of rotation a new batch of the workpieces 7 can be fed into the barrel 53 hence continuous feeding of the workpieces 7 can be performed with the apparatus 5 there is no need to stop rotation of the barrel 53 when the workpieces 7 are loaded into the barrel 53 so that electroplating can be conducted in a highly productive manner continued rotation of the barrel 53 causes the workpieces 7 to fall downward from the partition plates 537 one after the other and eventually from the bottom wall 533 to the conveying unit 55 through the continuous rotation of the barrel 53 the passage hole 539 in each partition plate 537 can move alternately at a fixed speed between the topmost and bottommost positions therefore each batch of the workpieces 7 can be retained in each receiving space 530 a 530 b 530 c 530 d for a period of time to permit the workpieces 7 to thoroughly make contact with the plating solution 50 as a result the workpieces 7 can be plated gradually and uniformly layer by layer to ensure that surfaces of the workpieces 7 are completely plated and to increase the plating thickness of the metal film layers the time the workpieces 7 stay in each receiving space 530 a 530 b 530 c 530 d can be extended in the present invention additional partition plates 537 may be provided to increase the number of the receiving spaces 530 a 530 b 530 c 530 d in the barrel 53 as such each batch of the workpieces 7 may undergo plating for a prolonged time to achieve better surface covering and plating thickness results if a.