IMPROVEMENTS IN TURNSTILE COUNTING APPARATUS
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Lec Norton, of Holland Street, Blackfriars,
in the County of Surrey, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN TURNSTILE COUNTING APPARATUS."
Sealed the 5th December 1854, and dated the 7th July 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Lee Norton at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 7th
July 1854.
I, JAMES LEE NORTON, of Holland Street, Blackfriars, in the County of
Surrey, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN TURNSTILE COUNTING APPARATUS" to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements in the details of construction of
turnstile counting apparatus, which is employed to register the number of
persons who have passed in a given time into or out of a building or other
place.
To prevent more than one person passing through one division of the turn-
stile at a time, I curve the arms instead of making them straight and radial, as
heretofore.

page_text: In place of using a tread plate for withdrawing a bolt to permit of the turn-
stile revolving, I employ check levers or stops, which will prevent the turnstile
from being driven round with an impetus, and thereby registering a greater
number of persons than have actually passed through. Supposing the turn-
stile to be intended to rotate in opposite directions, and serve for the egress
as well as admission of persons, I use two stop levers which act in opposite
directions. These levers are provided with springs, the ends of which are bent
up, to allow of the arms of the turnstile sliding past them. When, however,
the turnstile is driven round with great force, the advancing arm will strike
against the spring and force it up, leaving the lever quiescent, which will
intercept the progress of the arm.
A pressing roller bearing upon the face of a cam keyed to the lower end of
the turnstile shaft is employed, for bringing the turnstile after every movement
up to its proper position.
To permit of the reverse action of the turnstile, a toothed wheel on the
shaft of the turnstile is provided, with two spring clicks acting in opposite
directions. These are thrown into or out of contact with the teeth of the
wheel by means of a pin on a draw rod.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Lee Norton in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
6th January 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
LEE NORTON, of Holland Street, Blackfriars, in the County of Surrey,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs. and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said James Lec Norton, Her special license that I, the said
James Lee Norton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said James Lee Norton, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
shauld at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at
all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great

page_text: Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN TURNSTILE COUNTING APPARATUS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said James Lee Norton, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of
the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed,
and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Lee Norton, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention relates to improvements in the construction of turnstile
counting apparatus, which is employed to register the number of persons who
have passed in a given time into or out of a building or other place, and has
for its object,-
First, to prevent more than one person passing through one division of the
turnstile at a time, for which purpose I curve the arms instead of having
merely straight and radial ones, as heretofore.
Second, in place of using a tread plato for withdrawing a bolt to permit of
the turnstile revolving, I employ check levers or stops, which will prevent the
turnstile from being driven round with an impetus, and thereby registering a
greater number of persons than have actually passed through. Supposing the
turnstile to be intended to rotate in opposite directions and serve for the egress
as well as admission of persons, I use two stop levers, which act in opposite
directions. These levers are provided with springs, and their ends are bent up,
to allow of the arms of the turnstile sliding past them. When, however, the
turnstile is driven round with great force, the advancing arm will strike against
the end of the lever and force it up, leaving the other part quiescent, which
will intercept the progress of the arm.
Third, a pressing roller bearing upon the face of a cam keyed to the lower
end of the turnstile shaft is employed, for bringing the turnstile after every
movement up to its proper position.
Fourth, to permit of the reverse action of the turnstile, a toothed wheel on
the shaft of the turnstile is provided, with two spring clicks acting in opposite
directions. These are thrown into or out of contact with the teeth of the
wheel by means of a pin on a draw rod.

page_text: In the several Figures of the accompanying Drawings I have shown various
views of my improved turnstile counting apparatus, in which are included all
my present improvements. Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the apparatus, a
portion of the working parts being shewn in section, in order that they may be
more clearly seen; Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view; Fig. 3, a plan view
of the top part of the apparatus; & Fig. 4 is a plan view of the standard
and arms, constructed according to my present improvements, the several parts
being represented in the position they would assume both when in use and
when not in use. The other Figures in the Drawing are detached views of
some parts of the apparatus drawn upon an enlarged scale, and will be here-
after more particularly referred to.
a, a, a, is the foundation plate of the apparatus; b, b, b, b, the upright
standards or framing; and c, the central pillar or shaft, to which are fixed the
horizontal arms d, d, d, d.
In order to prevent more than one person from passing through the turnstile
at one time, these arms d, d, are provided with curved bars e, e, e, e, which
extend from the ends of one bar in a curved form to the ends of the next arm,
and so on all round, as shewn (partly by dotted lines) in Fig. 4. The bars e, c,
are supported at their middle parts by short arms f, f, attached to or extending
from the central shaft c. Sometimes it may be found convenient to displace
one of the arms d and its appendages, in oriler to allow a free passage through
the turnstile without moving round the arms or central shaft c. In order to
effect this, I provide one of the arms d with a joint, so that it may be turned
back out of the way; and when this is done, the curved bars e* attached to
that arm must be jointed also, and be capable of being detached from the
arm when required. The moveable bars e* are secured at or near one end to
short arms g, g, which turn on pins (as shewn in Fig. 4), and the opposite
ends of the bars e*, e, are made to enter holes in the arms d, as shewn in the
detached views, Figures 5 and 6, which are drawn upon an enlarged scale, in
order that the construction of the joint may be more clearly seen. When the
en is of the bars are inserted in the holes in the arms d, they are secured
therein by the hook h, Figures 5 and 6.
If thought desirable, the radial arms may be dispensed with, in which case
the curved bars e, e, must be made somewhat stronger, in order to resist any
undue strain that may be put upon them.
The next improvement relates to the employment of a check lever in place
of a tread plate or the ordinary stopping lever, for the purpose of preventing the
turnstile from being moved round more than one quarter of a revolution at a

page_text: time, and for stopping the turnstile if any sudden and undue impetus is given
thereto, either by accident or design.
As my improved turnstile may be made to rotate in either direction, I
employ two check levers, one for each direction. These check levers are
shewn in Figures 1 and 2, at i, i, and detached and drawn upon an enlarged
scale at Fig. 7.
The check levers i, i, turn on stud pins 1, 1, in bracket arms j, j, affixed to
or cast upon the under side of the top plate k, k, of the apparatus, and are so
placed that the arms d, d, of the turnstile pass under them, and in so doing aro
made to come in contact with the curved or inclined end of the lever, and raiso
the same up every time the arm passes under it. It will be seen, on referring
to Fig. 7, that these check levers are made in two parts, connected together by
the straps 1, . The outer end of the lever is connected to the strap by screws
or pins 2, 2, and must move with it; and the latter, being mounted on a simple
stud 3, which passes through the body of the main lever, it is capable of a
motion on the stud 3, independent of the main body of the lever. A coiled
spring n, concealed within the main body of the lever, but shewn by dots at
Fig. 7, will keep down the strap 1 and the other end of the lever, except when
any sudden or undue impetus is given to the arm d, which, by coming with force
against the under side of the end of the lever, will raise it and the strap up
into the position shewn by dots in Fig. 7; and the arm d will then strike
against the end of the main lever i, and be stopped thereby until the latter is
raised out of the way, which will take place immediately the arm d relieves it
from pressure. In order to deaden the shock of the arm d, when striking
against the end of the lever i, and to prevent the injurious effects that would
arise therefrom, a cushion or block of india-rubber m is adapted to the hole
through which the stud 1 passes, so that, when the end of the lever i is struck,
the block m will be flattened by the blow, but will quickly resume its normal
state when the pressure is removed. The pressure of the spring n is such as
to keep the several parts of the check lever in their proper positions, as shewn
in Fig. 7, when the armi d is pushed forward in a proper manner, and will only
come into play when any violence is attempted.
In order to bring the turnstile into its proper position after the passage of
every person, a cam o is placed at the lower end of the central shaft c, and a
pressing roller p, at one end of a weighted lever q, is made to bear upon the
face of the cam, and by its weight cause the central shaft to come round to the
proper position.
The weighted lever q may also be made to act as a stop lever, to prevent the

page_text: rotation of the turnstile, when required; for which purpose, it is only necessary
for the attendant to place his foot on the outer end of the lever, and keep the
pressing roller p in the recess of the cam o.
As it may be convenient for the turnstile to be capable of turning in either
direction, I have adapted to it certain mechanical contrivances, which will
enable this to be done with convenience.
A toothed wheel, Figures 1, 2, and 3, is keyed on to the upper end of the
central shaft c, and a click lever s, s, is adapted to each side of this wheel, and
made to take into the teeth thereof when required. The two click levers s, s,
are kept in contact with the teeth of the wheel by a coiled spring t, and either
one of them may be drawn or pushed back, when required, by means of the
sliding bar u, shewn by dots in Fig. 3, and which is provided with a pin or
stud v for this purpose. It will now be seen, that by merely pushing forward
or pulling back this bar u, the stud will be made to act against either one
of the lever clicks s, and move its end out of gear with the teeth of the wheel,
which may then be rotated towards the one then in gear with the wheel, but
not in the opposite direction. By bringing the stud v against the other click
lever, this latter may be pushed back, and the former one let into gear
again with the wheel r, the rotation of which must then be reversed. When
the stud v is brought midway between the click levers, both of them will drop
into the teeth of the wheel r, which will then be prevented from rotating in
either direction, and, if required, the bar u may be secured in this position by a
lock or otherwise.
In order to avoid complexity in the Drawings, I have not thought it advisable
to shew the mechanism whereby the rotation of the turnstile is communicated
to a suitable counting apparatus, as my present improvements in no way
interfere therewith; and the mode of adapting this mechanism to the shaft cof
the turnstile is precisely the same as that described in the Specification of my
previous Patent, dated the Seventeenth day of June, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-two; or any ordinary counting apparatus may be adapted
thereto.
Having now described my Invention, and the manner of carrying the same
into effect, I claim, in conclusion,-
First, the use and application to turnstiles of curved arms or bars for the
purpose of preventing more than one person at a time entering either of the
divisions of the turnstile.
Second, I claim the use of the compound stop levers i, i, or any mere
modification thereof.

page_text: Third, I claim the use of the weighted lever 9 and its pressing roller, for the
purpose above set forth.
Lastly, I claim the arrangements shewn in Figures 1, 2, and 3, or any
modification thereof, for enabling the turnstile to be turned in either direction,
or locked when required.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Lee Norton, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Fourth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
Witness,
FRED. WALKDEN,
66, Chancery Lane.
JAMES LEE NORTON. (L.S.)"