Patent ID: 7097741

Claim:
A shoe press belt for use in a paper-making press apparatus containing a press roll, a belt opposed to the press roll, and a pressure shoe positioned inside the belt for pressing the belt against said press roll, and a material web adapted to be inserted between said belt and said press roll for pressing the material web, the shoe press belt comprising: a reinforcing layer having an elastic material impregnated in an endless reinforcing substrate; a first elastic material layer positioned on an exterior peripheral surface side of the reinforcing layer and integrated with said elastic material impregnated in the reinforcing substrate; and a second elastic material layer positioned on an interior peripheral surface side of said reinforcing layer and integrated with said elastic material impregnated in the reinforcing substrate, wherein a plurality of grooves are formed in the belt, substantially parallel to the moving direction of the belt and on an exterior peripheral surface region of said first elastic material layer, and the bottom of the grooves provided at an axial end region of the belt, corresponding to at least one of an end-proximate region in the axial direction of said pressure shoe and at the end-proximate region in the axial direction of the press roll, extends toward the reinforcing layer to a greater degree relative to the bottom of the grooves in the belt provided in the region of the belt excluding said axial end region.