Crank assembly for a tarpaulin retraction and extension device

A crank assembly for operating a tarpaulin manipulator used for extending and retracting a tarpaulin respectively across and from a top aperture of a vehicle container. The crank assembly includes a crank and a crank assembly shaft for transmitting rotations of the crank to the tarpaulin manipulator through a transmission assembly. The crank can be moved between a mounted configuration in which the crank protrudes axially from the crank assembly shaft and a stowed configuration in which the crank is folded over the crank assembly shaft.