JPS61193287A - Automatically balloting apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an automatic voting device, and more particularly to an automatic voting device for public office elections.
In other elections, when elections are conducted accurately, quickly, and automatically in accordance with the provisions of the Public Offices Election Act, the names of candidates printed on the ballot paper are visually checked immediately before the final vote. The present invention relates to an automatic voting device which is capable of automatically collecting voting paper into a ballot paper storage box after voting has been completed.

Voting, which has traditionally been done generally under the Public Offices Election Law, is carried out on the day of the election by an elector who brings a postcard that has been mailed in advance to the polling station in the voting precinct to which the electoral roll belongs. After comparing the name of the candidate with the electoral list provided, the candidate's name and political organization name, etc., are posted at the voting registration office after receiving the ballot paper. The candidate writes the name of the candidate of their choice on the ballot using a writing utensil, and then deposits the ballot into a locked ballot box. Therefore, when receiving a ballot paper, first check the name written on the mailed election postcard and the electoral list.
Requires a large number of personnel for comparison work,
Furthermore, when voting, electors must write the names of the candidates themselves on the ballot paper, which frequently results in errors, typos, omissions, or illegible characters, which makes it difficult to calculate the number of votes for each candidate. Causing unnecessary conflict when checking.

Furthermore, when writing the name of the candidate or voting, the ballot paper is carried by the elector and finally reaches the ballot box, so it may be damaged during the process of receiving it and placing it in the ballot box. Otherwise, dirt may adhere to them, making it difficult to count the votes and causing disputes over whether the votes themselves are valid or invalid.

In order to solve these problems, various so-called automatic voting devices have been proposed. For example, this type of voting device is typically configured as follows.

In other words, on the day of the election, one ballot shall be given to all electors who entered the polling place for one or more elections, etc. for which the elector is eligible to vote, among the elections, etc. held on that day. In order to be able to use the paper, a predetermined ballot paper is first issued by a ballot paper dispensing machine equipped with a magnetic recording device. In this voting paper, one or more voting permission signals are magnetically recorded in a magnetic recording section such as a magnetic stripe, corresponding to the number of elections.

There, the elector inserts the ballot paper into a voting device, and the voting device reads the voting permission signal magnetically recorded on the ballot paper, and the voting device reads the voting permission signal magnetically recorded on the ballot paper, and the voting device reads the voting authorization signal magnetically recorded on the ballot paper, and the voting device reads the voting permission signal magnetically recorded on the ballot paper, and the voting device reads the voting permission signal magnetically recorded on the ballot paper, and the voting device reads the voting permission signal magnetically recorded on the ballot paper, and the voting device reads the voting authorization signal magnetically recorded on the ballot paper, and reads the names of candidates for multiple elections, the names of political organizations, and Supreme Court cases. Displays the names of government officials, other matters subject to voting (hereinafter referred to as "candidate names, etc."), and operating instructions. Then, the elector performs voting operations in order according to the display. The voting results are magnetically recorded on the magnetic recording section of the ballot paper by a magnetic recording device installed in the voting device, and the selected candidate is recorded at a predetermined position on the ballot paper by a printing device attached to the voting device. Print names, etc. for each election, etc. Then, the ballot paper is once fed back to the ballot paper insertion slot.

The elector takes out the reverse-fed ballot paper from the insertion slot and inserts it into the voting slot of a separately installed ballot box device. The ballot box device takes in the inserted ballot paper, reads the voting results magnetically recorded on the ballot paper, and calculates and records the number of votes for each candidate on a magnetic recording medium.

However, in the case of using the above-mentioned device, for example, each ballot paper must be printed with a magnetic stripe, etc., and the paper itself must have a quality and thickness that can withstand magnetic recording. be. Furthermore, in order to adopt a magnetic recording method, we incorporated a ballot paper issuing machine and a ballot paper equipped with a magnetic recording device, and printed the names of candidates voted for in multiple elections side by side on a single ballot paper. Then, a voting device must be installed that has the function of reversing the ballot and returning it to the elector through the insertion slot.

Furthermore, in connection with the voting device, the voting paper is taken in, the votes for each candidate's name, etc. are magnetically recorded for each election, and the number of votes is added to the recording medium for each candidate's name. A ballot box device is also needed that has a receptacle for recording and then storing the ballot.
- According to the prior art, in addition to the voting paper, it is necessary to provide devices that perform at least three different functions, and each device requires complex mechanisms and operations. Therefore, the device itself has to be expensive, the failure rate is inevitably high, and maintenance management requires considerable effort, time, expense, and expense.

Furthermore, when counting votes, if multiple elections are held at the same time, the number of votes for a particular candidate must be calculated multiple times using the same ballot paper for each election, which is complicated.

On the other hand, if a request is made to re-examine the number of votes cast as a result of a lawsuit, etc., if multiple votes are recorded on a single ballot paper, it will be classified by election or by candidate name. Ballots must be counted again. These things mean that counting the votes is not economical and
It also means that it takes a lot of time and is not accurate.

In other words, when confirming the number of votes, there is an increased risk that the counting will be done incorrectly, and if any doubts arise about the counting, the ballots will be sorted again for each election in which the doubts arise. This means that there is a drawback in that the same ballots have to be counted and sorted repeatedly for other elections.

Furthermore, the use of this type of device has the disadvantage that it is easy to carry out chain voting, which can be counted as fraud during elections. In addition, although it cannot be said to be fraudulent, it is possible to take the ballots home, so the number of ballots issued and the number of votes do not match, and concerns about objections and disputes arising during vote counting are denied. Can not.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the various problems mentioned above, and the present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned various problems. The voter inserts this ballot into the voting machine, then activates the selection switch corresponding to the displayed candidate's name to print the candidate's name, etc. on the ballot, and the printed candidate's name etc. are visually checked from the outside, and the voter reconfirms the ballot paper by transporting it to the ballot paper storage section.
This facilitates the simplification, speeding up, and reliability of voting procedures, and also makes the maintenance of the voting device itself easy and low-level.Furthermore, it avoids fraudulent acts, and the election itself The purpose is to improve the credibility of the electorate.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a voting device in which a plurality of selection switches are connected in correspondence with the names of candidates, etc., and a ballot paper insertion slot is formed in a part of a housing constituting the voting device. A conveyance means for conveying the ballot paper inserted from the ballot paper insertion slot to the ballot paper outlet is provided inside the housing, and a part of the housing is provided with a conveyance means corresponding to the conveyance means to convey the ballot paper. The present invention is characterized in that a confirmation window is provided so that the voting paper conveyed by the conveying means can be visually recognized from the outside of the housing.

Next, preferred embodiments of the automatic voting device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 indicates an automatic voting machine according to the present invention, and this automatic voting machine 10 basically consists of a voting device 12 and a ballot paper storage 'R14 attached thereto. The voting device 12 is basically installed horizontally, and has a candidate selection panel 16, operation instruction displays 18a to 18e, a ballot paper confirmation window 20, and a ballot paper insertion slot 22 on its top surface. include. In fact, candidate selection panel 1
6 is divided into an upper panel 16a and a lower panel 16b,
This ensures a wide space for displaying the names of candidates so that, for example, elections for members of the House of Representatives and votes to dismiss Supreme Court judges can be held at the same time.

Some candidate selection push button switches 24a, 24 arranged linearly at the lower ends of the candidate selection panels 16a, 16b.
b is provided. Preferably, the top of this pushbutton switch has a light emitting element, namely Ll! D 25a, 25b
are arranged, and when each push button switch is pressed,
The corresponding LED 25a.

It is preferable that the button 25b be turned on so that it can be determined by looking at which push button switch corresponding to the name of the candidate, etc. has been pressed.

One end of the candidate selection panel configured in this manner is locked by locking mechanisms 26a and 26b.

Note that a cancel button 28 is provided below the locking mechanism 26b.

Next, a voting push button switch 30 and a candidate writing push button switch 32 are arranged on the sides of the operation instruction displays 18a and 18b, respectively, and an attendant call push button switch 34 is arranged near one end of the confirmation window 20. It is set up.

The ballot paper storage box 14 is detachably installed in the voting device 12 configured as described above.

In the figure, reference numeral 36 indicates an instruction means for instructing which candidate selection panel is valid by lighting an LED or the like.

Therefore, in the automatic voting machine 10 configured as described above, in particular, the voting paper storage box 14 is inserted from the ballot paper insertion slot 22.
The conveyance system up to this point will be explained with reference to FIG.

As can be easily understood from the figure, the ballot paper insertion slot 22 has a sloped portion 22a that slopes slightly downward, and this sloped portion 22a faces the first guide member 40 through the opening 38. A hole (not shown) is formed in the first guide member 40, and the roller 42 enters the hole. A second guide member 44 further extends from the end of the first guide member 40, and holes (not shown) are similarly formed near the end of the second guide member 44. Rollers 46 and 48 are provided so as to be in sliding contact with each other. In this case, the guide member 4
An insertion detection sensor 100 composed of, for example, a light emitting element and a light receiving element is provided to detect the insertion of a voting paper across a through hole (not shown) provided in 4.

Further, a third guide member 50 extends further from the terminal end of the second guide member 44 while being inclined so as to rise slightly upward. The third guide member 50 is provided with a through hole (not shown) near its terminal end, and a paper detection sensor 102 is provided across the through hole to detect the presence or absence of a voting paper. Like the insertion detection sensor 100, this paper detection sensor 102 is composed of a light emitting element and a light receiving element. A fourth roller 52 disposed at the end of the third guide member 50 has a relatively larger diameter than the first to third rollers, and a print forming a dot printer is printed on one end of this roller 52. A head 54 is arranged in close proximity. The roller 52 also serves as a platen,
Therefore, a ribbon 56 for printing is interposed between the print head 54 and the roller 52. The ribbon 56 is connected to the roller 42
．． The ribbon reel 58 is drawn out from one ribbon reel 58 rotatably mounted above the ribbon reel 58 and is applied with a predetermined tensile force through a tension roller 60 and comes into contact with the roller 52. It is configured to be wound onto a ribbon reel 64.

Therefore, a fourth guide member 6 is provided on the side of the 40th-ra 52.
6 is disposed, and a fifth elongated guide member 68 is further connected to the bent and upwardly rising end thereof. As can be easily understood from the figure, the guide member 68 is provided with a hole at one end, and is connected to the fifth roller 70.
The sixth roller 72 faces the hole formed in the bent portion, and the sixth roller 72 is formed in the other end of the guide member 68 bent so as to face the ballot storage box 14. The roller 74 is configured to face the hole. A roller 76 and a roller 78 are arranged so as to be in sliding contact with the rollers 70 and 72, respectively, and a spring member 80 is in pressure contact with these rollers 76 and 78.

Similarly to the above, the guide member 68 includes a roller 74.
A through hole (not shown) is bored nearby, and a paper detection sensor 104 is provided across the through hole to detect the presence or absence of a voting paper.

A stepping motor 82 is disposed below the rollers 46 and 52 configured as described above, and a DC motor 84 is disposed directly below the roller 72. That is,
A belt 86 stretched around the rotational drive shaft 82a of the stepping motor 82 is stretched around the rotational shafts of the rollers 46 and 52, and a belt 88 is stretched around the rotational shafts of the rollers 46 and 42.

Further, a belt 90 is stretched around the rotation shaft of the roller 52, one end of this belt 90 is stretched over the rotation shaft of a gear 91, and is pivotally attached to the rotation shaft of the gear 91 and the ribbon reel 64. It is configured to mesh with the gear 93. On the other hand, the belt 92 is connected to the rotational drive shaft 8 of the DC motor 84.
4a and the rotating shafts of rollers 70, 72, and 74.

Therefore, it is easy to understand that in this automatic voting machine 10, the conveyance system is constituted by the motors 82 and 84, various belts, and rollers.

In this automatic voting machine IO, a ballot paper confirmation window 20 is located directly above the horizontal portion that constitutes the guide member 6th.
is installed. In the figure, reference numerals 94 and 96 are guide members, and these guide members serve to introduce the ballot papers conveyed by the conveyance system into the inside of the ballot paper storage box 14 through the opening 98.

Next, the voting device 12 has a control device 110 that controls it.
will be placed. The control device 110 is constituted by a microcomputer, for example, as shown in FIG.
IJ 110a, ROM 11 that stores programs
0b, ROM110c that stores various data, RA
M 110d, input port L10e, output port 110
It is equipped with f. ROM ll0C stores respective data for the election, for example selection pushbutton switches 24a, 24b.
effective range data, data indicating the correspondence between selection pushbutton switches 24a and 24b and candidates, and printing glyph data are stored. Also, in the RAM 110d, a candidate data storage area 111a and a glyph data storage area 1l are stored.
lb is provided.

The CPU 110a receives the output of the insertion detection sensor 100 and the paper detection sensors 102 and 104 via the input capacitor) 110e according to a program stored in the ROM 1iob.
Output of write pushbutton switch 32, output of voting pushbutton switch 30, selection pushbutton switch 24a124b
Reads the output of and performs comparisons, calculations, and processing based on the input information. Further, the CPII 110a follows the results of comparison, calculation, and processing, and also outputs the operation instruction display 18a,
18b, 18C118d or 18e, the display drive circuit 108 controls the LEDs 25a and 25b of the selection pushbutton switches 24a and 24b, and the motor drive circuits 112 and 114 control the motors 82 and 84, and the print control circuit print head 5 via 116
Control 4.

The operation of one embodiment of the present invention configured as described above is described below.
4 according to the program stored in M 110b.
This will be explained using figures.

When the automatic voting machine IO is powered on, execution of the program is started and initialization is performed (step bI).

For this initialization, output capo-1-11Of and I
? This includes clearing the memory contents in AM 110d. Following step b1, the operation instruction display 18d is activated, and the guide characters become visible from the outside, such as "Please insert your voting paper. The candidate button that allows you to vote will light up." A display is made (step bz).

Following step b2, the process waits for the insertion detection sensor 100 to generate an ON output (step bz).

Step b3 is a state in which the elector is waiting for the elector to insert the ballot paper into the paper insertion slot 22.

When a ballot paper is inserted into the insertion slot 22, the insertion detection sensor 100 generates an ON output. When the insertion detection sensor 100 generates an ON output, it is read into CPt1llOa, the pulse smoke 82 is driven in normal rotation via the motor drive circuit 112, and the rollers 42, 46 and 52 are driven in normal rotation (step b t ). The voting paper inserted into the paper insertion slot 22 is conveyed to the print head 54 side by normal rotation of the rollers 42 and 46.

After the ballot paper is conveyed in step b4 to a position facing the paper detection sensor 102, the conveyance is continued until it reaches a printable position. That is, when the leading edge of the voting paper reaches a position facing the paper detection sensor 102, the paper detection sensor 102 detects this and generates an on-output, and the CPU 110a receives the on-output from the paper detection sensor 102, and the CPU 110a operates for a predetermined period of time. Motor drive circuit 1 after elapsed time
The driving of the pulse motor 82 by the pulse motor 12 is temporarily stopped (steps bs, b6). As a result, the ballot paper will be temporarily suspended. Following step bh, the operation instruction display 18
d is stopped (step b7). step b7
Subsequently, the valid range data stored in the l'lOM 110c is read out, and the display drive circuit 108 that has received the valid range data selects the LEDs 25a, 25a, and 24b corresponding to the selection pushbutton switches 24a and 24b according to the election. 2
5b is driven to turn on (step be). step b8
By executing this, for example, the valid selection pushbutton switches 24a and 24b corresponding to the name tag of the candidate name inserted in the selection panel 16 corresponding to the relevant election are set to ED25a.
, 25b are lit, and only the valid selection pushbutton switch is indicated by the lighting of the LEDs 25a and 25b. As a result, the elector will know the range of selection pushbutton switches that can be selected. In this case, the valid selection push button switches naturally correspond to the name tags with the names of the candidates in the relevant election, and in order to enable blank voting, The illumination light of one selection pushbutton switch may also be turned on. Following step b8, inputs from the valid selection pushbutton switches 24a and 24b are set to be readable (step bq).

Following execution of step b9, the operation instruction display 18c is driven. As a result, the guide characters on the operation instruction display 18c become visible from the outside, and a display such as "Please press the candidate selection button" appears (step b1°). Through this step b1°, the elector knows that he or she will select a candidate by pressing the selection pushbutton switches 24a and 24b.

Following step BLO, a valid selection push button switch 24a,
Wait until 24b is pressed (step at). When one of the valid selection pushbutton switches 24a, 24b is pressed in step C, the output from the pressed valid selection pushbutton switch is read into the CPLI 110a, and the RA
Candidate data storage area 1 provided in M110d
The code of the candidate corresponding to the selected pushbutton switch is stored in lla (step CZ). The LEDs other than the LED corresponding to the pressed valid selection pushbutton switch are turned off (step C3). Next, the operation instruction display 18b is activated, and a display such as, for example, "Press the candidate write button. The filled-in ballot paper can be seen from the upper window" appears (step C4).

Subsequently, the signal from the write push button switch 32 becomes readable (step Cs), that is, step 0S.
Even if the write push button switch 32 was previously pressed, the CPU
110a, and the output of the write push button switch 32 becomes valid in step c5.

Following step C2, the process waits for the write push button switch 32 to be pressed (step C6). If the write push button switch 32 is not pressed in step C6 and the valid selection push button switch is pressed again, steps up to step C are repeated again, and the switching operation can be repeated any number of times.

When the write push button switch 32 is pressed in step C6, the push button switches 24a and 2
Reading of the outputs of 4b and 32 is prohibited (step C7).
), a code corresponding to the output of the pressed valid selection push button switch immediately before the write push button switch 32 is pressed is stored in the candidate data storage area 111a (
Step Cs). In the states of steps C and Cs, the code corresponding to the selected candidate name is stored in the candidate data storage area 1lla, and the code corresponding to the selection pushbutton switch pressed in step CI The candidate code is in candidate data storage area 11.
1a, and by updating before pressing the write push button switch 32, the stored candidate name code is updated every time the update is performed, and the process proceeds to step c8.

Following step C8, driving of the operation instruction display 18C is stopped and the guide text on the operation instruction display 18c becomes invisible (step dI). Following step d, the glyph print data corresponding to the candidate data stored in the candidate data storage area 1lla is retrieved from the print glyph data of the ROM 110c, and the retrieved glyph print data is stored in the RAM 110d. It is copied to the provided glyph data storage area 1llb (step aZ). Then,
The print head 54 is controlled via the print control circuit 116 by the glyph data in the glyph data storage area 111b.
The name of the selected candidate is printed (step d3). Following execution of step d, the motor drive circuit 112 is driven, and subsequently the motor drive circuit 114 is driven (step d4). The motors 82 and 84 are driven by this step d4, and the ballot paper is conveyed toward the ballot paper storage box 14. When the motor 82 starts to drive, the ballot paper has already been conveyed to a position facing the printing pad 54, and the name of the selected candidate is printed on the ballot paper while being fed at regular intervals by the pulse motor 82. Therefore, the voting paper is subsequently conveyed by the motor 84. This drive continues for 81 seconds until the paper detection sensor 104 detects a ballot paper (step a5).

When paper detection sensor 104 detects a ballot paper, motor 82.84 is stopped via motor drive circuit 112.114, and rollers 42.46.52.70.72 and 7 are stopped.
4 is temporarily stopped (step d6). The ballot paper temporarily stopped in step d6 has been conveyed to a position facing the paper confirmation window 20,
The candidate's name printed through the paper confirmation window 20 becomes visible, and the name printed through the paper confirmation window 20 can be confirmed by the display on the operation instruction display 1gb. Next, step d is performed to confirm the printing method paper through the paper confirmation window 20, and a predetermined period of time is waited for (step d7).

Step d? Subsequently, the drive of the operation instruction display 18b is stopped, and the guide characters on the operation instruction display 18b become invisible (step d8).

Following step d8, the operation instruction display 18a is driven, and a display such as "Please press the voting button" appears (step d), and data from the voting push button switch 30 can be read (step dI0). , wait for the voting pushbutton switch 30 to be pressed (step e
+). In this state, the elector must
It can be seen that the voting push button switch 30 is pressed in accordance with the instruction 8a.

In step e1, when the voting pushbutton switch 30 is pressed, a message to that effect is read, and then the voting pushbutton switch 3
Reading of input from 0 is prohibited (step e
z). Following execution of step e2, the display on the operation instruction display 18a becomes invisible (step e). Next, the motor 84 is driven via the motor drive circuit 114, the rollers 70, 72 and 74 are rotationally driven, and the ballot paper is moved from the position corresponding to the confirmation window 20 to the ballot paper storage box 1.
4 (step e4). The rollers 70, 72 and 74 are driven in step e4 to wait for the end of the ballot paper to be detected by the paper detection sensor 104 (step es). That is, paper detection sensor 104
Wait until the paper detection sensor 104 becomes off output state, and then
When an off output occurs from the step es), it is considered that voting is complete.

Following step e, the operation instruction display 18e is visibly driven to display a message such as "Please insert the next ballot" as described above (step e6), and then for a predetermined period of time, e.g. , wait for several seconds, then stop driving the motor 84, and stop driving the rollers 70, 72 and 74 (step et). Therefore, when the execution of step e7 is completed, the ballot paper has already been conveyed into the ballot paper storage box 14.

Following step e7, the driving of the operation instruction display 18e is stopped (step e8), and then the operation is executed again from step b2.

As explained above, according to the present invention, in an automatic voting device, the ballot paper on which the name of the candidate selected according to the elector's instructions is printed is passed through the ballot confirmation window while being transported to the ballot paper storage box. It can be verified by the elector, and the verified ballot will be automatically delivered to the ballot storage box. Therefore, the ballot paper inserted into the voting device does not return to the hands of the elector (it is stored in the ballot paper storage box).

For this reason, the voting paper itself is prevented from being soiled, damaged, etc., and election fraud is also avoided. Furthermore, even after an elector has cast their vote, the existence of a confirmation window allows them to check whether the result matches their own selection, thereby avoiding erroneous voting.

Although the present invention has been described above with reference to preferred embodiments, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various improvements and changes in design can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. Of course.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of an automatic voting device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a configuration of a control device portion of an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of one embodiment of the present invention. 10. Automatic voting machine 12. Voting device 14.
・Ballot paper storage box 16...Selection panel 18a-1
8e... Handling instruction display 20... Ballot paper confirmation window 22... Paper insertion slot 24
a, 24b...Selection push button switches 26a, 26b...Lock mechanism 30...Voting push button switch 32...Write push button switch 36...Instruction means 54.
・Print head 82...Stepping motor 84...DC motor 10
0...Insertion detection sensor 102.104...Paper detection sensor 106.108
...Display drive circuit 110a ...CPU 110b,
110c...ROM110d...RAM11Oe...
Input port 110f...Output port 112.114...Motor drive circuit 116...
Printing control circuit patent applicant Musashi Engineering Co., Ltd. Fig,
4 (Part 2) Procedural amendment stamp button February 28, 1986

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) In a voting device in which a plurality of selection switches are connected in correspondence with the names of candidates, etc., a ballot paper insertion slot is formed in a part of a housing constituting the voting device, and a ballot paper insertion slot is formed inside the housing. A conveyance means for conveying the ballot inserted from the ballot paper insertion slot to the ballot paper outlet is provided, and a ballot paper confirmation window is provided in a part of the casing in correspondence with the conveyance means,
An automatic voting device characterized in that the voting paper conveyed by the conveying means is configured to be visible from outside the housing. (2) An automatic voting device according to claim 1, in which a ballot paper storage box is removably provided at the ballot paper outlet. (3) An automatic voting device according to claim 1 or 2, in which the conveying means comprises a belt conveyor driven by a motor and a guide member.