Flexible belts having a bent seam

• Main Authors: YU; ROBERT C. U, VON HOENE; DONALD C
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 03.02.1998
• Edition: 6
• Subjects: AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING; BELTS, CABLES, OR ROPES, PREDOMINANTLY USED FOR DRIVINGPURPOSES; BLASTING; CHAINS; CINEMATOGRAPHY; CONVEYING; ELECTROGRAPHY; ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHY; ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; FITTINGS PREDOMINANTLY USED THEREFOR; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVEFUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS,CABLES; HEATING; HOLOGRAPHY; INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBCLASS B29C, RELATING TO PARTICULARARTICLES; LIGHTING; MAGNETOGRAPHY; MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; PACKING; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; PHOTOGRAPHY; PHYSICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDEDFOR; SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; STORING; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL; TRANSPORTING; WEAPONS; WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE, IN GENERAL

A flexible belt comprising a flexible support layer, at least one coating comprising a film forming polymer, and a seam having a bent shape extending from one edge of the belt to the opposite edge of the belt. The flexible electrostatographic imaging belt may be fabricated by providing a sheet having two parallel sides and two opposite ends having matching bent profiles, the sheet having a first major exterior surface opposite and parallel to a second major exterior surface, overlapping an edge of the first major exterior surface adjacent one of the ends onto an edge of the second major exterior surface adjacent the other one of the ends to form a overlapped joint in which the bent profiles of the opposite ends match, and permanently securing the ends to each other to form a seam having a bent shape. This seamed flexible electrostatographic imaging belt may be used in an electrostatographic imaging process.