Patent ID: 7238254

Claim:
A method of welding together in a welding area the ends of a web segment comprising a thermally weldable material to form an endless loop belt with a welded seam; comprising compressing the overlapped ends of said web segment in said welding area with a weld-splash confining laser-light transmissive glass plate, and applying sufficient laser-light energy through said laser-light transmissive glass plate to said ends of said web segment in said weld area to thermally weld said ends together into a smoothly welded seam; wherein said ends of said web segment are held under pressure in said welding area by being compressed between a holding system on one side of said web segment ends and said weld-splash confining laser-light transmissive glass plate on the other side of said web segment ends; and wherein said weld-splash confining laser-light transmissive glass plate has a smoothly slightly concave surface in said welding area to effectively provide a weld spash mold to conform said weld splash thereto to provide said smoothly welded seam.