Rope winch, particularly for operation by means of a hand crank

The winch 10 has a gear train 21, 22, 28 to drive the winding drum 33. One gearwheel 21 of this gear train engages with a drive pinion 20 on a drive shaft 14 that can be turned by a hand crank. The gearwheel 21 that can be driven by the drive pinion 20 is fastened onto a shaft 23 that can move axially against the force of a compression spring 26. So that the rope 34 can be unwound quickly from the drum 33 when there is no load on the winch, without having to handle the crank, the shaft 23 can be shifted to such an extent against the force of the first compression spring 26 that the driven gearwheel 21 is separated from the drive pinion 20. This is done via another compression spring 60, by means of a hand-operated switching element 66. In this state, the winding drum 33 can rotate freely, and the rope 34 can be unwound to the desired length without hindrance. Once this is done, one only has to release the switching element 66 again, so that the spring 26 can shift the shaft 23 in the opposite direction far enough for the drive pinion 20 to engage with the driven gearwheel 21 again. The compression spring 60 returns the switching element 66 to its initial position. If the winch 10 is under load, operating the switching element 66 has no effect.