TWI879059B - Plant leather embossing method - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a plant leather embossing method, which firstly places a plastic sheet between a thermosetting sheet and a backing material to form a plant leather semi-finished product, wherein the thermosetting sheet comprises a natural rubber material, and the plastic sheet can be a thermoplastic material or a material that is plastic at room temperature, and then heats the plant leather semi-finished product to allow the thermosetting sheet to solidify and shape, and the plastic sheet is softened and hardened by heat. Before solidification, an embossing mold is used to apply pressure to the surface of the semi-finished plant leather product, causing the thermosetting sheet to be affected by the deformation of the plastic sheet to form a corresponding pattern, and then cooling to obtain a plant leather with a predetermined pattern on the surface, or the semi-finished plant leather product is first cooled and cooled to obtain the plant leather, and then pressure is applied to the surface of the plant leather to cause the thermosetting sheet to be affected by the deformation of the plastic sheet to form a corresponding pattern.

Description

Plant leather embossing method

The present invention is related to plant leather, and more specifically, refers to a method for embossing plant leather.

According to the concept that natural leather violates animal conservation, it is known that artificial leather (or synthetic leather/artificial leather) has a high degree of commercial application. Artificial leather is mostly based on non-woven fabrics, and a layer of plastic materials such as polyurethane PU and polyvinyl chloride PVC are attached to the surface of the base with adhesives, or resin is wrapped around special non-woven fabrics. The surface is also treated with multiple surface treatment steps such as trimming and processing (such as printing, embossing, roller coating, spraying, polishing, kneading, hot stamping, laminating, flocking, coating, etc.) to produce natural wrinkles on the resin layer, thereby improving the degree of simulation of natural leather and the quality of the product.

Secondly, based on the need for environmental protection, some companies have begun to develop plant leather in recent years. Generally, plant fibers are added to rubber and plastic raw materials. Its surface still needs to go through surface treatment steps such as embossing, spraying and printing of artificial leather to simulate natural leather.

In other words, it is known that the texture on the surface of plant leather is formed by directly applying pressure using an embossing mold. Although this method of directly applying pressure on the surface to form the texture is effective, the texture formed by applying pressure on the surface is inevitably clearer and appears slightly stiff and unnatural.

Therefore, based on many years of experience in leather research and development, the inventor has developed this "vegetable leather embossing method" invention, which can solve the shortcomings of conventional plant leather surface texture being relatively stiff and unnatural.

The main purpose of the present invention is to provide a plant leather embossing method, which can not only produce plant leather, but also use an indirect method to make the formed texture more natural than the texture produced by directly embossing the surface of conventional artificial leather, and has practical value.

Therefore, in order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the present invention provides a plant leather embossing method, which at least includes the following steps: sandwiching a plastic sheet: attaching a plastic sheet between a thermosetting sheet and a backing material to form a plant leather semi-finished product, wherein the thermosetting sheet comprises a natural rubber material; heating: heating the plant leather semi-finished product to allow the thermosetting sheet to be cured and shaped, and the plastic sheet to be softened by heat; indirect embossing: applying pressure to the surface of the plant leather semi-finished product with an embossing mold, causing the thermosetting sheet to be affected by the deformation of the plastic sheet to form a corresponding pattern; cooling: after cooling, the plant leather with a predetermined pattern on the surface can be obtained.

In addition, the present invention also provides a plant leather embossing method, which at least includes the following steps: sandwiching a plastic sheet: attaching a plastic sheet between a thermosetting sheet and a backing material to form a plant leather semi-finished product, wherein the thermosetting sheet comprises a natural rubber material; heating: heating the plant leather semi-finished product to allow the thermosetting sheet to be cured and shaped, while the plastic sheet is not cured; cooling: cooling the plant leather semi-finished product to obtain plant leather; indirect embossing: applying pressure to the surface of the plant leather to cause the thermosetting sheet to be affected by the deformation of the plastic sheet to form corresponding patterns.

Preferably, the plastic sheet is a thermoplastic material.

Preferably, the plastic sheet is made of natural rubber, and the heating step is to make the plastic sheet not fully mature or have poor physical properties.

Preferably, the plastic sheet is a material that is plastic at room temperature.

Preferably, the plastic sheet is further mixed with 20% of thermosetting material, and the thermosetting sheet is further mixed with 20% of thermoplastic material, so that the plastic sheet and the thermosetting sheet can be easily bonded after being heated.

Preferably, the additives in the material of the plastic sheet are reduced so that the plastic sheet cannot be fully matured.

Preferably, in the heating step, the heating time is shortened so that the plastic sheet cannot be fully matured.

Preferably, an excessive amount of softener is added to the material of the plastic sheet to make the physical properties of the plastic sheet poor.

Preferably, the plastic sheet is a soft material containing clay and oil, and the curing temperature of the plastic sheet is higher than the curing temperature of the thermosetting sheet.

100: Plant leather embossing method

110: Clamping plastic sheet

120: Heating

130: Indirect embossing

140: Cool down

1: Plastic sheet

2: Thermosetting sheet

3: Backing material

4: Vegetable leather semi-finished products

200: Plant leather embossing method

210: Clamping plastic sheet

220: Heating

The first figure is a flow chart of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

The second figure is a schematic diagram of a semi-finished plant leather product in a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

The third figure is a flow chart of another preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Below, two preferred embodiments of the present invention are cited and further described in detail with reference to the drawings:

First, please refer to the first and second figures, a preferred embodiment of the present invention of the plant leather embossing method 100, the first step is to sandwich a plastic sheet 110: a plastic sheet 1 is attached between a thermosetting sheet 2 and a backing material 3 to form a plant leather semi-finished product 4. The plastic sheet 1 is made of thermoplastic material, such as textiles, non-woven fabrics, TPE, EVA or PE and other plastics, polymer materials, but not limited to, the thermosetting sheet 2 is natural rubber (NR) and added with crosslinking agents (such as sulfur), foaming agents, promoters and bridge agents and other known additives, the backing material 3 can be non-woven fabrics or natural rubber and other materials, but not limited to. Furthermore, the plastic sheet 1 is further mixed with 20% of thermosetting material (i.e. natural rubber, a constituent material of the thermosetting sheet 2), and the thermosetting sheet 2 is further mixed with 20% of thermoplastic material (i.e. thermoplastic material, a constituent material of the plastic sheet 1), so that the plastic sheet 1 and the thermosetting sheet 2 are easily bonded when heated later by mixing some of each other's materials.

The second step of the present invention is heating 120: the semi-finished plant leather product 4 is input into a known oven or other heating device to be heated at a predetermined temperature so that the thermosetting sheet 2 can be cured and shaped, and the plastic sheet 1 is softened by heat. The predetermined temperature is about 150 to 160 degrees Celsius (i.e., the appropriate vulcanization temperature of natural rubber), which can soften or melt the plastic sheet 1.

The third step of the present invention is indirect embossing 130: an embossing mold (not shown) is used to press the surface of the semi-finished plant leather product 4 (on the thermosetting sheet 2), so that the plastic sheet 1 is simultaneously pressed to form a predetermined pattern, and the thermosetting sheet 2 is affected by the deformation of the plastic sheet 1 to form a corresponding pattern. The embossing mold can be a roller embossing mold (continuous production) or a flat plate embossing mold (continuous production).

The final step of the present invention is cooling 140: after cooling, the plastic sheet 1 can be hardened, thereby obtaining a plant leather with a predetermined pattern on the surface.

Thus, the thermosetting sheet 2 on the surface of the plant leather is made of natural rubber, which is the sap (latex) of the oak tree. Therefore, the leather prepared by the method of the present invention is plant leather. Secondly, the plant leather embossing method 100 of the present invention utilizes the plastic sheet 1 located in the middle layer to deform under pressure when softened, and indirectly promotes the thermosetting sheet 2 bonded to the surface to form a pattern corresponding to the deformation of the plastic sheet 1. Different from the known method of directly applying pressure on the surface of artificial leather to form a pattern, the pattern generation method is very novel, and the pattern indirectly generated by the thermosetting sheet 2 is more natural.

In addition, the plastic sheet 1 can also be made of natural rubber material (in this case, the plastic sheet 1 does not need to be mixed with 20% of thermosetting material, and the thermosetting sheet 2 does not need to be mixed with 20% of thermoplastic material), which can make the plant leather produced have a higher plant component. In addition, the step of heating 120 is to make the plastic sheet 1 not fully mature or have poor physical properties, so as to facilitate the formation of textures under pressure. The method is as follows: First, the content of additives in the material of the plastic sheet 1 can be reduced, such as reducing the content of crosslinking agent (sulfur), accelerator or/and bridge agent (compared to the normal content of bridge agent that can be solidified after natural rubber vulcanization and maturation), so that the plastic sheet 1 can only reach a semi-mature state or cannot be fully matured after heating.

Secondly, the heating time can be shortened in the heating step 120 (compared to the normal vulcanization and aging time of natural rubber) so that the plastic sheet 1 cannot be fully matured.

Furthermore, an excessive amount of softener may be added to the plastic sheet 1 material to make the plastic sheet 1 have poor physical properties (softer) after being heated.

Accordingly, it is beneficial for the plastic sheet 1 to be easily pressed to form a texture, so that the thermosetting sheet 2 forms a corresponding texture.

As shown in the third figure, it is a plant leather embossing method 200 of another preferred embodiment of the present invention, which is different from the plant leather embossing method 100 in that: first, the plastic sheet 1 is a material with a curing temperature higher than the curing temperature of the thermosetting sheet 2, or a material that is plastic at room temperature, such as a soft material containing clay and oil (such as clay resin, etc.), but not limited. Secondly, after the step 210 of clamping the plastic sheet in the plant leather embossing method 200, the step 220 of heating is first performed to make the thermosetting sheet 2 solidify and shape, while the plastic sheet 1 is not solidified. Then, the plant leather semi-finished product 4 is cooled and cooled through the step 140 to obtain the plant leather. Finally, through the step 130 of indirect embossing, pressure is applied to the surface of the plant leather, so that the thermosetting sheet 2 is affected by the deformation of the plastic sheet 1 to form a corresponding pattern.

In other words, the cooling 230 and indirect embossing 240 steps of the plant leather embossing method 200 are different from the aforementioned method in order, mainly because the plastic sheet 1 is a material that is plastic at room temperature, and can be used to prepare the plant leather first, and then the user can press the plant leather with hands or other objects at will and at any time to change the pattern of the pattern. The feature of freely changing the pattern shape can make the plant leather produce fun like a toy when used.

Secondly, the plastic sheet 1 can be added with other powders such as mineral powder or plant powder to adjust the hardness of the plastic sheet 1, so as to facilitate the shaping of the texture in the indirect embossing step 240. For example, when the hardness of the plastic sheet 1 increases, the texture generated by the deformation of the plastic sheet 1 is more likely to promote the thermosetting sheet 2 to be affected and shaped.

In addition, in order to enhance the effect of the plastic sheet 1 deforming under pressure and promoting the thermosetting sheet 2 to form a pattern, the pattern depth of the embossing mold can be increased, or the thickness of the thermosetting sheet 2 can be reduced, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

In summary, the plant leather embossing method provided by the present invention includes the steps of sandwiching a plastic sheet between the thermosetting sheet and the backing material, heating and indirect embossing, and using a thermoplastic material, a material that is plastic at room temperature, or an incompletely matured natural rubber material as the plastic sheet, thereby adjusting the order of the heating and indirect embossing steps, and not only can the plant leather be made Plant leather can be made, and the deformation of the plastic sheet when embossed can be used to cause the thermosetting sheet to be affected and indirectly form corresponding patterns. The patterns on the surface of the plant leather are more natural than the patterns produced by directly embossing the surface of the conventional artificial leather, and are of great practical value. Therefore, the present invention does meet the requirements of invention patents, and an application is filed in accordance with the law.

The above are only some preferred embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention. Anyone with common knowledge in the relevant technical field may make some modifications, changes and embellishments without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention shall be subject to the scope of the attached patent application.

100: Plant leather embossing method

110: Clamping plastic sheet

120: Heating

130: Indirect embossing

140: Cool down

Claims (10)

A plant leather embossing method includes at least the following steps: sandwiching a plastic sheet: attaching a plastic sheet between a thermosetting sheet and a backing material to form a plant leather semi-finished product, wherein the thermosetting sheet comprises a natural rubber material; heating: heating the plant leather semi-finished product to allow the thermosetting sheet to solidify and shape, while the plastic sheet softens under the heat; indirect embossing: applying pressure to the surface of the plant leather semi-finished product with an embossing mold to cause the thermosetting sheet to be affected by the deformation of the plastic sheet to form a corresponding pattern; and cooling: after cooling, the plant leather with a predetermined pattern on the surface can be obtained. A plant leather embossing method includes at least the following steps: sandwiching a plastic sheet: attaching a plastic sheet between a thermosetting sheet and a backing material to form a plant leather semi-finished product, wherein the thermosetting sheet comprises a natural rubber material; heating: heating the plant leather semi-finished product to allow the thermosetting sheet to be cured and shaped, while the plastic sheet remains uncured; cooling: cooling the plant leather semi-finished product to obtain plant leather; and indirect embossing: applying pressure to the surface of the plant leather to cause the thermosetting sheet to be affected by the deformation of the plastic sheet to form a corresponding pattern, and the pattern pattern of the pressure can be changed at will. The plant leather embossing method as described in claim 1, wherein the plastic sheet is a thermoplastic material. The plant leather embossing method as described in claim 1, wherein the plastic sheet is made of natural rubber material, and the heating step is to make the plastic sheet not fully mature or have poor physical properties. The plant leather embossing method as described in claim 2, wherein the plastic sheet is a material that is plastic at room temperature. The plant leather embossing method as described in claim 3, wherein the plastic sheet is further mixed with 20% of thermosetting material, and the thermosetting sheet is further mixed with 20% of thermoplastic material, so that the plastic sheet and the thermosetting sheet are easily bonded after being heated. The plant leather embossing method as described in claim 4, wherein the additives in the material of the plastic sheet are reduced so that the plastic sheet cannot be fully matured. The plant leather embossing method as described in claim 4, wherein the heating step shortens the heating time so that the plastic sheet cannot be fully matured. The plant leather embossing method as described in claim 4, wherein an excessive amount of softener is added to the material of the plastic sheet, making the physical properties of the plastic sheet poor. The plant leather embossing method as described in claim 5, wherein the plastic sheet is a soft material containing clay and oil, and the curing temperature of the plastic sheet is higher than the curing temperature of the thermosetting sheet.

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