US943017A - Voting-machine lock-out. - Google Patents

Description

L. T. HARKNESS.

VOTING MAGHINE LOCK-OUT.

APPLIOATION rum) JUNE so, 1908.

' 943,017, Patented Dec. 14, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

[IVVE/VTOR Lou/:3 T/Vdnfness chine in general -election.

onrrnn STATES PATENT orrioa LOUIS T. HARKNESS, OF JAMESTOWN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, YTO EMPIRE 'V'OTING MACHINE COMPANY, OF RQOHESTEB AND JAMESTOWN, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

VOTING-MACHINE Lock-our.

Speelflcation'of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 30, 1908. I Serial No. 441,052

Patented Dec. 14, 1909.

To all whom it'may concern:

Be it known that LLoorsT. HAn'KNEss, a,

citizen 'of the United States, residing" at Jamestown, in the-county of- Chautauqua machine. described, in the patent issued to V, J. Lausterer No. 820,802, and has for its object to provide a detachable lockout that may be directly applied to the key plate of thevot-ingmachine, so as to adapt forv primary elections a machine that is otherwise suitable for onlygeneral elections. This lockout is easily removable from the inachinewhen it is necessar to use theman primaryelections where thisinvention is to be used it will be understood that'the primaries of all of the parties are held at the'same time and place and that one machine. .is adjusted to carry the-names of all of the candidatesof the various parties. If the ordinary nae-- chine were 'labeledrwith the names of the candidates of the various parties, any voter might vote for some ofthe candidates of one party and for other candidatesof another party. -.This,'however, is strictly forbidden by the primary election laws of many of the States, such laws providing that the voter must-announce his party afliliation at the primary before he' is allowed toivote, and then will only be allowed to vote for the candidatespf the particular party with which he isaililiated. It is understood, of course, that the objectof the primary election is to select those candidates which will make up the party ticket in the regular election' following thereafter. In order to re strict the voter to candidates of his own party in primary elections, I have devised certain attachments which may be applied to the keyboard of the machine, and the effect of which is to permit the election; oflicers to release the voting devices belonging to the candidates of one party at a time,

holdinglocked the voting devices of all of the can'didates'of the other parties.

The object of my invention is to restrict the successive voters in their operation of thereto, said view showin lines locked thereby against operation and the machine to the particular parts of the machine which their party alliliation entitles them to vote on. In the accompanying drawingsi Figure 1 represents a front elevation of the keyboard of the machine with my im 'roved primary election lockout attached. F ig. 2 represents a large detail view of the upper left hand corner of the keyboard of the machine, showing my improved lockout applied another of said party lines released for votmg ()PQIELtlOIL' Fig. 3 shows a section on the line 3", 3* in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 indicates a one of said party section onthe line 43, 4* inlFig. 2, on an enlarged scale, and partly broken away. Fig. 5 is a,detail showing the manner oflocking individual keys.

In the. accompan ing drawings, like reference numerals re er to likeparts.

.As shown at the top of Fig. 4 the casing of the machine 1 carries at its upper front edge an angle iron 2. Clamped to this angle iron 2 by a set screw 3 is a bracket 4,

which bracket supports a T shaped plate On this plate is carried studs 7, 7, which studs in turn support the slides 6, '6. Each ofthese slides 6, 6 is provided with straight grooves or guides 8, 8 in which engage the studs 7, 7, and intermediate with these grooves each plate has a cam 9 cut therein. Each of these slides lStllllSlTlOlllltQd toslide. horizontally on its straight grooves.

Mounted on the plate 5 are the upright connecting rods or links 10, 10, each of which has at its upper end a stud 11. One connecting rod 10 isprovided for each slide 6 and each of the connectingrods 10 is connected with its slide 6 so that the stud 11 on the connecting rod 10 engages with the cam slot 9 on its respective slide 6. The connecting rods 10 are guided at the 11 per ends by the studs 12, 12, which hold sai connecting rod to the up and down motion which is side elevation in Fig .-4, the inner one: being the shortest. The lengths increase -p rogressively from-the-in'nerfone to the outer one,

the inner one vbeingT-coirnected to the bar 5' that controls the top partyrow of: keys, and.

' the' outerone being eonnectedto the bar that controls the bottom party row -of keys.,:The,

intermediate rods are=connected successively to s-the that control the intermediat party rowsof keys. p I The ea'm plate 13 -1s-m'oved- -up-and down by. the connecting rod to which is attached. and this 1n turn imparts a horizontal moveplatef). :Theguides 30,30arefastened to the plate 5 by studs 32 having large heads furnished for a purpose that will presently be described. The plate 5 also provided with horizontal slots '31, 31-, one-for each party row of keys, through which slots 31 -pass the studs-16 and bywhich slots thev studs 16 and the slides 15 are held toafhoii -'zontal movement whe n the ca1n-plates 13.. *IIIOVQ'VGIhlCflll'YQ The plate and the foregoing parts mounted thereon may be referred to, as the motor device of my invention. Connected to each'of the slides l5 arethebars- 17 ,'.each otthesebzirs having at suit.v

able i'in'tervals thereonlugs 18, said lugs .bemg adapted to normally rest under the-en- 3'5 larged outer portion of the-key 1.9 so as to" prevent the voting of such-key. By moving one of these bars to the left to the position. shown in'the" second party line. in'Fig. 2, the lugs 18 are placedfnearlyunder the; axes '40 of the keys of that party line, which permits such keys'to-be turned downto voted position. It will be understood that oueot these bars 17 v vill be placed on the machine for each party rowot'keys to be locked thereby and that-each of said bars extends the full length of its. partyrowof' keys When the bar 18 is in locking position the 1ugs181 rest under .each key in itspartyrow.

and thejkeys are'held locked thereby. The

bars l7'are put-in'place 'as'follows: Thekeys of a party row are votedand While in their voted posltion the lugsll8w'aite inserted one back of each 'key. and as nearto its axis asis possible. "The bar l7 is pushed down until the lugs 18 rest ontop of, the label'holder below-the keys. The bar 17 will then be held in. this position and the keys Will be returned to unvo'ted position, After this the bar-17 can be swung out at the bottom so that the lugs 18 are clear of the top of the label holder, after which the bars can be dropped down until the lugs 18 are outside of the label holder and immediately under the; keys. In this position the bar 17 will rest on the pivots otth'e keys andwill be .t'i'e to -slide.back-5and forth tor a limited 111OV61118I1l3 so as to lock 'or'release the keys thereto may be placedin position; 'This 'i's done by settihg it in'i'ts. proper place on the,"

front ofthe machine and inserting each of the studs 20 carried on' the slides '15 into the hole'provided therefor on the bar"17--.so asv to make the slide 15 andthe bar 17 move to{ jgether-l After-"this is'done-the plate 5 may be. fastenedi i'n place," which fastening is e'fliected "as follows: Mountedon the plate is aslide 21 which has at suitable intervals thereonlugs-22, 22 which project rearwardly through slots in the plate 5.. These lugs 22,1

22 atthe rear end are'bent down so that they may, pass inback of and engage with 35 the partylevers for straight ticket keys 23.

After all, of the other necessary adjustmentsha-ve beenm'ade the plates5 can, be put in ,pd'sition and locked in pla cejby lowering the slide 21-. 'This slide 21 may inturn b690- locked; against endw'ise movement.

' It-willbe "understood, of. course, that the plate 5 rests -'o'nythe anglexiron 23 at the 'bottom of the key plate of the machine and has. a lug thereon which engages with the angle os' iron Q-l so as to prevent any up" and down movement: thereby, andit 'i's fastened to the angle iron 2 at thetop of then' lachine .by' means OjftlldblkCliBbl; and the 'set-screwfg above described. 'From, the foregoing de- 10o scrip'tiou-it will now be understood that by drawing out'to the left any one of the slides 6 its corresponding lockingbar 17' Will be' drawn to its unlocking position, thus resimultaneously. Depending from" the/outer 1j-1o.

end of each ot'iih'ese slides 6 is a handle 25' and the slide 6 is further provided at its outer end with a. label holder28, inxyvhich. may be placed a cardbearing a party emblem so that the party emblem 'Will' be exposed \vhen the slide is in votingpositio n providing, of course, it is the only one that v is 111 voting position, and when 1t 1s pushed back to 'unvoted position the party emblem will be concealed. If it is desired to pre- .vent more than one of these slides from bcing in voting position at a time an interlock may be applied so as to secure this result.

In primary elections it is sometimes'necessary to use the keys'of more than one party rorvtor the candidates of a. single party. In such case it will be 1u cessary to simultaneously unlock all of said party rows when the voter of that party is admitted, and for this purpose I provide means for coupling two or more of the consecutive slides 6 for simultaneous movement. For this purpose links 26 are provided on the back of each slide which can engage with a stud 27 whichis on the front of the next slide back of it. I11 this way two or more. slides can be connected together or all of the slides on the machine can be connected into two or more sets as the needs of the election may require.

To conceal'the moving parts 10, 13, and 16, etc., I provide a casing 28 which may be fastened over said arts as follows:

The studs 32 re erred to above as being carried on the, back of plate 5 are provided with large heads. The casing 28 is provide with'slots spaced suitabl. with reference to said studs. Each of sai slots is made wide at its lower end so .as to go over the head of its corresponding stud, and is contracted at its upper end so as to engage under the head of its stud. This makes it possible to fasten said casing 28 in place by engaging the slots in the plate 5 with the enlarged portions of the studs after which the casing 28 is moved down a little, so as to engage with the studs 32, which engagement locks it in position. n

It is obvious th'at my invention can be modified so as to make it applicable to any type of machine with any form of keys, whether they are of the push key or pull key type or of any other pattern, all such uses of my lockout being regarded as within the scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and patentable is as follows:

1. The combination in a voting machine of a keyboard, keys mounted thereon and arranged in parallel rows, a sliding bar mounted adjacent to the keys in each row and supported thereby, each of said bars having projections thereon one projection for each key, said projections extending across their respective keys and engaging with said keys and hold them against movement, said bars being capable of movement to looking or unlocking position, to lock the keys against movement or release the keys for voting operation.

2. The combination in a voting machine of a keyboard of pivoted keys exposed there on, said keys being arranged in parallel rows, a sliding bar arranged on the outside of the keyboard adjacent to each of said rows of keys, said sliding bars having projections thereon, one projection for each ofsaidkeys, said bars being movable to locking and unlocking position so as to engage the projections thereon with their respective keys or remove said projections from the keys, whereby the keys. are either locked against movement or released for voting operation.

3. The combination in a voting machine a bar for locking said keys,

against voting operation, and releasing the keys while in unlocking. position so as to permit the voting operationthereof.

4. The combination of keyboard with keys mounted thereon arranged in arallel rows, abar for each row of keys, said .bar rest-ing against one side of the keys, projections on said bar extending across the row of keys and engaging with the keys from the other side to prevent the movement thereof.

5. In a voting machine a keyboard with voting keys mounted thereon, said keys be; ing movable into and out of voted position, said-bar being removable from the keyboard of. the 'machine when the keys are placed in voted position, and said bar being held by the keys against removal from the keyboard of the machine when the keys are placed in reset position.

6. The combination in a voting-machine of a keyboard having keys arranged thereon in parallel party rows, a bar removably applied to each of said having devices thereon for engaging the keys to lock them against voting operation, a common means for locking all of said bars against removal from the machine.

7. The combination in a voting machine of a keyboard having voting devices thereon, means applied to the keyboard of the machine for locking said voting devices against operation by party rows, said means being movable in part or in whole so as to unlock one or more of said party rows of keys for voting operation.

8.. The combination in a voting, machine of a keyboard, a plurality of keys exposed on said board, a series of locking bars exposed on said board for locking said keys, a cam for operating said bar, said cam moving at right angles to the movement of said bar, a connecting rod for operating said cam, and a cam with a handle thereto for operating said connecting'rod.

9. The combination in a voting machine of a keyboard, voting devices arranged thereon in a plurality of rows, means for locking and unlocking said voting devices by rows, said means being mounted on the outside of said keyboard and comprising a separate locking bar for each row of voting devices, means for operating said bars singly or in groups and connections between said operating means and said bars.

10. In a voting machine thecombination of a keyboard, keys mounted thereon in rows, a locking bar mounted to slide on one party rows of keys v side of a row of keys and supported thereby, said bar having projections thereon extending across the keys to engage and hold the keys when the bar is placed in' one position and to release the keys when thebar is placed in another position.

11. Ina voting machine the combination of a keyboard, keys pivoted thereon in rows, a locking bar mounted to slide on one side of a row of keys, projections on said bar eX- tending across the rows of keys and engaging. with the other side of said keys, by which the keys are held locked when the bar is held in one position, and which leave the keys free to move when the bar is placed in another position.

12. In a voting machine the combination ofa keyboard, keys pivoted thereon in rows, a locking bar mounted on, one side of one of said rows of keys to slide thereon, said bar having projections thereon which extend to the other side of said keys and engage therewith, said bar being freely movable to move said projections from the free ends of the respective key to the pivoted end and vice versa.

13. The combination in a voting machine of a plurality of lockout bars, a motor device therefor, comprising a T shaped plate having a horizontal and vertical member,

studs mounted on the horizontal member, a series of cams mounted to slide on said studs, guides on the vertical member, cams mounted to slide in said guides, connections between each cam of the one'series and its corresponding cam on the other series, wherebythe movement of a cam on the one series will move its corresponding cam on the other series.

14. In a voting machine the combination of a keyboard, keys mounted thereon, bars for locking said keys, a motor device for operatingsaid bars comprising a T shaped plate, having a horizontal and a vertical 15. The combination in a voting machine of a key plate, voting devices arranged in parallel rows, a party lever at the head of each row, a lookout bar for each row of keys placed on the outside of the keyboard, a motor device for controlling said lockout bars, lugs on said motor device for engaging with the party levers whereby the motor device is held in place on the keyboard.

16. The combination in a voting machine of a keyboard, voting devices thereon, lock out bars for controlling said voting devices, said lockout bars being removably mounted on said keyboard, a motor device for controlling said lockout bars, said motor device be1ng removably held 1n place, said motor device when in place serving tohold the lockout bars in place.

17. The combination in a voting machine of a plurality of lockout bars, a motor device for operating said bars, said motor device having a cam thereon for each bar for driving said bar independently of the other bars, each of said cams being capable of independent movement.

, In testimony whereof I hereby aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM J. LAUSTERER, ALEXANDER B. CoRoImUs.

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