Nubuck-like artificial leather, and method for producing nubuck-like artificial leather

Abstract

Provided is a nubuck-like artificial leather having a moist feel and nap close to those of natural leather, and superior abrasion resistance. A nubuck-like artificial leather 100 is provided with a flexible sheet 100′ including a base material containing tangled fibers 10 to which a resin 20 is added. Voids 30 are formed in the flexible sheet 100′, the voids 30 being surrounded by cross-sections of the fibers 10 as viewed in a cross-section parallel to a thickness direction of the flexible sheet 100′, and the voids being held by the fibers 10 being bonded together by the resin 20. In a region having a unit area of the cross-section of the flexible sheet 100′, a ratio (A/B) of a cross-sectional area (A) of a continuous structure 40 formed by the fibers 10 being bonded together by the resin 20 to a cross-sectional area (B) of the voids is 15/85-90/10.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A nubuck-like artificial leather comprising:
 a flexible sheet including a base material containing tangled fibers, and a resin added to the base material,   
       wherein
 voids are formed in the flexible sheet, the voids being surrounded by cross-sections of the fibers as viewed in a cross-section parallel to a thickness direction of the flexible sheet, and the voids being held by the fibers being bonded together by the resin. 
 
     
     
         2 . The nubuck-like artificial leather according to  claim 1 , wherein
 in a region having a unit area of the cross-section of the flexible sheet, a ratio (AB) of a cross-sectional area (A) of a continuous structure formed by the fibers being bonded together by the resin to a cross-sectional area (B) of the voids is 15/85-90/10.   
     
     
         3 . The nubuck-like artificial leather according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the fibers have a mono-fineness of 0.1-0.7 dtex.   
     
     
         4 . The nubuck-like artificial leather according to  claim 1 , wherein
 a ratio (a/b) of a length (a) to a diameter (b) of each of the fibers is 2-1700.   
     
     
         5 . The nubuck-like artificial leather according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the resin is at least one selected from the group consisting of polyurethane resins, silicone resins, and acrylic resins.   
     
     
         6 . The nubuck-like artificial leather according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the voids are present in a region of the flexible sheet extending from a front surface of the flexible sheet toward a back surface of the flexible sheet, the region ranging from a 0-15% region to a 0-40% region, where a position of the front surface of the flexible sheet is 0%, and a position of the back surface of the flexible sheet is 100%.   
     
     
         7 . The nubuck-like artificial leather according to  claim 1 , wherein
 a front surface of the nubuck-like artificial leather has a surface roughness of 0.2-1.55 μm.   
     
     
         8 . A nubuck-like artificial leather production method, comprising:
 an impregnation step of impregnating a base material containing tangled fibers and having a weight of 150-1000 g/m 2 , with 15-40 wt % of a resin with respect to the weight of the base material in terms of solid content; and   a drying step of drying the base material impregnated with the resin at 80-150° C. for 50-1200 sec.   
     
     
         9 . The nubuck-like artificial leather production method according to  claim 8 , further comprising:
 a finishing step of, after the drying step, finishing the base material impregnated with the resin.   
     
     
         10 . The nubuck-like artificial leather production method according to  claim 8 , wherein
 the drying step is carried out by dry-heat drying or moist-heat drying.