Patent ID: 6993276

Claim:
A belt apparatus, comprising: a plurality of support rollers; an endless belt wound around the plurality of support rollers and configured to be movably driven around the plurality of support rollers; a driving roller configured to drive said endless belt; and an opposite roller positioned facing said driving roller across the endless belt, wherein each of the driving roller and the opposite roller includes a first end portion at a first end thereof, a second end portion at a second end thereof opposite the first end, and an intermediate portion between the first end portion and the second end portion, said intermediate portion having a diameter smaller than that of the first end portion and the second end portion, and wherein said driving roller and the opposite roller hold the endless belt such that a part of the endless belt held and sandwiched between said driving roller and the opposite roller retains a uniform thickness distribution, and only the first end portions and the second end portions of the driving roller and the opposite roller are in contact under pressure with each other via the endless belt.