US211056A - Improvement in registering ballot-boxes - Google Patents

Description

2 Sheets-heet 2'. A. B.- RONEY. Registering Ballot-Box. No. 211,056. Patented Deaf@ Tenu UNITED STATES PATENT @ld-FICE ALEXANDER B. RONEY, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOE OF ONF- IALF HIS RIGHT TO BENJAMIN E. KENNEDY, OF SAME PLAGE.

IMPROVEMENT IN REGISTERING BALLOT-BOXES.

Specication forming part of Letters Ijatent No. 211,056, dated December 17, 1878; application iiled September 14, 1878.

ib all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER B. HONEY, of Pittsburg, in the county oi' Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and Iniprovementsin Universal Regis tering Ballot-Boxes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description ot' the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to malte and use it, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this speciiication, in which- Figure l is a plan view oi' top; Eig. 2, a plan view of interior; Fig. 3, a vertical crosssection, partly broken, to show mechanism, Fig. 4, a detail, showing alarm; Fig. 5, a detail, showing locking devices; Fig. 6, a view of bottom, showing record, tvc.; Fig. 7, a detail for winding.

rThis invention relates to registering` ballotboxes; and consists in the construction, coinbination, and arrangement ot' parts, substantially as hereinafter described and claimed.

The object of this invention is to avoid the trouble and waste of time caused by coniitin g the votes, to prevent intimidation, to guard against fraud, to save the cost ot' elections, and to guarantee satisfaction to the candidates and preserve the purity ot the tranehise.

To these ends my invention is as follows: In the box A, arranged in suitable bearings, are a number of similar rollers, a, placed in groups, each group consisting of as many rollers as there are political parties in the eld, and as many groups as there are oitices to be voted ier. On each roller a is wound a separate tape, with numbers, from one upward, printed on its outer face, the highest number being at the center et' the coil. rlhe outer end et' each tape passes downward and under two friction-rollers, Z1 b, so as to present an even surface for inspection through apertures a' in 'the bottoni oi' the box A, thence upward to a sha-ft, c, to which its end is fixed. Thus the revolv' of shaft c unwinds the tape troni a and win i iten shalt c. On each ofthe shafts c, which are grouped like rollers u, is fixed a toothed wheel or pinion, d, having its axis horizontal and parallel te rollers a. ln adjustable relation with each of the wheels d is a vertical rack, e, set in bearings, and capable of partial revolution and up-and-down niotion, being held normally at the highest point by the spring j". On turning the rack so as to gear with the pinion, and then depressing it, the pinion revolves, and, revolving, winds the tape a certain length to bring the next number into view at the aperture below. As the racks are all inside the box, it is necessary to give them the two motions trom withouta vertical motion to wind the tape a distance of one number, and thus record the vote, and a partial revolution to throw the rack into and ont of gear with the pinion, so that after depression the rack may be ungeared to rise again. The latter motion is thus elected: Fixed on each rack is a lateral finger, g, all the fingers being arranged in one common direction. All the lingers of each group ot'racks V`pass through appropriate slots in a movable bar, 7i., eaeh linger having its own slot, and all the bars 7i being connected at their ends to the transverse rods fi, which, in turn, are connected to the bars 7s, which pass outside the box A and terminate in knobs or handles B. By now pushing the frame li i7 k one way each rack is at once thrown into gear with its appropriate pinion, and the depression of any one will record a vote 5 and by pushing the frame in the opposite direction all are released, and then depressing the racks cannot record a vote at all.

lilechanisin, to be described further, is provided, by which an alarm is sounded, by niotion of the frame in either direction, to proclaim, iirst, the recording ot' the vote, and, second, the preparation for another. "Were the spring f free to act at all times, it would at once i'oree up the racl; after depression, which might give room for confusion or fraud. I prevent this. To the traine-work, near each pinion, I pivot a pawl, I, its point pressing into the tace et' the pinion by a spring, on, and so arranged that it permits revolution when the rack is depressed, but engages the pinion and prevents revolution in the contrary direction 5 and as the rael; is still in gear, it, too, is held down securely; and hence, when a racl; is once depressed to record avete for any caw as this must be done by reciprocating the frame, two alarms would ube struck to notify the public that the voter or judges are tamy pering.

As before stated, there is a separate rack, pinion, and tape for each candidate and each office, and it becomes necessary to provide some means of depressing any one of the racks from without'the box. N owthis might be done by using a separate button for each rack; but then there would be no security against fraud, since, while the voter is absorbed in properly recording his vote, an unscrupulous and dexterous hand might be engaged in recording votes for other candidates. I prevent this by I operating all the racks of each group from one common source, which can be adjusted to any of the racks at will, and when once operated cannot again be used without sounding the alarm. c

Alongside each group of racksI is placed a vertical rod, D, which I call the voting-post. This is stepped in two bearings, .n n, between which a spring, o, surrounds it, which forces it up when free to move. Post D can be turned and reci procated. An arm, E, projects laterally from the post, of such length as to reach over the farthest rack of the group to which `it belongs. A disk, F, is fixed to the post,

just beneath the cover of the box, and on this disk are radially marked the names of the political parties in the field, and in the cover of Y the box is a slit just wide enough to allow one,

name to be seen at a time. By rotating the post any desired party can be' broughtv to view under the slit, thus indicating to th'e voter that the arm E has swung around to a point immediately above the rack belonging to that party.y Then, by simply forcing down the post D, its arm E pushes down that particular rack of the group, and 'the vote is recorded; but it is necessary to prevent that post from being used a second time without sounding the alarm. I make a groove or shoulder, p, on the` post D, and pivot a spring-actuated elbow. lever, q, on the frame-work pressing normally against the post. The other end of lever q passes through a slot in the plate or bar h. -When, now, the post is pushed down to record a vote, the lever g flies into the groove or over the shoulder, and prevents its return upward. This can be effected only by pushing the frame h t' lo till the slot-edge forces the lever q ont of the groove p. 'Thus one motion of the frame serves to disconnect the racks and release the ',post. The motion, of course, sounds the alarm. l Thus one votin g-post for each office will record votes for any candidate runnin g for that oce,

, prevent fraud in the record, and allow-the independent voter to `vote his ticket as readily as the straight-out partisan. No 'tickets or ballots or stickers are required. The ignolrant voter is not at the mercy of unscrupulous men, who insist upon scratching his ticket or resort to sleight-of-hand to cause him to unsuspectingly deposit their ticket instead of his own.

bystanders hear them, and at once knowthat fraud is going on, and can bear witness against it.

To permit rewinding of the tapes, when required, after having done duty, I fix to each tape-roller a large wheel, W, whose periphery projects through openings in the inner bottom ofthe box, so as to be accessible to authorized persons. I release the pinions for winding by' means of the sliding rods fr, one for each group, having the spurs s at proper intervals, so that when the rod r is pushed inward the pawls are all forced away from their pinions, and winding can be effected. v

To obtain access to the rods r, I construct the box with a side door, C, which only opens after the secondary' bottom is opened. The bottom Gis fixed and immovable, and has the reading-apertures covered with glass to prevent access to the tapes. Below this isa secondary bottom, H, of opaque material, hinged to the box, closing against the butt of the door C, and preventing inspectionof -the 'tapes except when open; but to open it, Iso construct it that the act of unlocking the bottom H instantly renders the whole registering ymechanism incapable of recording a single vote,- and the box cannot again be made ready for voting except by an authorized person carrying the means of so doing. p

A bolt-rod, I, passes through rone end' of the box, and is guided inside lby the standard t.

A hook-bolt, u, depends from the rod, and engages the keeper o, lwhich is attached to the bottom H, and passes up through a slot in the bottom G. Rod l, bolt u,keeper't, and frame h i 7c are .so disposed relatively that the inward thrust of rod I necessary to disengage bolt u from keeper t, and unlock bottom H, cannot be given until the frame M k is pushed out of its way; but this motion" of the Vframe throws all the racks out of gear with their pinions, so that, even 4if the racks be now surreptitiously depressed, no recording can be. done on the tapes. A l Y To prevent the relocking of the bottom by unauthorized persons, I cut ratchet-teeth'in vthe rod I, into which plays a pawl or detent,

a', accessible only to one having a suitable key. When rod I is lpushed 'in the detent catches it and prevents its return until a key is inserted and the detent lifted.A By keeping such key in court, or wherever the returns are officially counted, thatkind of fraud at the polls known vas stuffing the ballot-box is eiectually p revented. c

The alarm can be eii'ected yby cutting. a rack on one of the bars k, and gearing into it apinion, l, with an anchor-escapement, 2. Thus the motion of the bar k in either direction rocks the anchor 2, and a hammer, 3, attached to it strikes the gong 4.

I do not confine myself to this construction, however, as various means or" striking an alarm by the reciprocation of the frame can be devised by any ordinary mechanic.

rlhe box is permanently closed upon the recording mechanism, no opening existing for tampering save the reading apertures, and these are covered with glass plates. As additional precaution, combination-locks may be provided for the door C and the bottom H.

I wish it understood that I do not confine myseltl to the precise construction of parts herein described, as a skilled mechanic might readily iind equivalents.

That I claim is- 1. rIhe combination of rack c, its eccentric 'iinger g, and slotted bar h to govern the tinger, for the purpose of rendering the rack operative or inoperative, as desired.

2. An adjustable voting-post, D, in combination with and controlling' the movements of an indicator inside the box having the political parties or the names of the candidates marked thereon, and the whole so arranged that the di'li'erent names may be brought to view by the rotation of the post.

3. The combination of a group of verticallyreciprocating racks with a rotating and reciprocatin g voting-post, D, having an arm, E, to operate the racks, and capable of automatic locking when depressed.

et. rlhe combination of a series of wheels, d, racks c, springs j', and fingers g with the reciprocatin g slotted bar h and an alarm sounded by the reciprocation of said bar h in either direction.

5. In registering ballot-box having reading-apertures on one face, and in combination therewith, a secondary opaque cover for that face provided with a locl; so constructed and located, substantially as described, that the registers must be disconnected from their actuating devices before the said cover can be unlocked.

6. In a voting apparatus, the combination ot' rod I and its bolt u with the secondary opaque cover II and keeper '1.7, substantially as described.

7. In a voting apparatus, the combination ot' rod I, having ratchet-teeth formed thereon, with the pivoted pawl, substantially as described, whereby, when the bolt is pushed in to unlock the cover II, the pawl prevents its return, and thereby maintains the registers in a useless condition.

S. The combination of the grooved or shouldered voting-post D, the spring-actuated clbow-lever q, and the slotted bar 7L, substantially as described, whereby the same movement of frame h i k releases the rack and voting-post.

9. The combination of the numbered tapes', rollers a, and wheels "W, shafts c, wheels d, and spring-pawls l with the rod r, having lateral spnrss, substantially as described,whereby rewindin g of the tape can be effected from the exterior.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this 30th day of August, 1878.

ALEXANDER B. BONDY. litnesses:

A. V. D. Wurzrnnsou, MansHALL Bnowii.

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