A separator manufacturing apparatus includes a transfer roller (2) with a plurality of annular shaping grooves (1) having a predetermined shape in cross section which are formed in the outer circumferential surface of the transfer roller (2) in its circumferential direction, a resin feeding device (4) with nozzles (3) to feed a hot-melt type resin to the annular shaping grooves (1) of the transfer roller (2), a base paper feeding device (5) to feed a continuous paper (w) at a predetermined speed to the outer circumferential surface of the transfer roller (2) supplied with the resin to thereby form by transfer a plurality of ribs (9) on a surface of the continuous paper (w), and a fault detecting device (6,36,46) to detect the shape and/or a dimension of the rib (9) formed by transfer. A resin drop receiving device (53) or an annular shaping groove cleaning device (63) may be provided so that maintenance of the transfer roller (2) can be easy.