Disclosed is a winch, particularly for driving an umbrella, comprising a rope drum (48a) which is driven by a hand crank (24) and winds up a rope (28). Functioning of the winch is improved by the fact that said winch is provided with a feeler (100) which responds to the direction of entry of the rope when the rope (28) is fully unwound or to the winding of the rope onto the rope drum (48a). Said feeler (100) is connected to a locking member (102) that cooperates with a stop (104) if winding occurs in the wrong direction, said stop (104) being assigned to the rope drum (48a) and locking the wrong winding direction.
