Biodegradable Cork Fabric

Abstract

The present invention relates to a fabric comprising three superimposed layers, wherein the first layer is a textile, the second layer is an adhesive and the third layer comprises cork, the fabric being characterised in that the adhesive is a biodegradable water-based adhesive containing at least one polymer. The invention further relates to the method for obtaining said fabric, to the use thereof in the production of objects, as well as to said objects as such.

Claims

1. A fabric comprising three superposed layers, wherein the first layer is a textile, the second layer is an adhesive and the third layer comprises cork, wherein the adhesive is a biodegradable aqueous-based adhesive comprising at least one polymer.

2. The fabric as claimed in claim 1, wherein the textile comprises at least one of the textiles chosen from the list consisting of polyamide, polyester, polyethylene, polypropylene or other synthetic fibers, regenerated fibers, natural fibers including any one of cotton, flax, hemp and kapok, sheep's or goat's wool and combinations thereof.

3. The fabric as claimed in claim 1, wherein the adhesive comprises at least two constituents in addition to water.

4. The fabric as claimed in claim 1, wherein the adhesive comprises a vinyl acetate copolymer and/or an aliphatic polyurethane polymer.

5. The fabric as claimed in claim 1, wherein the third layer comprising cork has a thickness of between 0.05 mm and 1.5 mm.

6. The fabric as claimed in claim 1, wherein the textile layer has a mass per unit area of between 200 g/m2 and 1000 g/m2.

7. The fabric as claimed in claim 1, wherein the grain size of the cork is less than or equal to 1000 micrometers.

8. A process for manufacturing a fabric as claimed in claim 1, wherein said method comprises the following successive steps: (a) a biodegradable aqueous adhesive is applied to the textile; (b) a layer of cork is placed over the adhesive of step (a); (c) the assembly obtained in step (b) is optionally pressed and/or heated; and (d) the fabric is recovered.

9. The process as claimed in claim 8, wherein said method comprises a step (e) of sanding the third layer comprising cork.

10. The fabric as claimed in claim 1, said fabric being for any one of a garment, a utensil, a handbag, a shoe or a wallet, or as a covering for an object, an item of furniture, parts of passenger compartments of cars, headboards or walls.

11. The fabric as claimed in claim 2, wherein the regenerated fibers are viscose and the natural natural fibers includes at least flax.

12. The fabric as claimed in claim 5, wherein the third layer comprising cork has a thickness of between 0.1 mm and 0.9 mm.

13. The fabric as claimed in claim 6, wherein the textile layer has a mass per unit area of about 690 g/m2 and 1000 g/m2 in the case of flax.

14. The fabric as claimed in claim 7, wherein the grain size of the cork is less than or equal to 800 micrometers.

15. A process for manufacturing a fabric as claimed in claim 8, wherein in step (c) the assembly obtained in step (b) is optionally pressed and/or heated at 40° C.; and (d) the fabric is recovered.

16. The process as claimed in claim 9, wherein said method comprises a step (e) of sanding the third layer comprising cork after step (b) and/or (c).

Description

FIGURES

[0113] Embodiments of the present invention shall be described hereinafter by way of nonlimiting examples, with reference to the appended figures in which:

[0114] FIG. 1 represents a cross-sectional view of a fabric according to the present invention. The figure shows a layer 1 of textile, a second adhesive layer 2 and a third layer 3 comprising or consisting of cork.

[0115] FIG. 2 represents an exploded three-dimensional view of a fabric according to the present invention. The figure shows a layer 1 of textile, a second adhesive layer 2 and a third layer 3 comprising or consisting of cork.

[0116] FIG. 3 is divided into FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B, which each represent a photograph of the fabric according to the example below in which can be observed the general homogeneity of the appearance of the two faces obtained (FIG. 3A), as well as the textures of the fabric on closer inspection (FIG. 3B).

EXAMPLES

[0117] The cork bark was harvested from trees in Portugal, between May and July 2019, with an mean harvest time from each tree of around 9 years since the last harvest.

[0118] The bark thus harvested was pre-cut into squares and put into pallets (typically into pallets of between 600 and 800 kg each). These pallets were boiled in water at 100° C. for about 1 hour. This boiling process makes it possible to ensure the destruction of insects and fungi that may be present in the bark collected.

[0119] The cork thus obtained after being boiled was left to dry for about 6 months (in Portugal).

[0120] The cork is then sliced in its thickness (i.e. laminated) into thick slices of about 0.5 cm to 3 cm depending on the ease of cutting. Typically, a square of cork thus makes it possible to extract 3 thick layers of about 1 cm each.

[0121] The best layers were then selected. This selection consists in choosing the layer or layers of best quality, according to the desired color and grain of the cork layers. Typically, these are the “core” layers of the bark, for example the intermediate layer when 3 layers have been produced.

[0122] The best layers thus selected were subjected to fine slicing in which they were cut into slices with a thickness of about 0.3-0.5 mm.

[0123] A layer of biodegradable aqueous-based adhesive (i.e. an aqueous adhesive, comprising biodegradable polymers) of the Pattex Bois Classic® brand (vinyl glue/adhesive based on polyvinyl acetate in aqueous dispersion, in accordance with the teaching of EP2326692), was applied to a layer of flax (woven, undyed, with a density of 690 g/m.sup.2) with a brush (thus a layer of less than about 2 mm, or even less than 1 mm).

[0124] The cork layer was applied to the adhesive layer previously deposited on the flax layer.

[0125] The multilayer thus formed was then heated to a temperature of 45° C. for 4 minutes and at the same time subjected to a pressure of 4 bar by means of a press.

[0126] The resulting product was then sanded twice by hand using abrasive paper, which reduced the thickness by about 0.1 mm to 0.2 mm. The multilayer fabric obtained had a final thickness of about 0.3 mm.

[0127] The same process was recently applied with an aqueous-based adhesive comprising less than 20% by mass of aliphatic polyurethane and between 40% and 50% by mass of polyvinyl acetate relative to the total mass of adhesive, with good results.

[0128] Of course, the present invention is not limited solely to the embodiments described above by way of nonlimiting examples, but encompasses all similar or equivalent embodiments.