| abstract |
A conveyor belt reinforcing fabric weave is disclosed, having a plurality of center tension warps crimped about a plurality of middle wefts. Upper and lower wefts lie above and below the middle wefts. The upper and lower wefts are in opposition to each other and in non-opposition with the center wefts. Binder warps are interlaced above and below the central tension warps in alternating sequence, with at least one of the binder warps interlacing upper and lower wefts other than those interlaced by an adjacent binder warp. Interlacing of the middle wefts by the central tension warps locks the wefts in place, providing enhanced resistance to faster pullout. The lack of straight tension warps provides a highly flexible fabric that can be used in multi-ply applications. A conveyor belt incorporating one or more plies of the inventive fabric is disclosed, as is a method for manufacturing the belt. |