Patent ID: 6983927

Claim:
A winch assembly comprising: a drum that carries a length of cable, the drum having an axis of rotation; a driver coupled to the drum for rotating the drum to wind and unwind the cable; a level winder disposed adjacent to the drum to guide the cable with respect to the drum, wherein the level winder is supported to move in an arc-shaped path, a rotatable support; a cable support frame connected to the rotatable support; an actuator coupled to the rotatable support that pivots the cable support frame with respect to the drum to maintain the cable in a predetermined position relative to the drum; and a biasing mechanism coupled to the cable support frame that maintains the cable support frame in a predetermined position relative to the rotatable support, wherein the level winder includes a pair of pulleys, each pulley having an axis of rotation, and wherein the axis of rotation of each of the pulleys moves in an arc-shaped path with respect to the axis of rotation of the drum, and wherein the pair of pulleys are carried by the cable support frame such that the pair of pulleys pivot with respect to the drum about the rotatable support.