PURPOSE: To inspect the surface of a to-be-inspected object being transferred on a transfer path, restricting the number of light sources and cameras to the minimum.

CONSTITUTION: A light source 4, a camera 3 and an inverse reflection screen 2 are arranged in a direction of a transfer path 6 transferring a to-be-inspected object 5 so that the light incident condition to carry out the surface inspection of the object 5 with the inverse reflection screen utilizing the reflection of light is satisfied. Since the object 5 is transferred in a direction of an optical axis of the incident and reflected light in an inspecting apparatus 1, the surface inspection is executed when the to-be-inspected surface of the object 5 is moved to a predetermined inspecting position. Even in the case where the to-be- inspected surface has a large area and exceeds an effective inspecting range of the inspecting apparatus, if the object is transferred in a longitudinal direction thereof exceeding the effecting inspecting range, the to-be-inspected surface is divided by the effective inspecting range during the movement of the object, and sequentially inspected. When a folded surface is present in the object 5, a light source 4 and a camera 3 corresponding to each surface are arranged.