Process for the production of artificial leather having a crepe pattern

Claim 1

A process for the production of artificial leather having a crepe pattern comprising: preparing a woven fabric base cloth material which is composed of highly heat shrinkable yarn and less heat shrinkable yarn, said highly heat shrinkable yarn being interwoven with said less heat shrinkable yarn in a predetermined woven pattern, said highly heat shrinkable yarn having a heat shrinkage rate of at least 10 percent at a temperature within the range at 80° to 230°C. and the difference in the heat shrinkage rate between said highly heat shrinkble yarn and said less heat shrinkable yarn being at least 5 percent within the aforesaid temperature range, forming a synthetic resin film layer having a thickness within the range of 10 to 150 microns directly on and integral with the surface of said woven fabric base cloth material to obtain an artificial leather material having a smooth synthetic resin surface, and subjecting said artificial leather material to a heat treatment to thereby form a predetermined crepe pattern on said synthetic resin film layer due to the heat shrinkage difference between said highly heat shrinkable yarn and said less heat shrinkable yarn of said woven fabric base cloth material, said crepe pattern corresponding identically to said predetermined woven pattern in said base cloth material.