Patent ID: 6533329
Filing Date: 2003-03-18
Classification: B29C,B29K,B29L,F16L

Abstract:
A process for making a sealing belt section for an expansion joint comprising the steps of:providing a first mold half, having a substantially concave inside region having a desired shape; providing a second mold half, having a substantially convex outside region having a desired shape, the second mold half being operably configured to be substantially nestingly received by the first mold half; placing a sheet of flexible sealing belt material between the first and second mold halves; restraining regions of the sheet of flexible sealing belt material, at positions beyond the regions of the first and second mold halves, respectively; applying pressure to at least one of the mold halves, to deform the sheet of flexible sealing belt material so that the sheet of flexible sealing belt material is forced into the substantially concave inside region of the first mold half; applying heat to the mold halves to, in turn, apply heat to the sheet of flexible sealing belt material, while continuing to apply pressure to the mold halves, so that the mold halves continue to approach one another, to continue to deform the sheet of flexible sealing belt material, to stretch the sheet of flexible sealing belt material between said restrained regions beyond the concave inside and convex outside regions of the first and second mold halves; holding the first and second mold halves together, once the first and second mold halves have been brought together to a desired proximity, forming a plurality of complementary sealing belt members through the foregoing steps; and assembling the complementary sealing belt members into a flexible sealing belt section for an expansion joint, which is operably configured to resist inversion into an inwardly extending cross-sectional configuration, when pressure in an interior region of the expansion joint is less than atmospheric ambient pressure, exterior to the expansion joint.