island short fibers of the first nonwoven fabric.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

The artificial leather according to the present invention exhibits excellent mechanical properties by including a back layer having a bulky appearance and a relatively high density, because the length of nap formed on the surface thereof is sufficiently long.

That is, the first nonwoven fabric of the sea-island fibers and the second nonwoven fabric of the high-shear fiber are intertwined to penetrate the sea-island fibers of the first nonwoven fabric into the second nonwoven fabric, The second nonwoven fabric having a relatively high shrinkage relative to the first nonwoven fabric can more firmly hold the sea-island fibers penetrated into the second nonwoven fabric through the shrinkage, and as a result, the mechanical properties of the artificial leather can be improved.

On the other hand, since the first nonwoven fabric has a relatively low shrinkability as compared with the second nonwoven fabric, the increase in density due to the shrinking process is relatively small, so that the napping formed by the subsequent buffing process can be formed long, Lt; / RTI >

Further, by adopting a nonwoven fabric, which is not a fabric or a knitted fabric, as a backing layer for imparting excellent mechanical properties to an artificial leather, it is possible to provide an artificial leather having sufficient softening feeling and texture and sufficient elongation characteristics required when applied to a product with many bends have.

The artificial leather of the present invention having such an elegant appearance quality, soft touch feeling, and excellent mechanical properties can be widely used in various fields such as shoes, clothes, gloves, miscellaneous goods, furniture, automobile interior materials and the like.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, the present invention encompasses all changes and modifications that come within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the artificial leather of the present invention and the manufacturing method thereof will be described in detail.

The artificial leather of the present invention includes a composite nonwoven fabric and a polymeric elastomer impregnated in the composite nonwoven fabric.

The composite nonwoven fabric includes microfine nonwoven fabric and reinforcement nonwoven fabric entangled with each other.

The microfine nonwoven fabric forms a surface layer exposed to the outside when the artificial leather is applied to a predetermined product, and bristles are formed on the surface thereof.

The microfine nonwoven fabric includes first staple fibers having a fineness of 0.001 to 0.3 denier, and has an apparent density of 0.15 to 0.35 g / cm < ^{3 &} gt ;. The microfine nonwoven fabric made of short fibers having a fineness of such a range has excellent tactile sensation. If the fineness of the staple fibers is less than 0.001 denier, the feeling of the microfine nonwoven fabric is improved, but the production thereof is not easy and washing fastness indicating the degree of dye loss after washing may be lowered. On the other hand, when the fineness of the staple fibers exceeds 0.3 denier, the feeling of the microfine nonwoven fabric may not be good.

The fineness of the short fibers constituting the nonwoven fabric can be measured by taking a sample using the gold coating method, taking a cross-sectional photograph of the sample at a constant magnification through a scanning electron microscope (SEM), measuring the diameter of the short fiber, The measured short fiber diameter can be calculated by applying the following equation.

* Fineness (denier) = 9πD ² ρ / 4000

In the above equation,? Is the circularity, D is the short fiber cross-sectional diameter (占 퐉), and? Is the fiber density value (g / cm3).

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the first staple fibers have a length of 5 to 100 mm. If the length of the first staple fiber is less than 5 mm, the production of the microfine nonwoven fabric may be difficult and the strength and texture of the artificial leather may be deteriorated. On the other hand, even if the length of the staple fibers exceeds 100 mm, the microfine nonwoven fabric manufacturing process may become difficult.

The first staple fibers constituting the microfine nonwoven fabric may be selected from the group consisting of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) staple fibers, polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT) staple fibers, polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) staple fibers, Or a mixture thereof.

Polyethylene terephthalate staple fibers are relatively inexpensive yet have excellent tensile strength and high heat resistance. Therefore, the microfine nonwoven fabric according to an embodiment of the present invention may include polyethylene terephthalate staple fibers.

The reinforcing nonwoven fabric interlocked with the microfine nonwoven fabric forms a backing layer adhered to the product when the artificial leather is applied to a predetermined product. The reinforcing nonwoven fabric includes second staple fibers having a fineness of 1 to 6 denier and a length of 5 to 100 mm, and has an apparent density of 0.25 to 0.45 g / cm < ^{3 &} gt ;.

The second staple fibers constituting the reinforcing nonwoven fabric may be polyester staple fibers or polyamide staple fibers. More specifically, the reinforcing nonwoven fabric can be produced by shrinking a nonwoven fabric formed of a high shear polyester short fiber or a high shear polyamide short fiber having a non-water shrinkage ratio of 10% or more through a shrinking process.

The high density synthetic short fibers are shrunk at a relatively high shrinkage ratio to form the reinforcing nonwoven fabric. Therefore, the apparent density of the microfine nonwoven fabric in the final artificial leather according to an embodiment of the present invention is smaller than the apparent density of the reinforcing nonwoven fabric. Therefore, the short fibers of the microfine nonwoven fabric that have penetrated into the reinforcing nonwoven fabric by the intertwining can be more firmly fixed by the reinforcing nonwoven fabric, and as a result, artificial leather having excellent mechanical properties can be produced.

That is, the reinforcing nonwoven fabric of the present invention has high mechanical properties due to the shrinkage process, and thus it can impart excellent mechanical properties to the final artificial leather. In addition, due to the soft characteristics inherent in the nonwoven fabric, Unlike the reinforcing fabric of the knitted structure, it does not reduce the elongation, the soft texture, and the texture of the artificial leather.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the second staple fibers of the reinforcing nonwoven fabric do not protrude through the microfine nonwoven fabric of the surface layer. That is, the microfine nonwoven fabric and the reinforcing nonwoven fabric are entangled in such a manner that only the first staple fibers of the microfine nonwoven fabric penetrate into the reinforcing nonwoven fabric and the second staple fibers of the reinforcing nonwoven fabric do not penetrate into the microfine nonwoven fabric . Through such unidirectional intertwining, it is possible to prevent the appearance quality of the artificial leather from deteriorating due to the fact that the second staple fibers having a relatively large fineness constituting the reinforcing nonwoven fabric are worn on the surface of the artificial leather.

Polyurethane may be used as the polymeric elastomer impregnated in the composite nonwoven fabric. Specifically, polycarbonate diol-based, polyester-diol-based or polyetherdiol-based ones or mixtures thereof may be used. Alternatively, a polysiloxane may be used as the polymeric elastomer.

The polymeric elastomer content in the suede artificial leather may be 20 to 30% by weight. If the content of the polymeric elastomer is less than 20% by weight, a desired elongation can not be obtained. If the content of the elastomeric polymer exceeds 30% by weight, the skin feel of the artificial leather is decreased and the risk of discoloration of the artificial leather is increased. .

Hereinafter, a method of manufacturing artificial leather according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

The method for producing an artificial leather according to the present invention comprises the steps of forming a first nonwoven fabric with sea-island short fibers, forming a second nonwoven fabric with high-shear short fibers having a water shrinkage ratio of 10% or more, 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: entangling the second nonwoven fabric; shrinking the entangled first and second nonwoven fabrics; impregnating a polymeric elastomer into the first and second nonwoven fabrics; Min. ≪ / RTI > Hereinafter, the method for producing artificial leather of the present invention will be described in detail for each step.

Production of first nonwoven fabric

The sea-island type fibers are composed of a first polymer and a second polymer having different characteristics to be dissolved in a solvent.

The first polymer may be a co-polyester or polystyrene as a sea component dissolved and dissolved in a solvent. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the first polymer is a copolymer polyester excellent in solubility in an alkali solvent.

The copolymer polyester may be produced by copolymerizing polyethylene terephthalate as a main component with polyethylene glycol, polypropylene glycol, 1-4-cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid, 1-4-cyclohexanedimethanol, 1-4-cyclohexanedicarboxylate, Dimethyl-1,3-propanediol, 2-2-dimethyl-1,4-butanediol, 2,2,4-trimethyl-1,3-propanediol, adipic acid, Or a mixture thereof may be used, but not always limited thereto.

The second polymer may be polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT), or polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) as an island component that does not readily dissolve in a solvent.

In the sea-island fiber according to the present invention, the first polymer, which is a sea component, is dissolved in a solvent and eluted in a subsequent step, so that only the second polymer as a conductive component remains to form microfine fibers. Therefore, in order to obtain desired ultrafine fibers, it is necessary to appropriately adjust the content of the first polymer as the sea component and the content of the second polymer as the component.

Specifically, in the sea-island fiber, the first polymer as the sea component is contained in an amount of 10 to 60% by weight, and the second polymer as the conductive component is contained in an amount of 40 to 90% by weight. If the amount of the first polymer is less than 10% by weight, the content of the second polymer as the component may be increased and ultrafine fiber formation may be impossible. On the other hand, when the first polymer as the sea component is contained in an amount exceeding 60% by weight, the manufacturing cost increases as the amount of the first polymer to be eluted increases.

In the cross section of the sea-island fiber, the second polymer as the above-mentioned conductive component is arranged with 10 or more separated from each other, and the fineness of each of the second polymers as a component after the dissolution of the first polymer as the sea component is 0.3 denier or less And is preferably 0.001 denier or more for dyeing fastness and strength.

Tow tow towered sea-island fibers produced through composite spinning is prepared and stretched 2.3 to 4.5 times. Then, a crimp is formed on the stretched tow at 5 to 20 yarns / inch and heated to a temperature of 30 to 150 ° C to heat set. Next, the above-described heat-set tow is cut to produce sea-island short fibers having a length of 5 to 100 mm.

Then, by performing opening, blending, and carding processes, the web is manufactured by homogeneously fusing the sea-island short fibers. Then, the obtained webs are laminated through a cross lapping process, and then the webs are laminated together while entangling each island-shaped short fibers through needle punching, thereby completing the first nonwoven fabric.

The process for producing the web by mixing the sea-island staple fibers may be performed selectively using an air-jet method using an air jet, a papermaking method for mixing in water, and the step of entangling the sea- A high-speed fluid treatment method, a chemical bond method, or a hot air through method.

The first nonwoven fabric thus produced may have a unit weight of 100 to 500 g / m 2 and an apparent density of 0.14 to 0.26 g / cm ³ .

Production of second nonwoven fabric

The opening, blending, and carding processes are sequentially performed on the high-shear polyester short fibers or high-shear polyamide short fibers having a non-water shrinkage ratio of 10% or more, a fineness of 1 to 6 deniers, and a length of 5 to 100 mm Thereby manufacturing a web. Then, the obtained webs are laminated through a cross-lapping process, and the laminated webs are bonded to each other while entangling the high-viscosity short staple fibers through needle punching, thereby completing the second nonwoven fabric.

As in the case of the first nonwoven fabric, the process for producing the web may be selectively performed using an air jet method using an air jet, a papermaking method for mixing in water, and the like. Method, a chemical bond method, or a hot air through method.

The second nonwoven fabric thus produced may have a unit weight of 50 to 300 g / m 2 and an apparent density of 0.15 to 0.4 g / cm ³ .

The first and second non- Interbreeding

The first and second nonwoven fabrics thus produced are laminated and entangled.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the first and second nonwoven fabrics are bonded by performing needle punching after positioning the first nonwoven fabric on the second nonwoven fabric at the bottom. When the needle punching is performed, the first and second nonwoven fabrics can be entangled with only a downstroke without an up stroke. By performing the needle punching only by the down stroke, only the sea-island short fibers of the first non-woven fabric penetrate into the second non-woven fabric and the highly-charged short fibers of the second non-woven fabric do not penetrate into the first non-woven fabric.

Through such unidirectional entanglement, it is possible to prevent the appearance quality of the artificial leather from deteriorating due to the bristles of the relatively high fineness staple fibers constituting the second nonwoven fabric on the surface of the artificial leather.

Shrinkage process

Next, the entangled first and second nonwoven fabrics are subjected to a shrinking process. Since the same shrinking process is performed on the first and second nonwoven fabrics under the same conditions, the second nonwoven fabric composed of the high-shear staple fibers is shrunk relatively more than the first nonwoven fabric, resulting in a larger density increase. As a result, the marine-type fibers of the first non-woven fabric that have penetrated into the second non-woven fabric through the entangling step are more firmly fixed between the short fibers of the second non-woven fabric through the shrinking process.

The shrinking process may be performed using steam or hot water. The shrinking process using steam can be carried out at a temperature of 80 to 100 DEG C and a relative humidity of 90% or more. The shrinking process using hot water can be performed by maintaining the entangled first and second nonwoven fabrics in hot water at 80 ° C or more for 1 minute or more.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, after the shrinking step, the second nonwoven fabric has an apparent density of 0.25 to 0.45 g / cm < ^{3 &} gt ;.

Polymeric elastomeric Impregnation

Subsequently, the polymeric elastomer is impregnated into the contracted first and second nonwoven fabrics.

For example, a polymeric elastomer solution is prepared and the shrunk first and second nonwoven fabrics are immersed in the polymeric elastomer solution. The polymeric elastomer solution may be prepared by dissolving or dispersing polyurethane in a predetermined solvent. For example, the polymeric elastomer solution can be prepared by dissolving polyurethane in a dimethylformamide (DMF) solvent or dispersing polyurethane in a water solvent. However, the polymeric elastomer may be directly used without dissolving or dispersing the polymeric elastomer in a solvent.

Alternatively, pigments, light stabilizers, antioxidants, flame retardants, softeners, colorants and the like may be added to the polymeric elastomer solution.

The shape of the first and second nonwoven fabrics can be stabilized by padding with a polyvinyl alcohol aqueous solution before immersing the first and second nonwoven fabrics in the polymeric elastomer solution.

The amount of impregnation of the polymeric elastomer impregnated into the first and second nonwoven fabrics can be controlled by adjusting the concentration of the polymeric elastomer solution and the like. Considering that the content of the elastomeric polymer contained in the final artificial leather is 20 to 30%, the concentration of the elastomeric polymer solution is preferably adjusted in the range of 5 to 20% by weight. Preferably, the first and second nonwoven fabrics are immersed in the polymeric elastomer solution for 0.5 to 15 minutes while maintaining the temperature of the polymeric elastomer solution at a concentration of 5 to 20% by weight in the range of 10 to 30 ° C.

After immersing the first and second nonwoven fabrics in the polymeric elastomer solution, the polymeric elastomer impregnated in the nonwoven fabric is solidified in the coagulation bath, and then washed in a water bath. When the polymeric elastomer solution is obtained by dissolving polyurethane in a dimethylformamide solvent, the coagulation bath is composed of a mixture of water and a small amount of dimethylformamide, and the polymeric elastomer is solidified in the coagulation bath, Amide may be allowed to escape to the coagulation bath. In the water bath, the polyvinyl alcohol used in the padding treatment and the remaining dimethylformamide are removed from the nonwoven fabric.

Then, the first and second nonwoven fabrics impregnated with the polymeric elastomer are thermally calendered. The thermal calendering can be performed by pressing the nonwoven fabrics impregnated with the polymeric elastomer through a heated roller. If the temperature of the heating roller is less than 80 ° C, a sufficient thermal calendering effect can not be obtained. If the temperature of the heating roller exceeds 200 ° C, the surface of the nonwoven fabric surface May be damaged.

Since the elastomeric polymer is rearranged through the thermal calendering process and the staple fibers on the surface of the nonwoven fabric are uniformly aligned, uniform bristling can be formed during the post-processing process described later.

Miniaturization  fair

Subsequently, the sea component is eluted from the sea-island short fibers of the first nonwoven fabric by using an alkaline solvent, for example, a caustic soda aqueous solution having a concentration of about 5% by weight. The removal of the sea component removes only the metallic powder, thereby making the first nonwoven fabric to be finer. The microfabricated first nonwoven fabric is composed of conductive split fibers having a fineness of 0.001 to 0.3 denier and has an apparent density of 0.15 to 0.35 g / cm < ^{3 &} gt ;.

Alternatively, the microfabrication process may be performed immediately before impregnation of the polymeric elastomer.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, after the shrinkage step, the polymer elastomer impregnation step, and the elution (microfabrication) step, the apparent density of the microfine first nonwoven fabric (microfine nonwoven fabric) ). ≪ / RTI >

Brushed  And dyeing process

Then, a raising process is performed on the composite nonwoven fabric including the microfine nonwoven fabric and the reinforcing nonwoven fabric. The brushed process is a process of rubbing the surface of the composite nonwoven fabric by a polishing means such as sandpaper to produce a large amount of naps on the surface.

Then, the brushed composite nonwoven fabric is dyed and post-treated to complete the artificial leather according to the present invention.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to examples and comparative examples. It should be noted, however, that the following examples are intended to assist the understanding of the present invention, and the scope of the present invention should not be limited thereby.

Example  One

A method for producing a sea-island filament according to claim 1, wherein the copolymerized polyester having 5 mol% of a copolymer of a polyester containing a metal sulfonate and a polyester as a sea component is co- Filament was drawn at a draw ratio of 3.1 times, and the crimp process was carried out so that the number of crimp was 13 pieces / inch. After the crimp process was performed at 130 占 폚, The above sea-island short fibers were formed by a carding process and a cross-lapping process to form a web, followed by needle punching, to thereby produce a first nonwoven fabric having a weight per unit area of 200 g / m ² and an apparent density of 0.160 g / cm ³ .

Subsequently, high shrinkage polyester short fibers having a non-shrinkage ratio of 12%, a crimp ratio of 15 / inch, and a length of 51 mm were produced, and the web was formed through a carding and cross-lapping process, followed by a needle punching process A second nonwoven fabric having a weight per unit area of 150 g / m ² and an apparent density of 0.180 g / cm ³ was prepared.

Then, the second nonwoven fabric was placed on the lower side, the first nonwoven fabric was placed on the upper side, and needle punching was carried out. However, the first and second nonwoven fabrics were entangled with each other using only the downstroke.

The entangled nonwoven fabrics were heat-shrunk by immersing them in a hot water at a temperature of 80 ° C for 5 minutes and then dried to prepare contraction foams.

The thus-obtained water retention was immersed in a polyurethane solution at a concentration of 10% by weight and at 25 캜 obtained by dissolving polyurethane in a dimethylformamide (DMF) solvent, and the polyurethane was coagulated using a 15% by weight aqueous solution of dimethylformamide , And then water was washed with water to impregnate the contraction film with polyurethane.

Subsequently, the polyurethane-impregnated shrink-wrap is treated with an aqueous solution of caustic soda having a concentration of 5% by weight to elute the copolymerized polyester as a dissolution component, leaving only the polyester as a conductive component so that the first nonwoven fabric Fibers).

The surface of the composite nonwoven fabric composed of the microfine nonwoven fabric (microfine nonwoven fabric) and the second nonwoven fabric (nonwoven fabric for reinforcement) was subjected to thermal calendering using a roll heated to 130 ° C, Brushed on the surface by buffing, dyed in a high-pressure rapid dyeing machine using a disperse dye, washed and dried, and treated with a softener and an antistatic agent to obtain an artificial leather.

Example  2

The artificial leather was produced in the and the same procedures as in Example 1, except that the first and the basis weight of the nonwoven fabric 2 was respectively 250g / m ² and 200g / m ^2.

Example 3

An artificial leather was produced in the same manner as in Example 1, except that the shrinking process was performed using a steam heat shrinker at a temperature of 100 ° C and a relative humidity of 95%.

Example  4

An artificial leather was produced in the same manner as in Example 1, except that the down-stroke and the up-stroke were alternately performed when the needle punching was performed to entangle the first and second nonwoven fabrics.

Comparative Example  One

An artificial leather was produced in the same manner as in Example 1, except that a reinforcing fabric woven with a high-viscosity polyester filament to a density of 25 x 25 bands / inch was used instead of the second non-woven fabric.

Comparative Example 2

An artificial leather was produced in the same manner as in Example 1, except that a nonwoven fabric having a weight per unit area of 200 g / m ² composed of a general polyester short fiber was used instead of the second nonwoven fabric.

Comparative Example  3

An artificial leather was produced in the same manner as in Example 1, except that only the first nonwoven fabric was used without using the second nonwoven fabric.

The apparent density of each of the microfine nonwoven fabric and the reinforcing nonwoven fabric, the tensile strength of the artificial leather, the elongation at break, the tear strength, the appearance quality, the texture and the surface tactile feeling of the microfibers and the reinforcing nonwoven fabrics were measured by the following methods Respectively.

Microfiber  Measurement of apparent density of each nonwoven fabric and reinforcing nonwoven fabric

An artificial leather sample having a size of 10 cm x 10 cm was prepared. Subsequently, a slice machine was used to divide the artificial leather sample into an upper microfine nonwoven fabric portion and a lower reinforcing nonwoven fabric portion. The thickness of each portion was measured using a dial thickness gauge (trade name: Pycor H, Ozaki Seisakusho, . Then, the microfine nonwoven fabric portion and the reinforcing nonwoven fabric portion were immersed in a dimethylformaldehyde (DMF) solution at 60 ° C for 24 hours to extract all the polyurethane components impregnated therein. Subsequently, after washing and drying, the unit weight of each part was measured by the method of JIS L 1096 8. 4. 2 (1999). The apparent density of the microfine nonwoven fabric and the reinforcing nonwoven fabric was calculated by dividing the unit weight of each part by the thickness of each part measured above.

On the other hand, for the artificial leather of Comparative Example 3 produced without the second nonwoven fabric, the thickness of the artificial leather and the unit weight of the microfine nonwoven fabric were measured in the same manner as above, And the apparent density of the microfine nonwoven fabric was calculated.

The tensile strength  And Fracture  Measure

The fabricated artificial leather fabric was cut into five pieces in the transverse direction and the longitudinal direction according to the standard, and the tensile strength and the elongation at break according to the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM D 5035) were measured using a tensile tester.

Phosphorus strength  Measure

The fabricated artificial leather fabric was cut into five pieces in the transverse and longitudinal directions according to the standard, and then the tear strength according to the American Society for Testing and Materials ASTM D 2261 was measured using a tensile tester.

Appearance quality test of artificial leather

Five members of the expert group conducted sensory tests on five items: napping and uniformity of color, wrinkles, flooring, pile quality and luxury. Each expert rated each item on a scale of 1 to 5 (5 out of 5), added the scores for each of the five items by experts, and then re-summed the scores of the five experts Total score. Then, the appearance of the artificial leather was evaluated according to the criteria shown in Table 1 below.

Total score Exterior 0 to 25 × 26 to 50 △ 51 ~ 75 ○ 76-100 ◎ 101 ~ 125 ☆

Texture test of artificial leather

Five experts in the evaluation group conducted sensory tests on the five items of flexibility, fullness, and bendability. Each expert evaluated each item by 1 point and rated 0 ~ 5 (5 points: excellent) The total score of 5 items was added up, and the score of 5 experts was added up again. Then, the texture of the artificial leather was evaluated according to the criteria shown in Table 2 below.

Sum Texture 0 to 15 × 16 to 30 △ 31 ~ 45 ○ 46 to 60 ◎ 61 to 75 ☆

Artificial leather surface tactile test

The evaluation team consisted of five experts. Each expert evaluated the softness of the surface of artificial leather in one point unit and gave 0 ~ 5 points (5 points: highest) and total points were obtained by summing the scores of 5 experts. Then, the surface texture of the artificial leather was evaluated based on the criteria shown in Table 3 below.

Sum Texture 0-5 × 6 to 10 △ 11 ~ 15 ○ 16-20 ◎ 21 ~ 25 ☆

The results of measurement of apparent density, appearance, texture, surface texture, and nonwoven fabric apparent density of the microfine nonwoven fabric and reinforcing nonwoven fabric of Examples and Comparative Examples are shown in Table 4 below.

Example 1 Example 2 Example 3 Example 4 Comparative Example 1 Comparative Example 2 Comparative Example 3 Apparent Density of Microfiber Nonwoven Fabrics
(g / cm ³⁾ 0.185 0.203 0.192 0.216 0.220 0.165 0.185 Apparent Density of Nonwoven Fabrics for Reinforcement
(g / cm ³⁾ 0.295 0.312 0.305 0.288 0.302 0.220 - The tensile strength
(kgf / cm) horizontal 3.8 4.3 3.7 3.5 8.0 2.5 2.3 Vertical 2.8 3.8 2.8 2.8 7.5 2.1 1.8 Fracture
(%) horizontal 62 52 60 58 52 55 60 Vertical 83 72 82 78 71 75 82 Phosphorus strength
(unit?) horizontal 3.5 4.3 3.4 3.2 3.5 1.8 1.5 Vertical 3.2 3.3 3.1 3.1 3.7 1.3 1.2 Exterior quality ☆ ☆ ☆ △ ◎ △ △ Texture ◎ ◎ ◎ ○ △ △ △ Surface touch ☆ ◎ ☆ ○ ○ ○ ○

Claims (7)

Composite nonwoven fabric; And
And a polymeric elastomer impregnated in the composite nonwoven fabric,
In the composite nonwoven fabric,
A microfine nonwoven fabric comprising first staple fibers having a fineness of 0.001 to 0.3 denier and having an apparent density of 0.15 to 0.35 g / cm ³ ; And
The reinforcing nonwoven fabric comprising second staple fibers having a fineness of 10 to 6 denier and having an apparent density of 0.25 to 0.45 g / cm < ³ &
The microfine nonwoven fabric and the reinforcing nonwoven fabric are entangled,
Wherein an apparent density of the microfine nonwoven fabric is smaller than an apparent density of the reinforcing nonwoven fabric. delete The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the microfine nonwoven fabric forms a surface layer exposed to the outside when the artificial leather is applied to a predetermined product,
Wherein the reinforcing nonwoven fabric forms a backing layer adhered to the article when the artificial leather is applied to the article,
And the second staple fibers of the reinforcing nonwoven fabric do not protrude through the surface layer. Forming a first nonwoven fabric with sea-island short fibers;
Forming a second nonwoven fabric with high shear short fibers having a water shrinkage of at least 10%;
Entangling the first and second nonwoven fabrics;
Shrinking the entangled first and second nonwoven fabrics;
Impregnating the polymeric elastomer into the shrunk first and second nonwoven fabrics; And
And leaching the sea component from the sea-island short fibers of the first nonwoven fabric,
Wherein after the elution step, the apparent density of the first nonwoven fabric becomes smaller than the apparent density of the second nonwoven fabric. 5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the high shear short staple fibers are highly shrinkable polyester short fibers. 6. The method of claim 5,
Wherein after the shrinking step, the second nonwoven fabric has an apparent density of 0.25 to 0.45 g / cm < ³ >. 5. The method of claim 4,
The step of entangling the first and second nonwoven fabrics is performed by needle punching,
Wherein the needle punching is performed only by a stroke in the direction from the first non-woven fabric to the second non-woven fabric.