PLASTIC PERMEATED POROUS SUBSTRATE BASED PRODUCT

PRODUIT CONSTITUE D'UN SUPPORT POREUX TRAVERSE PAR UNE MATIERE PLASTIQUE

English Abstract

A film-type product is produced in that a sublimable
disperse dye (12) and also a plastic, especially a
polyolefin (14), are applied to a porous substrate (10) and
the plastic or polyolefin seeps into the porous substrate
as a result of the effect of heat and the disperse dye is
diffused.

French Abstract

Selon l'invention, on réalise un produit sous forme de film en appliquant sur un support (10) poreux une peinture dispersion (12) pouvant être sublimée et une matière plastique, en particulier une polyoléfine (14), une infiltration de la matière plastique ou de la polyoléfine dans le support poreux et une diffusion de la peinture dispersion étant obtenues par effet de chaleur.

Claims

6
THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. A process for the production of a film product
comprising the following steps:
applying a sublimable dispersion dye to a porous
substrate;
applying a polyolefin to the porous substrate and the
dispersion dye;
heating the substrate, the dye and the polyolefin to
220°C to 280°C so that the polyolefin penetrates into the
porous substrate homogeneously and diffuses the dispersion
dye.
2. The process according to claim 1, wherein the porous
substrate is paper.
3. The process according to claim 2, wherein the
polyolefin is applied to the paper by means of heated
cylinders.
4. The process according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
wherein 50 g/m2 to 500 g/m2 polyolefin is applied to the
porous substrate.
5. The process according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
comprising the further step of;
post-crosslinking the polyolefin, after the polyolefin
has penetrated into the porous substrate and the dye has
diffused.
6. The process according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
comprising the further steps of:

7
applying a lacquer film to the polyolefin-permeated
substrate; and
curing said lacquer film.

Description

CA 02314183 2000-06-09
EP-81 425/PCT
Plastic permeated porous substrate based product
The invention relates to a process for the production of a
film-type product consisting of a porous substrate material
into which plastic, especially polyolefin, has penetrated
homogeneously.
The introduction of plastic into a porous substrate
material is known from DE-OS 16 19 190. The substrate
material in this case is preferably leather, but it can
also be a fabric. As a result of the plastic having
penetrated it, the substrate material is stiffened so that
it can be used, for example, as shoe reinforcing material
(such as toe-caps).
From EP 678 619 Al a plastic web and a process for the
production thereof is known, in which porous agglomerates
of at least one hydrophobic thermoplastic powder are
mechanically anchored in a substrate material and/or fixed
thereto. The substrate material is preferably porous and
consists of plastic and/glass fibres. Owing to the porosity
of the plastic and substrate material, the plastic web has
high water vapour permeability, but on the other hand it
can be welded under field conditions.
The invention is based on the object of providing a product
which is suitable for easy application, especially bonding,
like a film to all kinds of substrates, e.g. wood. It
should also be possible to use the product e.g. as a
w~llcovering or as sheathing for all kinds of products. In
this case, the product should have good adhesion properties
to the substrate. If the article to which the product

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2
according to the invention is to be applied has sharp
edges, it should be possible to round these off by coating
with the film according to the invention. The film
according to the invention should feel pleasant to a human
user (so-called "soft touch"). It should exhibit high
mechanical stability, especially high interlaminar
strength, and should be capable of simple further
processing. The film according to the invention should, in
particular, serve as a substitute for a conventional PVC
film. In addition, the film product according to the
invention should present as small an environmental burden
as possible in its production, processing and optionally
its disposal.
The process according to the invention for the production
of such a film-type product provides the following steps:
- a plastic, especially polyolefin, is applied to a
porous substrate, and
- the plastic or polyolefin penetrates into the porous
substrate homogeneously as a result of the effect of
heat.
The process described above leads to a film product
according to the invention of the simplest type. Lt has
high interlaminar strength and feels pleasant to a human
user; the film has a soft, almost textile-like surface.
In particular, polystyrene, polypropylene and polyethylene
can be used as the polyolefin. These polyolefins become
slightly milky after hardening. According to a preferred
embodiment of the invention, therefore, it is provided that
a sublimable disperse dye is applied to the porous

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3
substrate before applying the polyolefin. When the
polyolefin is then applied to the substrate printed with
dye in this way, the polyolefin penetrates into the porous
substrate under the effect of heat and, at the same time or
S later, the dye diffuses into the polyolefin as a result of
the effect of heat. Overall, a film is formed in which the
porous substrate acts as a "framework" into which the
plastic, e.g. polyolefin, has penetrated homogeneously,
thus filling the porous voids. Such a film can easily be
bonded on to a substrate, e.g. wood, as the porous
substrate (in contrast to polyolefins) is readily bondable.
A paper, especially an 80 g paper, is especially suitable
as the porous substrate.
After the product has been produced as described above, the
polyolefin can be post-cured without the product losing the
advantageous properties described above.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, after
the plastic or polyolefin has penetrated into the porous
substrate, a lacquer film is applied on to at least one
side, preferably an electron-beam-curing lacquer film (EBC
lacquer). The curing of the lacquer film leads to an
overall improvement in the stability and adhesion of the
system components.
Textile-type materials are also suitable as the porous
substrate.
An embodiment of the invention is explained in more detail
below with reference to the drawing.
The single figure shows a diagram of a porous substrate 10,
a disperse dye 12 applied thereto and a polyolefin film 14

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4
applied thereto in a state during the production process of
the product.
The porous substrate 10 is a paper (80 g) in this
embodiment. The paper is porous and liquid-permeable. It is
printed with a sublimable disperse dye. The dye can be
homogeneous or can represent a graphic pattern, i.e. can
contain a decoration using various colours. The paper as
porous substrate 10 can be printed with the dye pattern by
conventional means.
The printed paper is loaded on to a paper coating machine
which is conventional per se and a polyolefin is applied as
the coating compound. Heated cylinders, e.g. at
temperatures of 200°C to 260°C, can be used for this
purpose in the conventional coating machine. The
application of the polyolefin to the printed paper is, to
that extent, an extrusion technique.
Good results are achieved by applying 50 g to 500 g
polyolefin per square metre; the results were optimum at
about 250 g/m2. As a result of the effect of heat, the
polyolefin seeps through the paper and permeates it
homogeneously. At the same time, as a result of the effect
of heat, the disperse dyes diffuse through the polyolefin
in all directions. Temperatures of 220°C to 280°C,-
especially about 260°C, are used for this purpose.
After cooling, a flexible film product with excellent
processing properties, high stability and especially
interlaminar strength is obtained. The polyolefin can
optionally be post-cured. The coloured pattern produced by
printing the paper is not lost during the process described

CA 02314183 2000-06-09
above, i.e. the film product has a coloured decoration
corresponding to the printed paper.
A preferred development of the film product produced as
5 described above is achieved in that a lacquer film is
applied on to one or both sides. An electron beam curing
lacquer (EHC lacquer) is preferably used and cured. As a
result of this, the mechanical properties and also the
processing properties of the film product are substantially
improved.

Representative Drawing