IMPROVEMENTS IN TURNSTILES AND IN REGISTERING APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1873

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Brownjohn at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 22nd
October 1873.
I JOHN BROWNJOHN, of Clerkenwell, in the County of Middlesex, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
TURNSTILES AND IN REGISTERING APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH," to be as
follows:
The object of this Invention is the construction of turnstiles and
registering apparatus connected therewith which shall occupy a small
space as compared with apparatus of a like nature, while at the same
time it is more certain in operation than those apparatus heretofore
employed, and applicable to tramway cars, omnibuses, bridges; public
buildings, and such other places where it is desirable to register the
number of people entering, or leaving, or both.
...The first part of the Invention consists in the employment of turnstiles
having movable or sliding frames or cross bars instead of fixed cross
bars as heretofore. For this purpose I form in the upright or revolving
shaft, or attach thereto, a boss or enlarged portion having in it apertures
at right angles to one another; in each aperture there is a cross bar free
33

page_text: to slide to and fro in its aperture, and to facilitate the sliding motion
thereof I provide rollers, wheels, or guides, between which the cross bars
slide, the bars may be grooved and the rollers, wheels, or guides, take
into the grooves, or the bars may be plain and the rollers, wheels, or
guides flanged to grasp the bars, but in such manner that the sliding
of the bars is caused by a slight pressure of either end of the said
bars without excessive friction between bars and wheels, rollers or
guides.
For each turnstile there are two apparatus constructed similar to that
just described, each post or vertical shaft being at the side of the
entrance with the sliding cross bars meeting in the centre, or nearly so,
instead of having one vertical shaft with projecting bars in the centre,
as in turnstiles of ordinary construction.
Upon the lower end of the turnstile shafts there is a ratchet into the
teeth of which a pawl takes, so that the shaft can only revolve in one
direction, and the two vertical shafts are connected by a rod worked by
bevil gearing.
Above the ratchet there is a star wheel or camagainst which a wheel
on a shaft in connection with the turnstile is free to work, so that as
soon as a passenger has opened the turnstile bar sufficiently far for him
to enter, the wheel is suddenly carried down an indentation in the star
wheel or cam, and the arms are immediately brought back to their
original position.
In order to prevent a child, for example, entering underneath the
turnstile bars I place a framework or railing there with sufficient space
between the railing for the feet of a passenger to get through, but not
enough for the body, or some other equivalent means for the purpose
may be employed; for example, I hinge a rod to the outer end of the
sliding bars, projecting downwards, having another rod hinged to the
lower end thereof, the latter being linked to the vertical post, thus as
the cross bars slide to and fro the bars aforesaid open and close with
them.
The top of the turnstile shaft or the top of one of them is in con-
nection with a registering apparatus.
The action of tha kuunstila :-

page_text: applied to one bar and the vertical shaft turning, the other projecting
bar comes against a plate or guide, and is thereby caused to slide
through its aperture in vertical shaft so as to project on the other side
and to occupy the position of the projecting bar first pressed against.
This also applies to the vertical shaft and to the sliding bars on the other
side, so that they the bars simultaneously work together.
I
The end of bars next the sides of the doorway may be fitted with
rollers in order to diminish the friction between the cross bars and the
parts against which they slide, and in some cases springs may be used
to draw the bars back or partially so.
For, some purposes the bars may be used on one side for entry and on
the other side for exit. For this purpose the ratchet wheels on the
vertical shafts must be made to work on contrary directions.
As applied to a public tram car conveyance as now constructed I
propose to have the inlet turnstiles on one side, and the exit turnstiles
on the other and opposite side of the footboard or platform' at the end of
the vehicle.
I
For omnibuses I propose to have the inlet turnstile as for tram cars,
but the exit turnstile I propose to place at the corner so as to be
available to passengers from the roof or from the inside, but of course
these turnstiles may be placed in any other position found most
convenient.
The conductor can of course enter the car by the ordinary turnstile if
he chooses, but in this case he would register against himself, I therefore
propose to provide a special door for him, preferably at the ends of the
the car, but so small that he, the conductor, has difficulty in entering or
leaving the car, and in fact cannot do so without turning on one side;
of course this door may be dispensed with and the conductor enter in
the ordinary way, and for this purpose he might be allowed a certain
number of times to enter and leave throughout the day.
Provision is made for the conductor to be able to stop the rotation of
the apparatus if desired.
The turnstile above described is connected to a registering or tell-tale
apparatus which registers or indicates the number of passengers entering
the carriage, building, or other place. I have however devised
registering apparatus which answers the purpose and which may also be

page_text: 1
applied. to other turnstiles and to registering or tell-tale purposes
generally. This forms the second part of my Invention.
On one of the upright turnstile spindles on the entering side I fix a
pinion having teeth formed suitable for gearing into a pawl wheel with
pawl and spring; on the spindle of this pawl wheel is a bevil pinion
gearing into a bevil wheel mounted on a horizontal spindle, which in its
end has the hand for indicating the units; this bevil wheel has on one
side a tooth which once every revolution falls into a wheel with ten
teeth, on the spindle of which wheel a pinion is mounted having ten teeth
gearing into a wheel having forty teeth gearing into a pinion of ten teeth;
the spindle of this latter pinion has the hand or pointer for the hundreds,
and also carries a wheel with a single tooth gearing into a wheel with
ten teeth, the spindle for which carries the pointer for the thousands;
and also carries a wheel with a single tooth gearing into a wheel with ten
teeth, the spindle for which carries the pointer for the tens of thousands,
and so on for the hundreds of thousands and for any number.
Springs or equivalent means are used for retaining the hands or
pointers in position when not acted upon by the following wheels.
The above described registering apparatus, when used in connection
with a system of tickets, forms as nearly as may be a perfect check to
the number of passengers carried and the fares received.