Leather-containing laminate

Abstract

A flexible laminate, wherein a substrate of leather carries a coating which enhances the appearance and/or the quality of the substrate, is formed between an anvil and a ram in a press. The coating has an inner layer which overlies and fills or nearly fills scratches and/or other unevennesses in one side of the substrate, and an outer layer which overlies the inner layer can be made of a plastic material. The outer layer is first applied to a flexible plastic or paper carrier, and the inner layer is sprayed or otherwise applied to the outer layer before the resulting coating is introduced into or conveyed through the clearance between the anvil and the ram. The exposed surface of the outer layer can be smooth or it can be profiled to imitate the grain of a particular type of leather, such as ostrich leather or alligator leather. The inner layer is bonded to the substrate in response to the application of heat and/or pressure, and its thickness is selected in such a way that it can fill major or minor unevennesses in the adjacent side of the substrate.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.