Composite sheet for artificial leather

An improved composite sheet comprising a fabric which is treated with an elastomeric resin,

• the composite sheet having a total thickness in the range of 0.5 to 3.0 millimeters, a unit weight in the range of 200 to 1000 g/m.sup.2 and a void content in the range of 60 to 90%,
• the fabric having a longitudinal direction, a transverse direction, an upper outer layer, a lower outer layer and a stitched, knitted or woven planar network of yarns located between and parallel to the upper and lower outer layers,
• the planar network of yarns containing a multiplicity of tie points and having a thickness in the range of one-tenth to one-third of the total thickness of the fabric, and
• at least the upper or the lower outer layer having a thickness in the range of 0.5 to 2.0 mm, containing an elastomeric resin and comprising fibers of 0.5 to 5 decitex that are substantially separated from each other and form loops that pass back and forth through the planar network of yarns, the improvement comprising, in combination,
• the composite sheet having an over-all density of in the range of 0.2 to 0.45 g/cm.sup.3,
• the fabric having a tie point concentration in the range of 25 to 400 tie points per cm.sup.2, with a tie point frequency of no more than 25 per cm in each of the longitudinal and transverse directions,
• the resin-containing outer layer having an effective fiber concentration in the range of 0.03 to 0.25 g/cm.sup.3, an average density in the range of 0.15 to 0.35 g/cm.sup.3 and a layer parameter P of no greater than 0.25 g/cm.sup.3, and
• the elastomeric resin being a polyurethane resin having a break elongation of at least 125%, a Shore A hardness of no greater than 70 and substantially immediate recovery to its original length after release from a stretch of 100%.