US1095689A - Voting-machine. - Google Patents

Description

L. R. WINSLOW.

VOTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 9, 1909.

Patented May 5, 1914.

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VOTING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 9, 1909.

A 1,095,689. Patented May 5, 19m

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JONES BROWN UNITED PATENT OFFICE.

LENNA R. WINSLOW, OF CHICAGO. ILLINOIS. ASSIGNOR TO TRIUMPH VOTING MACHINE COMPANY, OF PITTSFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS` A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

VOTING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Original application filed January 2, 1909. Seria1 No. 470.411. Divided and this applcaton filed August 9, 1909. Serial No. 511,878.

To 017? 107mm it may concern 1 Re it known that I. LENNA R. lViNsLow, t a citizen of the UnitedStates. residing at `-hicago, in thc county ot (look and State of Illinois, have invented a new and uset'ul Imi provement in Voting-Machines. of which the t following is a specification. t

My invention relates particularly to restrictive devices adapted to regalati` the operation of voting machines: and m v primary object is to provide a restrictive device adapted to coact with the interlock-lawsv of voting machines, whereby a voter may be prevented from cumulating votes for a candidate nominated by one party and indorsed by another party.

The present application constitutes a division of my application No. 470411, tiled Jan. Q, 1909,

My invention is illustrated in the preferred embodiment in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a vertical sectional view of a voting machine equipped with my improvements; Fig. Q, a. broken rear elevational view of the machine with the rear casing-plate removed; and Fig. 3, a broken view illus. trating the key-board arrangement.

It may be stated preliminarily thatthe general construction of the machine in connection with which my present improvements are illustrated is shown and described in my said application No. 470411. In this machine the voting mechanism is operated through the medium of vertically disposed shafts, said shafts being turned in one direction to unlock the voting mechanism by an initial operation as the voter passes the machine, and said shafts being turned in the opposite direction to complete the voting operation as the voter passes from the machine after having set vthe voting keys in position to actuate the voting registers.

The machine illustrated is equipped at one end with a combination locking and actuating device which may be released and initially operated to actuate said shafts and unlock the voting mechanism; and said machine is equipped at the opposite end with a combination actuating and locking device which locks said shafts after their first actuation and which may be released and employed to actuate the shafts in the return movement as the voter passes from the machine, thereby to complete the voting operation. the voter having in the meantime set the voting keys in position to actuatc the vote-regis; ters upon the final operation of the machine. The initial operating handle is capable of being turned in either direction. according to the sex of the voter: and in any eventi. the shattwill be turned in the same direc tion. that is, in a direction to unlock the voting mechanism and permit the votingkeys to be preliminarily set. i

The machine as illustrated comprises a casing A having a front key-board A1 and a removable rear side A2; register mechanisms B mounted in the machine adjacent to the key-board A1; voting keys C connected with slides C1 coacting with said rcgister mechanisms: interlock mechanisnf D connected with the slides C1; vertically disposed shatts E carrying horizontally movable bars El which normally lock the slides C1 against being moved forward through the operation of the voting keys; a combination actuating and locking device F which may be released and then will serve to actuate the shafts E and move the bars E1 to the forward position, thus permitting the voting keys to be operated to preliminarily set the actuating slides; a combination actuating and locking device G which serves to lock the shafts E after they are preliminarily moved to unlock the voting keys, and which may be released and serve to actuate the shafts E to complete the voting operation, as the voter passes from the machine after having preliminarily set the voting keys; restrictive mechanism H coacting with the interlock bars of the interlock mechanism B and serving in one position to permit restrictive voting by women and in another position to permit unrestrictive voting by men, said mechanism H being preparatorily moved ywhen the shafts E are actuated through the medium of the initial actuating device F; a locking and re-setting device I coacting with the interlock bars of the interlock mechanisin D; and a device J serving to prevent cumulative voting under conditions where a nominee of one part-y is indorsed by another party.

The casing A may be of any approved construction, and so, also, may bethe voteregistering or tallving mechanisms I. The voting keys C project through the key-board A\.L and are adapted to actuate or move forwardly horizontally disposed slides lvwhich are elpiippcd with spring-pawls 2 adapted to engage thc ratchet-wheels of the registering` mecha nig-fins. whereby. when the slides are niovcd backwardly, in the final operation of the machine. the registering mechanisms will be actuated. Links 3 are connected with` said slides and with bell-crank levers 4- connected' with vertically disposed interlock bars o of the interlock mechanism D., The lower ends of the interlock bars 5 extend through guides G and are equipped with wedge-members "t", as described in my pending application No. 1126080, filed April 9, 1908. The interlock bars 5 are provided with offsets or shoulders 8 and 9, as shown in Fig. 1.

r1`he key-board A1 of the machine is provided` in accordance with the usual construction, with perforatio'ns through which the voting-keys C extend. For convenience, l have shown, in Fig. 8, three horizontal rows of voting-keys, the rows being` marked` respectively, Republicain Democrat and Prohibition These keys are shown as arranged in vertical rows correspondingr with the offices to be filled. l have selected two vertical rows of voting-keys corresponding to a situation where two offices of the same grade or character are to be filled, as, for instance, where two judges are to be elected. 1n such case. the interlock-bars 5 are arranged to permit the casting of two votes for judges, and this is a case where the device J, for preventing ciunulative voting` for a candidate nominated by one part-y and indorscd by another, is applicable. Thus, in Fig. 3, the Republican candidates are designated Roe and Doe: the Democratic candidates Moe and lloe: and the Prol'iibition candidates Poe and Roe, Roe being the Republican candidate indorsed by the Prohibitionists. ln such case, it is not permissible for a voter to vote twice for the same candidate. and the device J is to prevent such illegal voting.

Each slide 1. is equipped with a link 11 having a lug 1Q. the link 1.1 being adapted to be depressed when the slide is moved forwardly through the medium of the key C, thereby to bring the lug into the path of the corresponding bar FE forming a part of the slide-rctracting mechanism which serves in the final portion of the voting operation.

.its has been indicated, the interlock bars 5 of the interlock mechanism D are adapted to be elevated when the voting-keys are drawn forwardly and the slides 1 thereby moved forward.

ln the illustration given there are three vertical shafts l employed, one being located near `each end of the casing and one i near the center of the asing and in the;

saine plane as the other two. The bars El are carried by arms 13 on the shafts E. The shafts are then tied together, so that when one shaft is turned all will be turned simultaneously.

The combination locking` and actuating device lr is described in detail in my application No. 170/1'11.. It is sufficient to state here that it conuirisesI a horizontally disposed shaft 11 equipped with a handle 15, said shaft 14 extending through one end of the casing near the bottom thereof; a gearseginent 1G connected with the inner end of said shaft; bevel-gears 1T and 18 located above and below said gear-segment and fixed on the corresponding shaft E and coacting with such gear-segment whereby the shaft E may he turned in a given direction. regardless of the direction of movement of the handle 15: and a locking device 19 applied to the casing of the machine and coacting with the horizontal shaft 14. The device 19 has a handle Q0 which may be moved in one direction or the other to enable the shaft 1f to be turned in one direction or the other, depending upon the sex of the voter.

The conibination locking and actuating device G is described in detail in said application No. l70411, and it is sufficient to state here that such device is of a character to permit the shafts E to be rotated through the medium of the handle 15, thereby to unlock the voting-keys, and that after the voting-keys have been preliminarily set, the voter. in passingfrom the machine., may, through the medium of the device G, actuatc the shafts to return them to their normal position. in which operation the final portion of the voting operation is effected.

The mechanism l-l is described in said application No. 4704-11. lt is sufficient to state here that said device is actuated through thel medium of a slide 21 which is connected by a link Q2 to the beam or arm Q3 carried by the shaft- 111. The device 1l carries adjustable stops 2e adapted to engage the shoulders S of the interlock bars when the machine is set for use by a female voter. Thus, the stops 24 may serve to prevent the actuation of all of the interlock bars except those corresponding with the voting-keys which female voters are free to actuate.

The locking and re-setting mechanism I is described in detail in said application No. 11:7 0-111. 1t is sufficient to state here that the device be employed for restoring the voting-keys to their normal position in case the voter makes an error, and said device is also equipped with a lock 25 which is connected-with one of the shafts E, so that the lock will be released when the shafts E are preliminarily actuated'to release the votingkeys.

The device J, by means of which unauthorized cumulative voting for an indorsed candidate is prevented, comprises, preferably, a flexible member or cord 26 having its ends equipped with hooks 27; and a guide member 28 throu h which said cord extends.` said member 28 ing adjustably connected with a horizontal guide 29 which extends from one end of the machine to the other, at the bottom thereof, and receives the lower ends lof the interlock-bars 5. Each interlock-bar is provided with a vertical series of perforations 30 adapted to receive the hooks 27. It will now be understood that the cord 26 maybe connected with the interlock-bars 5 corresponding with the voting keys vdevoted to an indorsed candidate. Thus, in the illustration givenl in Fig. 3, the candidate Roe is indorsed by the yProhibition party and thus becomes one of the candidates for the Prohibition party; and as there are two candidates of the same class to be elected for oflices for which cumulative voting is not permissible, it is necessary to prevent any voter from voting twice for Roe. Ac.

cordingly,'the interlock-bar connected with the Roe voting keys are joined by the flexible member 26, sufiicient slack being allowed in said member to enable one of the interlockbars to be raised, but the flexible member being short enough to retract the interlockbar first raised in the event that the second interlock-bar is raised. The perforations 30 enable the cord to be adjusted to suit conditions, regardless of whether the `interlockbars which it is necessary to` connect lby the cord are -close together or somewhat widely separated. It is usual, of course, to group y the interlock-bars for oflices of the same class together, but the interlock-bars which are to be connected by the cord may or may not lie side by side I have, in Fig. 2, illustrated two of the devices J, associated with different groups of interlock-bars; and I have, in Fig. 3, illustrated two differentvertical groups of voting keys corresponding with the offices to which the groups of interlock-bars relate, the names of the candidates appearing. In the second group shown in Fig'. 3 the Republican candidate Jones is indorsed by the Prohibition party, so that the interlock-bars corresponding with the J voting keys are joined by the flexible member 26 of the corresponding device J.

The operation will be readily understood. Vhen a voter pulls a voting-key forward, he thereby raises the corresponding interlock-bar 5. The interlock-bars corresponding with the voting-keys devoted to the indor'sed candidate are connected by the device J, the flexible-connecting medium 26 being of sufiicient `length to enable vone interlock-bar to be raised. If, however, the voter attempts to vote twice for the indorsed candidate, the first interlockbar and voting-key actuated by him will be retracted when the second voting-key is drawn forwardly, this action occurring through the medium of the flexible member 26 which moves through the guide 28.

The foregoing detailed description has been given for clearness of understanding only, hence no undue limitation is to be understood therefrom, but the appended claim should be construed as broadly as is permissible in view of the prior art.

What I regard as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In a voting-machine, the combination with voting mechanism, including votingkeys and interlock-bars connected therewith, of an adjustable guide, a flexible member extending therethrough and equipped with hooks connected with certain of said interlock-bars, said interlock-bars having a series of perforations to receive said hooks, for the purpose set forth.

LENNA R. WINSLOW.

In presence of- D. O. YonER, EMILE.: WINsLow,

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