Patent ID: 7623816

Claim:
A belt conveyance apparatus comprising: a drive roller; a driven roller rotating in accordance with an operation of the drive roller; a conveyance belt engaged with the drive roller for rotationally driving the conveyance belt and the driven roller, the conveyance belt being provided with a first bead and a second bead formed on an inner side thereof; and driven roller support means for rotatably supporting the driven roller, the driven roller support means being configured to allow the driven roller to move in a thrust direction, wherein, in operation, ends of the drive roller and the driven roller interface with the first bead and second bead of the conveyance belt so as to allow and restrict a deflection of the conveyance belt in the thrust direction, and the driven roller is movable in the thrust direction according to a deflection of the conveyance belt, and wherein a frictional force in the thrust direction between the driven roller support means and the driven roller is smaller than a frictional force of the driven roller and the conveyance belt.