PURPOSE: To prevent a strip from scratching in winding a strip on a mandrel by avoiding collision of the stepped part at the tip of the strip and a unit roller.

CONSTITUTION: In a device that takes up a strip 1 on a mandrel 4 through a pinch roll 2, rotation detectors 18, 19 are provided in the pinch roll 2 and the mandrel 4, and an acceleration detector 21 of unit roller 5 is provided. Further, an infrared temperature detector 20 is provided in an unit frame 9, and a strip tip detector 17 is attached to the front stage of the pinch roll 2. Above-mentioned detectors 17W21 constitute a strip tip detecting device. Signals from detectors 17W21 are put in an arithmetic device 16, and time when the tip of the strip comes to the position of the succeeding unit roller 5 is reported. The unit roller 5 is released just before the tip of the strip comes to the position of the unit roller 5 by this time value to avoid collision of the unit roller 5 and the stepped part formed at the tip, and occurrence of scratches due to the stepped part is prevented.