US Patent 7392975 Vehicle mounted winch assembly with powered sliding cable guide

Disclosed is a vehicle mounted winch and cable assembly that may include a slide track, a winch, a cable guide and a powering means. Also disclosed is a related method. The slide track may be rigidly mounted to the vehicle and may have a track axis extending generally perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle. The winch may be rigidly mounted to the vehicle for accepting and discharging the cable. The cable guide may be movably secured to the slide track and may accept the cable from the winch and then redirect the cable from a direction generally parallel to the track axis to a direction generally perpendicular to the track axis. The powering means may adjustably move the cable guide along the slide track.