Patent ID: 8027602

Claim:
A belt feeding apparatus comprising: an endless belt; a supporting member that rotatably supports said belt; setting means for setting an inclination angle of said supporting member to a return angle to return said belt toward a widthwise normal zone, and for setting the inclination angle of said supporting member to a balance angle to keep said belt in the widthwise normal zone; detecting means for detecting the deviation of said belt from the widthwise normal zone, wherein said setting means switches the inclination angle of said supporting member from the balance angle to the return angle, wherein the return angle for a first deviation of said belt is larger than the return angle for a second deviation of said belt which is smaller than the first deviation of said belt; a steering controlling mechanism for rotating said belt in a state in which the inclination angle is the return angle for a set time after said belt reaches the widthwise normal zone from the deviated zone, and after the elapse of the set time the inclination angle is returned from the return angle to the balance angle; and rotation time setting means for determining the setting time such that a first setting time at the time when the return angle is a first angle is shorter than a second setting time at the time when the return angle is a second angle which is smaller than the first angle.