Abstract:
A leather-like sheet material is manufactured by forming a nonwoven fibrous mat of mixed-spun fibers consisting of at least two polymeric materials, impregnating the mat with a liquid which is a solvent for at least one of the polymeric materials but is a non-solvent for the other polymeric materials and dissolving out at least one of the polymeric materials, and coagulating the resulting polymer solution with another liquid which is a nonsolvent for all of the polymeric materials constituting initially the fibers but is at least partially miscible with the liquid used for the prior impregnation of the mat into a porous polymeric structure.
Abstract:
A POROUS POLYMERIC SHEET HAVING A SPECFIC GRAVITY OF LESS THAN 0.7 AND A THICKNESS OF 0.05 TO 2.0 MM. AND CONTAINING PORES INCLINED AT AN ANGLE OF LESS THAN 80* AGAINST THE PLANE OF THE SHEET AND HAVING A LENGTH OF 0.03 TO 10 MM. A SHEET MATERIAL COMPRISING SAID POROUS POLYMERIC SHEET AND A SUBSTRATE BOUND TO THE LOWER SURFACE OF SAID POROUS POLYMERIC SHEET. SAID POROUS POLYMERIC SHEET IS PRODUCED BY IMMERSING A POLYMER SOLUTION APPLIED TO A SUPPORT INTO A COAGULATION BATH UNDER A CONDITION OF RAPID COAGULATION RAPIDLY THE UPPER PORTION OF THE SOLUTION AND TO FORM MACROPORES IN THE INNER PORTION; STRESSING THE UPPER PORTION IN TRANSVERSE DIRECTION, THAT IS, A DIRECTION PARALLEL TO THE PLANE OF THE SUPPORT, IN THE BATH TO SHIFT THE UPPER PORTION TO TRANSVERSE DIRECTION AND TO INCLINE THE PORES FORMED; TREATING FURTHER THE LAYER WITH THE BATH TO COMPLETE THE COAGULATION, THEREBY FORMING POROUS STRUCTURE CONTAINING PORES INCLINED AT AN ANGLE OF LESS THAN 80* AGAINST THE PLANE; AND PEELING OFF THE RESULTING POROUS POLYMERIC SHEET FROM THE SUPPORT.