Abstract: An automatic bending apparatus comprises a bending machine (1) provided with a bottom die (7a) and a top die (7b) for bending a plate, and a gripper (27) for holding the plate. The gripper (27) can be positioned in a vertical plane in the forward and backward direction with respect to the bending machine (1) as well as around a horizontal axis orthogonally intersecting with the vertical plane. When the plate is bent by lowering of the top die (7b) or lifting of the bottom die (7a), the ends of the plate rise. In order to make the gripper (27) follow up the rising motion, positioning of the gripper (27) is controlled successively based on the position data concerning the lowering of the top die (7b) or the lifting of the bottom die (7a).