Patent ID: 6937837

Claim:
An image heating apparatus comprising: a flexible rotatable member contactable to a recording material carrying an image; a back-up member disposed in said rotatable member; a pressure roller for forming with said back-up member a nip portion with said rotatable member therebetween, the nip being effective to feed the recording material, wherein said rotatable member is deformed to form the nip; and a limiting member for limiting movement of said rotatable member in a direction of a generating line of said rotatable member, wherein said limiting member is provided with a surface opposed to an outer peripheral surface of an end portion of said rotatable member, and wherein the outer peripheral surface of said rotatable member includes a surface portion which is in contact with the opposed surface of said limiting member and a surface portion which is out of contact with the opposed surface of said limiting member by the deformation of said rotatable member, wherein a diameter a of the outer peripheral surface of said rotatable member in a state that said rotatable member is free of deformation, a diameter b of the opposed surface of said limiting member, and Δt=b−a, satisfy a formula wherein 0.009 is equal to or smaller than Δt/a which is equal to or smaller than 0.03.