Abstract: A batch winder includes a non-driven compensating roller or dancer roller placed in a loop of a fabric web, wherein the compensating roller is displaceable transversely of its axis of rotation by means of the force of a spring. When the compensating roller is displaced, the compensating roller influences through an initiator an inductive proximity switch which is coupled through an electrical regulating unit to at least one electric motor which drives at least one of the winding rollers which extend parallel to the compensating roller. The compensating roller is integrated so as to be suspended between two swing levers at the end faces of the compensating roller, wherein the swing levers are fixedly attached to a rotary shaft extending parallel to the compensating roller.