Patent Publication Number: US-2012028059-A1

Title: Composite bonded leather material

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to composite materials and in particular to a bonded leather composite material for interior commercial and residential wall, floor and ceiling applications. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Natural leather floors have been known and used for some time. The raw material supply necessary for manufacturing natural leather floors can be very limited. The manufacture and installation of natural leather floors can also be very specialized and thus also not easily available. 
     One drawback of natural leather floors is that they scuff and mark easily and are therefore extremely difficult to maintain in relation to other known floors such as laminate or hardwood. Further, natural leather floors are one of the most expensive floors on the market. 
     Natural leather floors are therefore restricted to a minute sub-section of the market. Many consumers may not even know that natural leather floors exist. 
     Bonded leather is a product known in the art since at least the early 1900s when it was produced in Europe. It comes from the process of using post-industrial scrap natural leather and grinding it down to fibre state. The fibres are then bonded back together with natural latex and various chemicals to form a bonded leather rolled good. The rolled goods are either sold as is or are coloured or textured to be sold into various original equipment manufacturer applications. The scrap natural leather may come from various tanneries, leather shoe/furniture/giftware/clothing manufacturers as well from the left over leather from the automotive industry. Bonded leather was predominately used in the footwear industry and has recently evolved into the giftware, furniture and clothing industries. Bonded leather has recently been used in various architectural applications and most recently in glue-down site-finished flooring. 
     A limited amount of relatively costly bonded leather flooring has been sold on the market over the past few years. However, these bonded floors has had limited commercial success due to the problems discussed below. 
     The bonded leather flooring was not stable which caused the floor to cup, curl and shrink. It is difficult to find proper adhesives to prevent these issues and to prevent the lifting of the adhered tile to the sub-floor. Further, costly sub-floor preparation is required to make the sub-floor surfaces suitable for bonded leather flooring tile to adhere and not peak around the edges. 
     Hydrostatic pressure found in most concrete sub-floors makes glue down tiles very problematic in that they may blow off the floor. 
     The vast majority of job site failures from current bonded leather flooring come from improper installation. Finding and then paying for the professional installer required is also very difficult to impossible in some areas. Sales can be very restricted due to this fact. 
     Bonded leather floors are only partially finished and must have the final finish applied on site, creating a multitude of problems. Getting an experienced finisher, having the right finish, having it finished properly, having the right site conditions for the finish to cure properly, having the site protected from airborne dust and dirt that can contaminate the finish are just some of the challenges. 
     If a bonded leather floor fails it can be extremely costly to repair and can cause anywhere from two to five time the material cost in liability due to the costly removal or disposal of the faulty material, additional sub-floor preparation required, cost of replacement material, and new installation costs plus a wide variety of additional incidental costs that arise from not being able to utilize the site for upwards of a week. 
     Prefinish technology (i.e. prefinishing floors in the factory or before installation) has been introduced in hardwood flooring over the past three decades. The vast majority of floors sold in the world are prefinished rendering site finish as a niche specialty business. 
     Overall, the sales of bonded leather flooring have been curtailed due to the costs, hassles and high product liability associated with the gluing down and site finishing of bonded leather floors. 
     The expense associated with tying up the site to glue down and then finish the product on site is significant and substantially raise costs. The time required may prevents the product from being specified in the first place. 
     The current bonded leather wall products being sold on the market have the following problems: difficulties installing rolled goods for wall applications; challenges in getting specialized installers and high costs associated with professional installation; stability challenges of the bonded leather that cause it to shrink or peel off the wall; and, difficulties finding proper adhesives to prevent these issues and if found, difficulties to get installers to follow the instructions to install property. 
     There is currently no bonded leather ceiling tile being sold on the market. 
     The invention disclosed herein addresses at least one of the above problems. 
     SUMMARY 
     One aspect of the composite bonded leather flooring application is a composite material, comprising a substrate layer; and a leather layer having a lower surface opposite an upper surface, the lower surface fixed to the substrate layer by an adhesive. 
     The material may be used for wall, ceiling or floor applications. In one aspect the leather layer may have a finish applied to its surface. 
     In another aspect the substrate layer is agglomerated cork (high density, medium to low density or low density). 
     In another aspect the substrate layer is wood fiber (medium to low density or low density). 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In order that the subject matter may be readily understood, embodiments are illustrated by way of examples in the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  shows a cross-section of one embodiment of the composite material showing the multiple layers of the bonded leather with a cork substrate without a finished topcoat; 
         FIG. 2  shows a cross-section of another embodiment of the composite material showing the multiple layers of the bonded leather with a wood fiber substrate without a finished topcoat; 
         FIG. 3  shows a cross-section corresponding to  FIG. 1  but with a factory finish; and 
         FIG. 4  shows a cross-section corresponding to  FIG. 1  but with a finished topcoat. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Disclosed is a composite bonded leather material for interior commercial and residential wall, floor, and ceiling applications. This invention uses pre-colored textured bonded leather as the surface material fused together with a substrate of agglomerated cork or wood fiber. It can be prefinished or site finished depending on end user requirements. Agglomerated cork has the advantage of being a natural insulator for heat and sound. 
       FIG. 1  shows a cross-section of one embodiment of the composite bonded leather material generally indicated by reference  100 . An adhesive  106  binds a cork substrate  102  to a bonded leather layer  104 . The adhesive  106  is preferably water based with no volatile organic compounds. In this embodiment the bonded leather layer  104  is of high density bonded leather in thickness from 0.3 m to 1 mm. 
     The leather layer  104  may have an embossed textured surface  110 , which can be created either via embossing rollers or plates as is known in the art. The textured surface  10  may be painted with a multi-coat system from 1 to 6 coats, with fade resistant, non-toxic coatings. 
     The adhesive  106  may be a non-VOC adhesive for securely bonding the leather  104  to the substrate  102  to prevent any movement or delamination. Special time requirements to stabilize the composite bonded leather material  100  after bonding may be required. 
     The cork substrate  102  may be agglomerated cork. The agglomerated cork  102  may be high density (e.g. for flooring applications), low to medium density (e.g. for wall applications) or low density (e.g. for ceiling applications). 
       FIG. 2  shows a cross-section of another embodiment of the composite bonded leather material generally indicated by reference  200 . An adhesive  206  binds a wood substrate  202  to a bonded leather layer  204 . The wood substrate  202  may be a wood fiber for example. The wood  202  may be a high density wood fiber. Alternatively, the wood  202  may be a low density wood fiber. 
     The wood fiber substrate  202  may be low to medium density (e.g. for wall applications) or low density (e.g. for ceiling applications). 
       FIG. 3  shows a cross-section of another embodiment of the composite bonded leather material generally indicated by reference  300 . An adhesive  306  binds a cork substrate  302  to a bonded leather layer  304 . A finish  308  is applied to the bonded leather layer  304 . 
     The finish  308  may optionally be a nano-technology finish in which 3 to 5 coats of water based wear resistant finish are applied. The cork substrate  302  may be high density agglomerated cork for example. 
       FIG. 4  shows a cross-section of yet another embodiment of the composite bonded leather material generally indicated by reference  400 . An adhesive  406  binds a wood substrate  402  to a bonded leather layer  404 . A finish  408  is applied to the bonded leather layer  404 . The wood substrate  402  may be a wood fiber for example. The wood  402  may be a high density wood fiber. Alternatively, the wood  402  may be a low density wood fiber. 
     The finish  408  may, for example, be a nano-technology finish in which 3 to 5 coats of water based wear resistant finish are applied. The wood fiber substrate  402  may be a low to medium density wood fiber (e.g. for wall applications) or low density wood fiber (e.g. for ceiling applications) 
     The bonded leather layer  104 ,  204 ,  304 ,  404  is preferably between 0.3 mm and 1 mm thick. It can be pre-colored and pre-textured before adhesion to the substrate  102 ,  202 ,  302 ,  402 . 
     The composite bonded leather material  100 ,  200 ,  300 ,  400  may be used as is for wall, floor or ceiling products. Alternatively, the composite bonded leather material can be used as the top layer for an engineered wall, floor or ceiling product. For example, the composite bonded leather material  100 ,  200 ,  300 ,  400  may be installed as a glue down floor or, alternatively, it may be installed as part of a tiled floor. 
     The finish  308 ,  408  may be applied by the homeowner or during manufacture of the composite material  300 ,  400 . 
     The cork substrate  102 ,  302  may be high density cork with a thickness of between 2 mm to 6 mm for a floor application. The cork substrate  102 ,  302  may be a medium to low density for wall applications with a thickness of 2 mm to 8 mm. For ceiling applications, the cork substrate  102 ,  302  may be a low density cork with a thickness of 12 mm to 25 mm. 
     The wood fiber substrate  202 ,  402  may be low density wood fiber for wall applications with a thickness of 6 mm to 25 mm. For ceiling applications the wood fiber substrate may be of low density with a thickness of 14 mm to 25 mm. 
     The composite leather material  100 ,  200 ,  300 ,  400  can be easily installed either as a finished product (e.g. for a wall, ceiling or floor) or as a component product. Further, the composite leather material  100 ,  200 ,  300 ,  400  does not need costly specialized installers or specialized site finishers. The material can be installed by an inexperienced homeowner for example. 
     The bonded leather  104 ,  204 ,  304 ,  404  may be attained in large commercial rolls. The leather  104 ,  204 ,  304 ,  404  can be in a thickness of between 0.3 mm to 1 mm and may be textured and colored at the bonded leather factory for example. 
     The high-density agglomerated cork may be manufactured in large commercial rolls at a cork factory, which a thickness ranging from 2 mm to 8 mm. The low to medium density agglomerated cork (e.g.  102 ,  302 ) may also be manufactured in large commercial sheets at a cork factory ranging from 6 mm to 25 mm thick. The low to medium density wood fiber (e.g.  202 ,  402 ) panels would be made in large sheets at a wood fiber factory in thicknesses ranging from 6 mm to 25 mm. 
     The example composite bonded leather materials provided above may be pressed at different pressure levels and for different timelines based on the densities of the different substrates (as is known in the art). 
     The composite bonded leather material described herein may be stored or sold in sheets in rolls if the material is as thin as 2 mm. Alternatively the bonded leather material may be stored or sold in planks or tiles.