Abstract: An automatic winding machine for a rolled towel in which a towel winding shaft and a friction roll are journalled respectively above and below a driving shaft horizontally journalled in an upper part of a machine frame. A horizontal bar is mounted on an arm lever in such a way that it freely makes contact with said friction roll, and thereby forces the towel onto the lower portion of said friction roll. Two sets of photosensitive units are mounted at the right and left sides of the machine frame in such a way that the rising towel is guided between the respective light sources and phototubes of each photosensitive unit. A timer is commonly connected to the contacts of the right and left phototubes, and the contact of a relay is connected with the delay contact of said timer in such a way that the machine is automatically stopped when a folded or torn portion of a towel is detected.