US905564A - Voting-machine. - Google Patents

Description

A. MOKENZIE.

VOTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 19,1897.

905,564. Patented Dec. 1,1908.

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THE NORRIS PETERS co., WAsHJNaroN. n4

A. MOKENZIE- VOTING MACHINE. APPLIOATION FILED AUG.19, 1897.

Patented Dec. 1, 1908.

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Patented Dec. 1, 1908.

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t ll nlllll A. MQKBNZIE. VOTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.19,1897.

ASHINGTOH n c in the State of New York, have invented cerwhich represents the face side, or that UNITED STATES PATEIQT OFFICE.

ANGUS MCKENZIE, OF JAMESTOWN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO

U. S. STANDARD VOTING MACHINE C0,, OF NEW YORK.

OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION V0 TIN G-MACHIN E Application filed. August 19,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 1, 1908. 1897. Serial No. 648,769.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANGUS MCKENZIE, a citizen of the Dominion of Canada, residing at Jamestown, in the county of Chautauqua,

tain Improvements in Voting-Machines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawin s.

IWIy invention relates to certain improvements in the construction of voting machines, and more particularly to the construction of the counters and the parts connected there- With,which improvements are fully described and illustrated in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, the novel features thereof being specified in the claims annexed to the said specification.

In the accompanying drawings representing my improvements in voting machines, Figure 1 is an elevation of the key-plate as seen from the voters position,showing also the turnstile and the method of operating the resetting bar. Fig. 2 is a partial horizontal section on the line 2-2, Fig. 3, showing a counter in plan view and another in section. Fig. 3 is a partial transverse vertical section,the disks of one counter being re i moved to show the sector and pinion. Fig. 1 4 represents the interlocking rods and interlocking blocks. Fig. 5 is a section through the units disk on the line 55, Fig. 2, showing the parts to the right of said line. Fig. 6 is a partial elevation,the key-plate and shutters being partially broken away and one of the counters being shown in longitudinal vertical section. Fig. 7 is a top plan view of the operating cam and related parts.

In the construction of my improved voting machine, I employ a vertical plate, A, Figs. 2 and 3, and locate the counters on one side of it, and the locking, interlocking and resetting mechanism on the opposite side. The plate is supported in a suitable frame, and the working parts on each side of it are inclosed in suitable protecting coverings or casings,the whole forming the body of the machine.

The general appearance of my improved machine will be understood from Fig. 1,

portion which is presented to the intending voter. B is the key-plate, which may be divided into any suitable number of sections, C the casing, and D a turnstile, which may I be either directly connected to the body of the machine, or employed in connection with any suitable booth or inclosure designed to secure secret voting. E represents the keys of the selective voting mechanism, and the machine may also be provided with the straight-ticket levers, F, the irregular voting mechanism G, and the questions voting mechanism H. The counters are arranged in horizontal rows representing the candidates of each political party, and in vertical rows corresponding to the candidates for each particular oflice.

The construction and operation of the counters will be understood from Figs. 2 and 3. The counters, O, O O consist of three disks, I, I I arranged to revolve on the shaft a, and operated by the key-levers E, the vibrating sectors J and suitable )inions. The counters are arranged in suitab e channels formed by the plates K which project outward from the main plate A, and support the shaft a of the counters and the shaft 19 carrying the pinions. The key-plate, which in the construction shown is made in sections, one for each channel, is provided with openings L, through which the indications of the counters are observed at the close of an electiona suitable shutter being provided to conceal the count wnile the voting is going on. The counter disks are marked from O to 9, so that collectively they will register any number up to 999. The counters are operated by the voter drawing the key-levers E downwards, as indicated by the full and dotted lines in Fig. 3. The vibrating sectors J are pivoted to swing on the shaft a,-their free ends N extending through suitable slots in the plate A, and having the interlocking rods M attached thereto. On the shaft 6, in line with the corresponding sector, is placed the it-toothed pinion c, and which is arranged in a suitable opening in the sector. The sector is provided with the internally projecting teeth, (2 and e,-one of which, (Z, engages with one of the teeth of the pinion when the sector swings upwards, and the other when it moves downward. The movement thus imparted to the pinion is transmitted to the units disk I by a pinion f, Figs. 2 and 5, and a ring of teeth 9 on the disk. The teeth d and 6 being on opposite sides of the pinion, impart motion to it in the same direction, and the parts are so proportioned that the disk I receives a movement of one-tenth of a revolution at each up and down vibration of the sector. The pinion c and the pinion f are attached together in any suitable manner, and a circular plate h, a little larger in diameter than the pinion, is preferably interposed between them,its edges 1projecting over the ring of teeth on the disk and serving to keep the parts separated. The pinion and the teeth of the sector may be hardened. The movement imparted to the pinion by the upward movement of the tooth d is indicated by the dotted lines near the lower part of Fig. 3. It will be observed that the edges of the opening i in the sector are curved in such shape as to act as guides to prevent any movement of the pinion except such as it receives from the teeth of the sector. The key lever E may be made in one piece with the sector, or it may be pivoted thereto, so

that the key can be folded inside the keylate, when the counter is not in use, as indicated by the dotted lines, E in Fig. 3. For this purpose the key lever is pivoted on the shaft a, and provided with a lug or pin, k, which extends over the end of the sector and compels it to move whenever the key is operated. By this means I am enabled to throw any of the counters out of use, when, as frequently happens, no nomination is made, or the election does not require the use of the whole of the key board.

The peculiar form of the sector J, the teeth (1 and e therein and the four-toothed pinion c and their relations to each other are important, for the reason that by the construction shown the tooth d as it rises effects the first step of the pinion c considerably before its own upward movement by the voter is finished. In other words the tooth d, in its upward movement, moves the pinion c and afterwards passes beyond it for some distance. When the sector J moves downward under the action of the resetting bar a similar action takes place between the tooth e and the pinion c, this action completing the second step of the movement of the pinion c. The result of this construction is that it is not necessary to accurately and exactly fit the parts together and that if it should happen that any parts of the resetting mechanism should spring slightly, which might take place in a long machine, still the counters will be positively and accurately operated.

The tens disk I is operated from the units disk by the pinion m, and the hundreds disk I is operated from the tens disk by the pinion m ,the arrangement being such that the tens and hundreds disks make one tenth of a revolution every time the driving disk completes a revolution. The pinions m m are supported on the shaft 6, which extends through the plates K parallel to the shaft (1.

That part of the pinion m which gears with the ring of teeth g on the tens disk T is provided with teeth, n, Fig. 2, all around its periphery, but at the right hand end of the pinion, where it engages with the periphery of the units disk I, each alternate tooth is cut away so that the pinion is prevented from turning, and consequently the disk I is locked, until the laterally projecting slotted lug Z on the units wheel comes in contact with one of the teeth n, the disk P is turned a step,-the teeth 0, Fig. 3, passing into the slot 1) in the lug Z. The slot p extends clear across the periphery of the disk I. The disks are all alike, except that the hundreds disk need not be provided with the lug Z or slot 7).

The construction and operation will be clearly understood from the lower part of Fig. 3, in which a counter is shown with the hundreds disk and its pinion removed. The hundreds disk is driven from the tens disk in a similar way,the pinion m being exactly like the pinion m. To provide for setting the counters at Zero before the commencement of an election, I arrange the counters so that the disks and pinions can be shifted laterally on the shaft (1, to disengage the pinions, and permit the disks to be rotated to the desired position, after which they are again engaged. The removable strip q is inserted between the hundreds disks and the adjacent plate K, so that when the strip is taken off, the disks can be moved sidewise. The strip is hung by a hook at its upper end on a rod 0, Fig. 3, and extends downward between all the counters of each vertical row and the plate K. The strip is held in place by the inturned flanges r on the sectional key-plate B,*see Fig. 2, which reaches inward far enough to hold the strip against the shaft (1 and between the plate K and the disk I? or the hub s thereon. On removing the key plate, the strip (1 is readily taken away,so that the setting of the counters can be performed. The keyplate is attached by having its lower end inserted in the frame at t, Fig. 3, and its upper end is held by the movable bar a. The keyplate is recessed or located behind the surrounding surface of the casing, which protects the key levers, and the bar a is fastened by screws passing through slots to the upper part of the framework constituting this recess. The key plate is provided with lugs or projections to, Fig. 3, near its upper end. The bar it when moved outwards, permits the lugs w to pass behind it, so that the key-plate may be slid upwards and its lower end removed from the slot at i.

The shutter P is arranged so that it may be raised to display the numbers on the counters,being provided with openings y which register with the openings L in the keyf, by the staples W,

plate. In Fig. 6, the counter for Democratic governor is shown as uncovered, and set at zero for the commencement of an election. The shutters are all connected together at the up er ends by the bar Q, and this is raised and owered by the slide R, provided with inclined slots S, in which pins or screws T in the bar Q engage. The slide R is provided with a handle or knob, U, Fig. 1, by which it is operated,-a movement towards the right opening the shutters and vice versa.

l/V, Figs. 1 and 3, is a door provided with a suitable lock, which is hinged to the upper part of the frame, and is provided with the lug e on its inner surface, which lug projects into the path of the handle U, and fastens it in either position when the door is closed, so that the shutters are locked in either the open or closed position. The slide R is supported in suitable guides. The lower ends of the interlocking rods M are slotted and fitted to the reduced or thinned portions v of the projecting extensions N of the vibrating sectors, J, see Figs. 3 and 4. This construction maintains the rods in operative connection with the sectors, without the use of a pivot. A pin is however preferably also employed,being formed of wire, 00, bent to suitable shape and secured by the screw a Each of the counters is provided with an interlocking rod, and the upper ends of the rods are thinned and inserted between inter locking blocks 6 Figs. 3 and 4.

c 0 Fig. 4, represent stationary abutments, between which there is just space enough to permit the insertion of one of the rods,after which no other counter in the same vertical row can be operated, since no other rod can be pushed upwards. The upper portions of the thickened ends of the rods are beveled or made wedge shaped, as shown at (1 Fig. 4. The interlocking blocks are formed of sections cut from round bars of metal, with slots cut in their ends, so that they may be applied to the supporting ways 6 f and be free to slide laterally thereon. The abutments c c 0 are made in a similar way, but are secured in place on the ways 6 which are inserted in holes in the blocks and the ways. The plate A affords support for the ways in any suitable manner.

i Fig. 3, is

a clip employed to fasten the staples 7L1 in place. Multicandidate or group voting is provided for by removing one or more of the staples 7L1, leaving their corresponding abutments free to move laterally on the ways. Thus, to vote a multi candidate group of two,-that is, where two candidates are nominated for the same oflice by each political party,two adjacent vertical rows of counters are employed, and the abutment 0 between the interlocking blocks of such rows of counters are made movable by removing the staple if, and then a voter can vote for any two of the candidates in such group, but cannot vote for any more of them. In a similar way the machine can be adapted to groups of three or more, by removing two or more of the staples.

The resetting bar V receives a reciprocating up and down movement from the door or turnstile in any suitable way, such for instance, as the spiral cam on the shaft 70 Fig. 1, the connection j the sliding bar Z the bell-crank levers n and links 0 The pins p by which the links 0 are connected to the resetting bar pass through slots in the plate A. The cam has a spiral slot in it, in which a pin on the connection y' engages. The turnstile is provided with a projecting arm or arms X, Fig. 1, which is operated by the voter or inspector, so that the resetting bar moves down and up again, to restore the parts to normal position after each voter has cast his ballot. The first portion of the downward movement of the resetting bar V is utilized to work the rock shaft Y, Figs. 2 and 3, which unlocks the dogs Z on the interlocking rods, and-the latter part .of the movement pushes the interlocking rods down, completes the count, and restores the parts into proper position for the next voter. As the bar V descends, the rock shaft Y turns inward towards the interlocking rods,from left to right in Fig. 4. The rock shaft is provided at one or both ends with an arm p which is connected with the resetting bar by the link The rock shaft is sustained by suitable brackets attached to the plate A at its ends, or at suitable distances apart along its length. The rock shaft consists preferably of a heXagon rod having arms r applied to it, which arms carry the rod 8 with which the dogs Z on the interlocking rods engage. In the unvoted condition of the counter, the rock shaft and dog occupy the positions shown by the full lines in Fig. 3,-the point of the dog resting against the rod 5 hen the key E is depressed, the rod is thrust upwards, and the dog, encountering the bar f is caused to engage over the rod 8 occupying the position indicated by the dotted lines Z ,the counter being thus locked with the key lever depressed. When the rock shaft turns, the dog is first raised to the position Z carrying the interlocking rod, sector and key-lever with it, and insuring the proper movement of the counter, whether the key has been fully depressed by the voter or not. The vote is insured, even if the voter fails to make a complete movement of the key. The continued movement of the rock-shaft disengages the dog Z, and the interlocking rod and the parts attached to it are then restored to normal position by the descent of &

the resetting bar. resetting bar and the rock-shaft are indicated by the full and dotted lines in Fig. 3. The rod 25 extends across the machine, and bears against the dogs when they are raised, being supported by the arm Q2 or in any other suitable way. The bar '11 extends along between the dogs and the interlocking rods, and serves to keep the dogs in properre lations with the rock-shaft. The interlocking rods are bent or offset so as to bring them properly in relation with the interlocking blocks. I

In order to enable the voter to see that the counter operates when he votes, I make a hole through the shutter P at 3 Fig. 6, and provide the units wheel I with a number of colored spaces, 1?, which are so located as to show through the hole 5 when the counter is actuated by the key-levers. If the spaces t be colored red, for instance, the voter will see this color appear through the hole when he de resses the key-lever, instead of the meta lic color of the counter disk which shows when the parts are in the normal or unvoted position. As a convenient way of providing the disk with the colored spaces 1?, I bore holes into its surface, and fill these holes with a colored cement.

It will be understood that many changes and modifications may be made in my improved voting machine without departure from its essential features. Thus the recessed key-board may be omitted, the interlocking rods can be arranged to pull instead of push, the key-levers may be rigid with the vibrating sectors, the gearing on the counters may be differently arranged, the pinions may be located inside the counter disks, the vibrating sector may be of a different construction and. it and the quad may be employed in connection with counters of different kinds, the sector may be actuated by a push or a pull, the interlocking and locking mechanism may be of any suitable or pre ferred construction, and various other modifications may be employed. The pinion 0 may be provided with a larger number of teeth and the sector modified to corrrespond, or otherwise arranged to insure positive operation.

I claim.

1. The combination with a slotted key plate and two parallel shafts, of the counter disks on one shaft, the vibrating toothed sector pivoted on the said shaft, the key lever attached to said sector, and projecting through the slotted key plate, and the 4- toothed pinion, operated directly by said sector, and an operating pinion for the counters on the other shaft, substantially as described.

The movements of the ports at the sides of the row, mechanism for operating the counters separately, the re movable strip between the counters and one of the supports, and the sectional removable key-plate, substantially as described.

3. The combination with a series of counting mechanisms arranged in a row, the supports K at each side of the row, the removable strip q, and the removable key-plate B, arranged to hold the strip in place, substantially as described.

4. In a voting machine, the combination of voting mechanism, registering mechanism, and interlocking mechanism therefor, consisting of interlocking rods having beveled ends, cylindrical interlocking blocks slotted at their ends and staples for passing through said blocks.

5. In a voting machine, the combination of registering mechanism, keys and connections for operating said registering mechanism, one of said connections being provided with an arm having a thinned portion, slotted interlocking rods embracing the thinned portions of said connections, pivot pins for connecting the last two parts named, screws for securing said pin, and interlocking blocks cooperating with said interlocking rods.

6. The combination with two rows of counters and mechanism for operating each counter separately, the removable strip 1, and the key plate in front of one row adapted to secure the strip of the adjacent row in place, substantially as described.

7. The combination with a series of counters, of operating mechanism for each counter consisting of the vibrating toothed sector J the key lever attached thereto, the 4- toothed pinion c, operated directly by said sector, suitable connecting gearing, the beveled interlocking rods M, and suitable interlocking blocks and abutments, substantially as described.

8. The combination with a series of counters, of operating mechanism for each counter consistin of the vibrating toothed sector J, the key lever attached thereto, the 4- toothed pinion c, operated directly by said sector, suitable connecting gearing, the beveled interlock rods M, dogs Z, and rock-shaft Y, and suitable interlocking blocks and abutments, substantially as described.

9. In a voting machine, the combination of a slotted key plate, counters, and counteractuating means, including a vibratory sector cut away on its interior and provided with internal teeth, and a pinion operated by said teeth, the cut away portions of the sectors being large enough to permit the movement of the teeth in either direction after the pinion has been completely actuated.

10. The combination with the apertured key-plate of a voting machine, of a series of two or more counters behind the apertures in the face plate, suitable ism, said keylate being operating mechanmade up of a number of channe ed sections fitting against each other and supporting the counters and a movable apertured shutter inside the machine, Whereb oealed during y the counters may be conthe progress of an election ANGUS MCKENZIE.

Witnesses:

JAMES W. HINE, B. D. CHADWIOK.

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