Water-Repellent and Self-Cleaning Leather
OwnerRupert Saumweberinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
By buffing at least one surface of a leather which has been rendered hydrophobic in cross section, a surface which reduces superhydrophobic and self-cleaning properties of the leather (Lotus-Effekt®) is generated. This leather is particularly suitable for shoes and textiles, but also other commodities.
Claims14
Completely finished leather, of which at least 10% of the cross section from the surface has been rendered hydrophobic, and at least this surface (a) forms a first microstructure on the network of collagen fibres which have hydrophobic collagen fibres and hydrophobic bundles of elementary fibres of collagen which project to different extents a small distance out of the plane of the surface, on which is superposed (b) a second microstructure of finer, hydrophobic fibres which are present as bunches of elementary fibres, as bunches of elementary fibres bundles and as fibrils at the end of the collagen fibres and as bundles of elementary fibres, individual elementary fibres and fibrils on the collagen fibres of the network.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.