Patent ID: 7201677

Claim:
A tennis net winder assembly for positioning within a tennis net support post, said tennis net support post having a lower end embedded in a support strata and an upper end having a guide roller for the passage there over of a tennis net support cable, said tennis net winder assembly comprising: a face plate member having a front face and a rear face and a plurality of apertures about its periphery for the passage of securing means to secure said face plate member to said tennis net support post, said face plate member further having a generally centrally disposed aperture for the passage there through of said tennis net support cable for communication and affixation to a winder assembly; a pair of generally vertical support walls secured to said rear face of said face plate member and secured at their second end by a rear wall, said vertical support walls having aligned apertures there through for rotatable support of a portion of said tennis net winder assembly, said rear wall and said face plate member having aligned apertures for the rotatable receipt of a portion of a tennis net winder assembly; a winder mechanism disposed between said face plate member, said vertical support walls and said rear wall, said winder mechanism comprising a worm gear rotatably mounted on a shaft between said rear wall and said face plate member, said shaft rotatably mounted in said aligned apertures in said rear wall and said face plate member, a portion of said shaft extending outwardly from said front face of said face plate for engagement with a hand crank; said winder mechanism further including a vertically oriented gear having beveled gear teeth cooperative with said worm gear, and a take up drum unitarily formed with said vertically oriented gear, rotatably positioned on a second shaft between said vertical support walls in said aligned apertures formed in said vertical support walls; a cross member secured across said generally rectangular opening in said face plate, and secured to said rear face, said cross member having positioned thereon a freely slidable grooved guide roller positioned above said take up drum, said guide roller for helically directing said tennis net support cable onto and off of said take up drum.