Composite nap sheet and process for preparing the same

Claim 2

A composite sheet comprising a base portion having a plurality of naps embedded therein and having portions extending therefrom, a plurality of said naps comprising root portions connected to said embedded portions and extending from and free of said base portion and having tip portions extending from said root portion, a plurality of said naps comprising bundles of fine fibers bound at said root portions by a hardened adhesive organic compound, said base portion having an elastomer positioned among the embedded portions of said naps adjacent said root portions, the adherence between said fibers and said hardened organic compound being greater than the adherence between said hardened organic compound and said elastomer, a plurality of the fibers of said root portions being bound to one another by said hardened, adhesive organic compound, said plurality of root portions being substantially free of said elastomer, and a plurality of tip portions having slender or branched ends.

Claim 3

The composite sheet in accordance with claim 1 wherein a greater part of said fabric is of superfine fibers of less than 0.7 denier.

Claim 4

The composite sheet in accordance with claim 1 wherein said fiber constituting said fabric is polyester.

Claim 5

The composite sheet in accordance with claim 1 wherein said hardened high molecular weight organic compound is a hardened high molecular weight organosilicone compound.

Claim 6

The composite sheet in accordance with claim 4 wherein said hardened high molecular weight organosilicone compound is silicone rubber.

Claim 7

The composite sheet in accordance with claim 1, wherein said elastomer is polyurethane.

Claim 8

The composite sheet in accordance with claim 1, wherein said fabric is a non-woven fabric.

Claim 9

The composite sheet in accordance with claim 1, wherein said hardened high molecular weight organic compound and said elastomer comprise a total of 15 to 70 parts by weight based on the base portion of said composite sheet as a whole being 100 parts by weight.

Claim 10

The composite sheet in accordance with claim 8, wherein 0.5 to 50 parts by weight of said hardened high molecular weight organic compound are contained per 100 parts by weight of the elastomer.

Claim 11

The composite sheet in accordance with claim 9, wherein 0.5 to 20 parts by weight of said hardened high molecular weight organic compound are contained per 100 parts by weight of said high molecular weight elastomer.

Claim 12

The composite sheet of claim 1, wherein a plurality of said tip portions include at least some individually separate fibers.

Claim 13

A composite sheet comprising bundles of fine fibers of the polyester series bound with silicone rubber and polyurethane forming a base positioned among and adjacent said bundles, and from which said bundles extend free of said polyurethane, a greater part of said fine fibers being of less than 0.7 denier, wherein the adherence between the fibers and the silicone rubber is greater than the adherence between the silicone rubber and the polyurethane, the surface of said sheet including a plurality of naps of said bundles, a plurality of said naps having slender or branched ends.

Claim 14

A composite sheet comprising bundles of fine fibers of the polyester series bound with silicone rubber and polyurethane forming a base positioned among and adjacent said bundles, and from which said bundles extend free of said polyurethane, a greater part of said fine fibers being of less than 0.7 denier, wherein the adherence between the fibers and the silicone rubber is greater than the adherence between the silicone rubber and the polyurethane, the surface of said sheet including a plurality of naps of said bundles, a plurality of said naps having slender or branched ends.

Claim 15

A process for preparing a composite sheet comprising a base portion having a plurality of naps extending therefrom, a plurality of said naps comprising root portions connected to said base portion and having tip portions extending from said root portions, said root portions comprising bundles of fine fibers bound with a hardened organic compound and said base portion having an elastomer positioned among and adjacent said bundles, said tip portions comprising slender or branched fine fibers, wherein the adherence between the fibers and the hardened organic compound is greater than the adherence between the hardened organic compound and the elastomer, impregnating said hardenable organic compound into a sheet which is mainly composed of bundles of separable fine fibers, impregnating said sheet with said elastomer and buffing and/or raising said sheet to form said naps of said fiber bundles into slender or branched ends at least some of which comprise separated fine fibers, a plurality of said root portions being substantially free of said elastomer.

Claim 16

A process for preparing a composite sheet comprising a base portion having a plurality of naps extending therefrom, a plurality of said naps comprising root portions connected to said base portion and having tip portions extending from said root portions, said root portions comprising bundles of fine fibers bound with a hardened organic compound and said base portion having an elastomer positioned among and adjacent said bundles, said tip portions comprising slender or branched fine fibers, wherein the adherence between the fibers and the hardened organic compound is greater than the adherence between the hardened organic compound and the elastomer, impregnating said hardenable organic compound into a sheet which is mainly composed of bundles of separable fine fibers, impregnating said sheet with said elastomer and buffing and/or raising said sheet to form said naps of said fiber bundles into slender or branched ends at least some of which comprise separated fine fibers, a plurality of said root portions being substantially free of said elastomer.

Claim 17

The process for preparing a composite sheet in accordance with claim 13, wherein said fabric is composed mainly of bundles of superfine fibers of less than 0.7 denier.

Claim 18

The process for preparing a composite sheet in accordance with claim 14, wherein each of said bundles of superfine fibers is obtained by removing from an "islands-in-a-sea" type multi-component fiber, the sea component.

Claim 19

The process for preparing a composite sheet in accordance with claim 15, wherein the island component of said "islands-in-a-sea" type multi-component fiber is a polymer of polyester or of the polyesterether series and the sea component of said fiber is a polymer of the polystyrene series.

Claim 20

The process for preparing a composite sheet in accordance with claim 13, wherein said hardenable high molecular weight organic compound is a hardenable polyorganosilicone compound.

Claim 21

The process for preparing a composite sheet in accordance with claim 17, wherein said hardenable polyorganosilicone compound is silicone rubber forming polyorganosiloxane.

Claim 22

The process for preparing a composite sheet in accordance with claim 13 wherein said elastomer is polyurethane.

Claim 23

The process for preparing a composite sheet in accordance with claim 13, wherein said fabric is a non-woven fabric.

Claim 24

The process in accordance with claim 13, wherein said separable fibers are fibrillated by dynamically strong rubbing.

Claim 25

In a process for preparing a composite sheet having a base portion having a plurality of naps extending therefrom, a plurality of said naps comprising root portions connected to said base portion and having tip portions extending from said root portions, which process comprises the steps of: forming a web using a greater part of a multicomponent fiber which is separable and can become a bundle of superfine fibers; tangling said web to obtain a non-woven fabric; maintaining said separable fibers as coherent bundles; unbinding said fibers while maintaining said fibers as bundles; impregnating said fabric with polyorganosiloxane; hardening said polyorganosiloxane to form silicone rubber thereby adhering said fibers to one another; impregnating said fabric with polyurethane; the adherence between the fibers and the silicone rubber being greater than the adherence between the silicone rubber and the polyurethane; and buffing and/or raising at least one surface of the resulting sheet to form said tip portions having slender or branched ends, at least a plurality of said root portions being substantially free of polyurethane but bound with said silicone rubber, said base including silicone rubber bound bundles with polyurethane positioned among said bundles.

Claim 26

In a process for preparing a composite sheet having a base portion having a plurality of naps extending therefrom, a plurality of said naps comprising root portions connected to said base portion and having tip portions extending from said root portions, which process comprises the steps of: forming a web using a greater part of a multicomponent fiber which is separable and can become a bundle of superfine fibers; tangling said web to obtain a non-woven fabric; maintaining said separable fibers as coherent bundles; unbinding said fibers while maintaining said fibers as bundles; impregnating said fabric with polyorganosiloxane; hardening said polyorganosiloxane to form silicone rubber thereby adhering said fibers to one another; impregnating said fabric with polyurethane; the adherence between the fibers and the silicone rubber being greater than the adherence between the silicone rubber and the polyurethane; and buffing and/or raising at least one surface of the resulting sheet to form said tip portions having slender or branched ends, at least a plurality of said root portions being substantially free of polyurethane but bound with said silicone rubber, said base including silicone rubber bound bundles with polyurethane positioned among said bundles.

Claim 27

The process defined in claim 22, wherein said step of buffing and/or raising includes the step of separating a plurality of fibers from one another in said tip portions.

Claim 28

The process defined in claim 23 wherein said buffing and/or raising step comprises removing substantially all of said elastomer from said slender or branched ends of the fiber bundle.