PURPOSE: To clean a felt-like filter cloth of continuous sheet shape automatically and continuously and regenerate the same by opening a horizontal filter plate, driving a drawing roll, drawing out the filter cloth by a given length and guiding a section after use into a cleaning tank.

CONSTITUTION: In a horizontal filter plate type filter, a filter cloth after use is guided into a cleaning tank by the rotation of a drawing roll 8. As the both ends of the filter cloth in the cleaning tank are fixed to a filter section by a rolling section, swing rolls 3A and 3B are displaced up and down when a swing arm 2 is rocked by the action of a driving cylinder 4, and the filter cloth is moved reciprocatingly in a squeezing roll group 6 and cleaned. After that, the drawing roll 8 is rotated to draw out the filter cloth, and further clear cleaning liquid is jetted out of both faces of the filter cloth to carry out the finish cleaning. The filter cloth is dehydrated by a pressure welding roll 9 and taken up on a take-up roll 14.