Leather and Footwear Journal

Volume 6, no 4

New Process and Plant for the Preparation of Dynamically Crosslinked Polymer Composite Materials
- Florica IONESCU
  - INCDTP Division Leather and Footwear Research Institute (ICPI), Bucarest, RO, icpi@icpi.ro
  ABSTRACT. Dynamically cross linked polymer composite materials are thermoplastic elastomers showing morphology of cross linked rubber micro particles spread within the polyolefin matrix. Process for the preparation of these polymer materials consists in compounding the elastomer with a plastomer, while adding cross linking agents, fillers, plasticizers, activators, etc, in a 2-3 screwed extruder-granulator. Operating conditions provides for plastomer melting, rubber cross linking under high shear and blend homogenization. Polymer material can be made in a continuous flow, by means of a blending-extruding-granulating plant, equipped with 2-3 extruding screws and a granulating head.
  
  KEY WORDS: polymer, rubber, extruder-granulator
Works Performed within the Department for Investigations, Tests and Quality Control in ICPI
- Magdalena IVAN, Ion Petre SUCIU
  - INCDTP Division Leather and Footwear Research Institute (ICPI), Bucarest, RO, icpi@icpi.ro
  ABSTRACT. The authors present the main works performed within the referred to department intended to assure the product quality in Romanian leather industry at the level required by the European and international standards.
  
  KEY WORDS: quality, control, leather industry, European standards.
Assessing the Color Levelness and Similitude in Finished Bovine Leather by Means of COLORMASTER Software
- Maria - Marcela ŢÂRLEA¹, Ilie GHEORGHE²
  - ¹INCDTP Division Leather and Footwear Research Institute (ICPI), Bucarest, RO, icpi@icpi.ro
  - ²NEW YORK CLASS, 13-22thStreet# C2 WHITESTONE, NY 11357, New York USA
  ABSTRACT. Software for dyeing formulations have been improved while remaining similar with that developed by DATACOLOR based on the spectral remission factor processing by means of CIELAB formulas requiring a spectrophotometer equipped with an integrating sphere. The COLORMASTER software is original software for the dyeing quality assessment based on mathematical formulas converting the RGB primary trichromatic stimuli into XYZ primary imaginary stimuli. The COLORMASTER software was applied in assessing the level dyeing in bleached bovine crusts finished with finishing solutions based on pigment and metal complex dye pastes, and acryl, polyurethane and protein binders with the aim of imitating the EUROMODE 2000 colors. The accurate color imitation can also be assessed by means of COLORMASTER software by comparing the diagrams showing the r, g, b, x, y, z values, number of color appearances in a sample, their frequency, and chromatograms as colored ellipse shaped x-y plots.
  
  KEY WORDS: ‘COLORMASTER’ software, dyeing quality assessment