Belt construction and method of forming the same

Claim 1

IN A PAPERMAKERS'' DRIER BELT MADE FROM A FLAT MATERIAL HAVING A BODY PORTION AND TWO ENDS WHICH ARE JOINED TOGETHER TO RENDER SAID BELT ENDLESS, SAID ENDS BEING TURNED OVER TO OVERLAP SAID BODY PORTION AND THEREBY FORM END PORTIONS WHICH ARE SUBSTANTIALLY DIFFERENT IN THEIR RESPONSE TO ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES THAN SAID BODY PORTION, THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF DISCRETE SEAM SEGMENTS DISPOSED AT SPACED INTERVALS ALONG EACH OF SAID END PORTIONS IN THE TRANSVERSE DIRECTION OF SAID BELT, SAID SEAM SEGMENTS BEING DEFINED BY APERTURES DISPOSED BETWEEN ADJACENT SEGMENTS, EACH OF SAID APERTURES EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY WITH RESPECT TO THE BELT SUBSTANTIALLY ENTIRELY ACROSS AT LEAST ONE OF SAID TURNED OVER END PORTIONS, SAID APERTURES TENDING TO COMPENSATE FOR DIFFERING RESPONSES OF SAID END PORTIONS AND SAID BODY PORTION OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES.