Dual crimped warp fabric for conveyor belt applications

A conveyor belt, comprising:

• a first reinforcing fabric layer;
• a top elastomer cover layer;
• and
• a bottom elastomer cover layer;
• wherein the first reinforcing layer comprises:
• (a) a plurality of substantially parallel middle wefts;
• (b) a plurality of substantially parallel upper and lower wefts positioned above and below said center wefts, the upper and lower wefts being in opposition to each other, the upper and lower wefts further being in non-opposition with the center wefts;
• (c) a plurality of crimped central tension warps positioned transverse to said middle wefts, said central tension warps interlacing each of the middle wefts;
• and
• (d) a plurality of crimped binder warps interlacing the upper and lower wefts 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;
• and
• wherein the central tension warp crimp is different from the binder warp crimp and the first reinforcing layer has no straight tension warp members.

A method of making a conveyor belt structure, comprising:

• (a) providing a first reinforcing fabric layer having:
• (i) a plurality of substantially parallel middle wefts;
• (ii) a plurality of substantially parallel upper and lower wefts positioned above and below said center wefts, the upper and lower wefts being in opposition to each other, the upper and lower wefts further being in non-opposition with the center wefts;
• (iii) a plurality of crimped central tension warps positioned transverse to said middle wefts, said central tension warps interlacing each of the middle wefts;
• and
• (iv) a plurality of crimped binder warps interlacing the upper and lower wefts 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;
• wherein the central tension warp crimp is different from the binder warp crimp and the first reinforcing fabric layer has no straight tension warp members;
• (b) impregnating the reinforcing fabric layer with an elastomer;
• and
• (c) providing top and bottom elastomer covers.