VOTING GEAR, BALLOT BOXES, AND APPLIANCES CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1884

page_text: I, JOSEPH JOHN BUTCHER, of 4 St Nicholas' Buildings, in the City and County of
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Engineer do hereby declare the nature of my invention for
VOTING GEAR, BALLOT BOXES, AND APPLIANCES CONNECTED THEREWITH to be as
follows:-
I usually construct a separate voting machine (or box, as it might be called) for
each separate elector. This box is supplied with voting balls from a reserve store
by means of mechanism (to be subsequently described) which. is under the control
of the person in charge of, and directing, the voting or election, in such a manner
that the voter has no power over any voting ball except at such time, and during
such time, as the controller or director of votes may desire.
In describing my invention I will take a voting gear of simple construction only,
that is one in which the ball when withdrawn from the reserve store can take
either one of two directions only, leading to one of two channels, which may be
respectively named the "Aye" channel, and the "No" channel, or may when
convenient be used for voting for two separate individuals. In such a machine
the reserve of voting balls is kept in a tube of such diameter as to permit of the
very free rolling of a single voting ball along it, or of a long file or string of such
balls, but not sufficiently large to admit of two balls being placed side by side or
coming together so nearly in line across the tube as to cause a bite or block, the
object being that all the balls may be at all times and in all positions free to roll
along or down.the supply tube. This tube is then placed in a sloping or inclined
position, the incline falling towards the voting box. The inside of the tube must
be smooth and frictionless, and should be non-corrosive so as to remain during long
periods both smooth and frictionless. Glass has been found to be a very suitable
material of which to form these tubes, but when the tube or a portion of the tube,
is either vertical or steeply inclined a rough material, such as iron, may be used.
The downward or lower termination of this tube which contains the reserve of
voting balls terminates in immediate contiguity to the feeder which is controlled
by the person directing the voting, and which supplies the voter with the balls
with which to vote. This feeder contains a recess of such size and shape as to
readily receive from the supply tube one voting ball, when it is placed opposite the
1031

page_text: end of that tube. When the recess is not opposite the end of the supply tube the
body of the feeder in which the recess is formed closes that tube and so prevents
any other balls escaping. The balls roll into the recess by the mere action of
gravity, and the rest of the balls follow down the tube, each successive ball
cheking the downward course of the ball immediately behind and above it. Tho
mouth of the recess in the feeder, and of the end of the supply tube or passage, are
so formed as to prevent any jamming when the recess and ball within it are
carried across the mouth of the supply passage or tube containing the reserve
of balls.
The feeder has imparted to it a reciprocal motion which traverses it between its
position when the recess within it is opposite the end of the supply tube and the
position assumed by it when it brings the ball into such a position as to permit of
its falling into gear with the directing or voting mechanism, and therefore under
the control of the elector or person who desires to vote. The directing or voting
mechanism is composed of a disc of iron or glass or other suitable material of a
thickness somewhat greater than the diameter of one of the voting balls. This
disc (which is free to revolve through a certain angle in a horizontal plane, and
is acted upon by a small handle, which may be made to form a pivot upon which
the disc turns, and may be produced through the casing beneath such disc, so that
it may be under the control of the voter) is fitted immediately under the feeder,
and the top surface of the voting disc forms the floor of the recess in the feeder
into which the voting ball rolls. When this disc is in mid-gear (or mid-position)
its uper surface forms a continuous floor beneath the recess in the feeder in both
the forward and backward positions of the latter. The position of the termination
of the reserve pipe is such that when the feeder is opposite it, and receives a ball,
that ball is in such a position with regard to its distance from the centre of the
voting disc, that, no matter how the latter might be turned round (if that were
possible), the disc would still present an unbroken floor beneath the recess within
which the voting balls would remain. I usually prevent the disc from turning
from its mid-position when the recess in the feeder is opposite the end of the
supply pipe, by means of a slot in the disc, into which a projection upon the feeder
locks when in that position. When however the feeder bas removed the ball into
the position from which the voter is to difflect it down the "Aye
or "No" port
the disc is unlocked by the feeder, and is then free to be revolved by the voter
within certain limits. By thus revolving the disc the voter is able to bring either
the "Aye" port or the "No" port underneath the voting ball, and thus to vote
as he desires. The feeder cannot return so as to be supplied by another ball
unless the disc is again returned to its mid-position, and, to insure this being done,
a spring or springs are so arranged as to accomplish that purpose automatically,
Some little force is therefore needful for the voter to difflect the disc out of mid-
gear and thus to make his vote, and when no voter is there no vote will be made,
but the feeder will simply reciprocate with its contained voting ball without
discharging it.
"
n
The two ports, pipes or channels described, called respectively "Aye" and
"No," which lead from each voter's box, each separately terminates in a pipe for
"Aye" or "No" balls, which are common to several voters, and these again
terminate in channels which are common to the balls coming from a yet larger
number of voters boxes until the final "Aye" channel receives all the balls that
have been voted "Aye" from whatever part of the group of voting boxes they may
come, and all the balls that have been voted to "No" are similarly received into a
common channel. It is convenient to allow all the balls coming down the "
Aye
channels to discharge themselves into one basin of a scale, and all those coming
from the "No" channels to discharge themselves into the other basin of the scale,
so that, instantly the voting is completed, the votes may be weighed, and thus a
rough gauge is at once obtained of the relative numbers of the balls voted for
"Aye" and "No" respectively. Counting may afterwards be resorted to, and will
"

page_text: be found, wherever the voting is nearly balanced, or the balls are not very nearly
alike throughout in weight, to be the more reliable method when a perfectly
accurate result is desired.
The collecting or drainage channels described in the above arrangement must all
slope downwards from each voting box right to the termination of the system of
channels or spouts, and where these are long it will be found convenient to use
some material capable of taking a hard, comparatively frictionless, surface, so as to
avoid the necessity of making the incline very steep to ensure the steady rolling of
the balls. The bottoms of these channels only may be formed of such com-
paratively frictionless material (slate, glass or other) and the sides of some other
material (such as wood).
Where the number of voters is large and the collecting channels of part of the
system will terminate upon a lower level than that upon which it will be found
convenient to place the weighing apparatus or scale, which it is preferable to so
place that it is in full view of the audience. In this case I prefer to use some
suitable elevating apparatus to raise the voting balls from the termination of the
collecting spouts up to the level of the scale.
The feeder which transfers the balls from a position opposite to the termi-
nation of the reserve tube to such a position that, when the voters act upon the
apparatuses, they will roll down the "Aye" or "No" ports, is actuated by means
of a rod which is attached to a flexible or movable diaphragm, or to a movable
piston. This diaphragm or piston is actuated by means of differences of fluid
pressure, which latter are controlled by suitable valves worked by the person in
charge of the voting (director of votes or vote taker) To avoid the fitting,
packing, and leakage consequent upon the employment of ordinary pistons a light
flexible plate may be employed corrugated annularly so as to admit of its being
extended along radial lines. Air is a very suitable fluid to employ, and, if the air
is introduced behind the movable plate, and its pressure varied between a partial
vacuum and a plenum (the edges of the plate having been made, by any suitable or
convenient means, air tight) this plate will, through the rod described, actuate the
feeder in the manner required. Suitable rigid supporting plates may be fitted
upon either side of the flexible plate in such a manner as to prevent it from
receiving deformation in working. It is obvious that instead of this flexible plate,
held immovable at, and air tight by, its edges, and moving by the air pressure at
its centre, a diaphragm of other material, of the character of rubber, or leather &c,. .
might be used and actuated by similar means, and in a similar way.
centre
In a set of voting gears actuated pneumatically from a common valve as
as described, this valve is connected with the various voting gears by means of air
mains, and small branch air pipes in any usual or convenient way. The diaphragm
might be acted upon by air pressure alternately upon opposite sides, but this would
involve two separate sets of pipes, and so the air pressure alternating upon one
side of the diaphragm above and below the pressure of the atmosphere has been
found to be the simpler plan. The air at a pressure above that of the atmosphere
is drawn from a receiver (or pair or set of receivers) sufficiently large to supply the
whole of the pipes and diaphragms with the requisite pressure speedily, and, to
reduce the pressure to that of a partial vacuum, this air is allowed to flow back
along the pipes into another receiver (or pair or set of receivers) from which air
has previously been withdrawn so as to form a partial vacuum therein. Suitable
valves control this flux and efflux of the air. An air compressing pump and a
vacuum pump are used to force air into and withdraw air from these receivers.
A convenient position in which to place the voting box is upon the chair arm
within which the glass (or other) tube containing the reserve of voting balls may
be fitted. This tube may be turned up against the back of the seat, or run along
the same upon the required incline, or formed as a spiral coil and placed in any
suitable or convenient position. The first part of the "Aye" and "No" collecting
pipes or spouts may in this case be formed in the leg of the chair or seat below

page_text: the voting box and terminate in the first collecting or drainage mains beneath
the same.
In cases where it is desirable to allow some group or class of electors to register
their votes separately from the main body this may be done by means of valves
which are so arranged as to permit of the balls being supplied to that group of
electors only, no balls being supplied to any of the other electors whose voting
boxes would therefore, for the time being, be useless to them. For this purposo
suitable branch mains in the air supply system are fitted, and a proper system of
stop valves supplied, all under the control of the vote taker or takers (or director
or directors of votes).
Deted this Fifth day of Febrery one thousand eight hundred and eighty

page_text: I, JOSEPH JOHN BUTCHER, of 4 St Nicholas' Buildings, in the City and County.
of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of my invention
for VOTING GEAR, BALLOT BOXES, AND APPLIANCES CONNECTED THEREWITH,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement :—
I usually construct a separate voting machine (or box as it might be called) for
each separate elector. This box is supplied with voting balls from a reserve store
by means of mechanism (to be subsequently described) which is under the control
of the person in charge of, and directing, the voting or election, in such a manner
that the voter has no power over any voting ball except at such time, and during
such time, as the controller or director of votes may desire.
In describing my invention I will take a voting gear of simple construction only,
that is one in which the ball when withdrawn from the reserve store can take
either one of two directions only, leading to one of two channels, which may be
separately named "the Aye channel " and "the No channel," or may when
convenient be used for voting for two separate individuals. In such a machine
the reserve of voting balls is kept in a tube of such diameter as to permit of the
very free rolling of a single voting ball along it, or of a long file or string of such
balls, but not sufficiently large to permit of two balls being placed side by side, or
coming together so nearly in line across the tube as to cause a bite or block; the
object being that all the balls may be at all times and in all positions free to roll
along or down the supply tube. This tube is then placed in a sloping or inclined
position, the incline falling towards the voting box. The inside of the tube must
be smooth and frictionless, and should be non-corrosive so as to remain during long
periods both smooth and frictionless. Glass has been found to be a very suitable
material of which to form these tubes, but when the tube or a portion of the tube
is either vertical or steeply inclined, a rough material, such as iron may be used.
The downward or lower termination of this tube which contains the reserve of
voting balls terminates in immediate contiguity to the feeder which is controlled
by the person directing the voting and which supplies the voter with the balls with
which to vote. This feeder contains a recess of such size and shape as to readily
receive from the supply tube one voting ball, when it is placed opposite the end of
the tube. When this recess is not opposite the end of the supply tube the body of
the feeder in which the recess is formed closes that tube and so prevents any other
balls escaping. The balls roll into the recess by the mere action of gravity, and the
rest of the balls follow down the tube, each successive ball checking the downward
course of the ball immediately behind and above it. The mouth of the recess in the
feeder, and of the end of the supply tube or passage, are so formed as to prevent
any jamming when the recess and ball within it are carried across the mouth of the,
supply passage or tube containing the reserve of balls.
The feeder has imparted to it a reciprocal motion which traverses it between the
positions when the recess within it is opposite the end of the supply tube, and the
position assumed by it when it brings the ball into such a position as to permit of
its falling into gear with the directing or voting mechanism, and therefore under
the control of the elector or person who desires to vote. The directing or voting
mechanism is composed of a disc of iron or glass or other suitable material of a
thickness somewhat greater than the diameter of one of the voting balls. This
disc (which is free to revolve through a certain angle in a horizontal plane and is
acted upon by a small handle which may be made to form a pivot upon which the
disc turns and may be produced through the casing beneath such disc, so that it

page_text: may be under the control of the voter) is fitted immediately under the feeder, and
the top surface of the voting disc forms the floor of the recess in the feeder, into
which the voting ball rolls. When this disc is in mid-gear (or mid-position) its
upper surface forms a continuous floor beneath the recess in. the feeder in both the
forward and backward positions of the latter. The position of the termination of
the reserve pipe is such that when the feeder is opposite it and receives a ball that
ball is in such a position with regard to its distance from the centre of the voting
disc, that no matter how the latter might be turned round (if that were possible),
the disc would still present an unbroken floor beneath the recess within which the
voting balls would remain. I usually prevent the disc from turning from its
mid-position when the recess in the feeder is opposite the end of the supply pipe,
by means of a slot in the disc, into which a projection upon the feeder locks when
in that position; when however the feeder has removed the ball into the position
from which the voter is to deflect it down the Aye or No port the disc is unlocked
by the feeder and is then free to be revolved by the voter within certain limits. By
thus révolving the disc the voter is able to bring either the Aye port or the No port
underneath the voting ball and thus to vote as he desires. The feeder cannot return
so as to be supplied by another ball unless the disc is again returned to its
mid-position, and, to ensure this being done, a spring or springs are so arranged as
to accomplish the purpose automatically. Some little force is therefore necessary
to deflect the disc out of mid-gear and thus to vote, and when no voter is there no
vote will be made, but the feeder will simply reciprocate with its contained voting
ball without discharging it.
26
The two ports, pipes, or channels described, called respectively the Aye and No
ports, &c, which lead from each voter's box, each separately terminates in a pipe for
Aye or No balls which are common to several voters, and these again terminate in
channels which are common to the balls coming from a yet larger number of voters
boxes, until the final Aye channel receives all the balls which have been voted
"Aye" from whatever part of the group of voting boxes they may come, and all the
balls that have been voted "No" are similarly received into a cominon channel.
It is convenient to allow all the balls coming down the Aye channels to dis-
charge themselves into one basin of a scale, and all those coming from the No
channels to discharge themselves into the other basin of the scale so that instantly
the voting is completed the votes may be weighed, and thus a rough gauge is at
once obtained of the relative numbers of the balls voted for Aye and No respectively.
Counting may afterwards be resorted to, and will be found, whenever the voting is
nearly balanced or the balls are not very nearly alike throughout in weight, to be
the more reliable method when a perfectly accurate result is desired.
The collecting or drainage channels described in the above arrangement must all
slope downwards from each voting box right to the termination of the system of
channels or spouts, and where these are long it will be found convenient to use
some material capable of taking a hard, comparatively frictionless, surface, so as to
avoid the necessity of making the incline very steep to ensure the steady rolling of
the balls. The bottoms of these channels may be formed of such comparatively
frictionless material (slate, glass or other), and the sides of some other material
(such as wood). .
Where the number of voters is large the collecting channels of part of the
system will terminate upon a lower level than that upon which it may be found
convenient to place the weighing apparatus or scale, which it is preferable to so
place that it is in full view of the audience. In this case I prefer to use some
suitable elevating apparatus to raise the voting balls from the termination of the
collecting spouts up to the level of the scale. The feeder which transfers the balls
from a position opposite to the termination of the reserve tube to such a position
that, when the voters act upon the apparatuses, they will roll down the Aye or No
ports, in actuated by means of a rod which is attached to a flexible or movable
diaphragm, or to a movable piston. This diaphragm or piston is actuated by means
of differences of fluid pressure, which latter are controlled by suitable valves worked

page_text: by the person in charge of the voting. To avoid the fitting packing and leakage
consequent upon the employment of ordinary pistons a light flexible plate may be
employed corrugated annularly so as to admit of its being extended along radial
lines. Air is a very suitable fluid to employ and if the air is introduced behind
the movable plate and its pressure varied between a partial vacuum and a plenum
(the edges of the plate having been made, by any suitable or convenient means, air
tight) this plate will, through the rod,described, actuate the feeder in the manner
required. Suitable rigid supporting plates may be fitted upon either side of the
flexible plate in such a manner as to prevent it from receiving deformation in
working. It is obvious that instead of this flexible plate, held immovable at, and
air tight by, its edges, and moving by the air-pressure at its centre, a diaphragm of
other material, of the character of rubber, or leather &c, might be used and actuated
by similar means and in a similar way.
In a set of voting gears actuated pneumatically from a common valve as a centre
as described, this valve is connected with the various voting gears by means of air
mains and small branch air pipes in any usual or convenient way. The diaphragm
might be acted upon by air pressure alternately upon opposite sides, but this would
involve two separate sets of pipes and so the air pressure alternating upon one side
of the diaphragm above and below the pressure of the atmosphere has been found
to be the simpler plan. The air at a pressure above that of the atmosphere is drawn
from a receiver (or pair or set of receivers) sufficiently large to supply the whole of
the pipes and diaphragms with the requisite pressure speedily, and, to reduce the
pressure to that of a partial vacuum, this air is allowed to flow back along the
pipes into another receiver (or pair or set of receivers) from which air has previously
been withdrawn so as to form a partial vacuum therein. Suitable valves control
this flux and efflux of the air. An air compressing pump and a vacuum pump are
used to force air into and withdraw air from these receivers.
A convenient position in which to place the voting box is upon the chair arm
within which the glass (or other) tube containing the reserve of voting balls may
be fitted. The tube may be turned up against the back of the seat, or run along
the same upon the required incline, or formed as a spiral coil and placed in any
suitable or convenient position. The first part of the Aye and No collecting pipes
or spouts may in this case be formed in the leg of the chair or seat below the
voting box and terminate in the first collecting or drainage mains beneath the same.
In cases where it is desirable to allow some group or class of electors to register
their votes separately from the main body this may be done by means of valves
which are so arranged as to permit of the balls being supplied to that group of
electors only, no balls being supplied to any of the other electors whose voting
boxes would therefore, for the time being, be useless to them. For this purpose
suitable branch mains in the air supply system are fitted, and a proper system of
stop valves supplied, all under the control of the officer or officers in charge of the
voting.
Fig. 1 is a section of a portion of the apparatus shewn in side view at fig. 9;
fig. 2 is a section through B B; fig. 3 is a front elevation; fig 4 is a plan; and
fig. 5 is a sectional plan of the same.
a is the inclined tube carrying the reserve supply of voting balls shewn and
sloping down towards the point a¹ in such a manner that the balls will always tend
to roll down to that point and press against the feeder b. The upper part of the
tube is cast iron and the lower part a³ of glass terminating in the moulded glass
block a. The whole path might however be made of cast iron of such steepness
as to ensure the balls rolling downwards. b is the feeder in the face of which is a
recess b¹ shewn opposite to the end of the reserve passage. This feeder is actuated by
the piston or diaphragm c through the rod c. c is formed of two pieces of wood screwed
(or otherwise jointed so as to be firm and air tight) against each other and so as to
clip the rubber or leather ring c³ which is,also pressed between the cover o³ and
the frame as.shewn. If air is now forced in behind through the pipe of the feeder b
will be pushed, forward so as to carry the ball in the recess b³ away from the

page_text: reserve tube and into the position b. d is a disc which can be adjusted round the
centre d by means of the handle d' so as to bring the openings d³ or d' underneath
the ball when it is thrust forward as described. d is a slot in the disc into which
the projection b³ enters, and the projection and slot are so constructed that when the
feeder is in the forward position the disc may be turned round by means of the
handle, but that when the feeder is in the backward position the projection locks
into the radial part of the slot as shewn in figs. 1 and 6, and so prevents the disc
from being turned round by hand.
In figs 7 and 8 the handle d' is shewn with a latch d³ fitted to it. This spring
latch enters into suitable catches or slots do, d², and d. d retains the handle in 1
position when the disc is in its mid-position and the projection on the feeder, will
enter the radial portion of the slot in the disc. d and d retain the handle in
position when the ports d and d³ are respectively beneath the ball when it is in
the position b. These catches enable the voter to place the disc in any one of its
three normal positions without any chance of failure.
]
When the opening d³ is brought underneath the ball the latter falls into the pipe
or passage e, but when the opening d' is brought under it it falls into the pipe f
These pipes respectively communicate through e¹ and f¹; e³ and ƒ fig 9. e² and ƒ³
fig 9 correspond with the spouts marked e³ and f³ in the general drainage plan
fig 12 and lead through suitable openings shewn as black dots to e³ and f³; 2
e and f*. When these latter are below the level of the scales they will
communicate with the elevators e and f into which the Aye and No balls will be
respectively discharged. The elevators, after raising them, will discharge the balls
at a suitable level into ee and fe which conduct the balls through e and f' into
the scale basins e³ and ƒ³. The spouts are inclined downwards in the direction of
the arrows fig 12, and the gradient will depend very much upon the material of
which they are made, but must in all cases be sufficient for the balls to roll
downwards without a chance of standing still before reaching the scales. The
width of the spouts is increased as the scales are approached so that no crowding
can take place.
Figs 13 and 14 are respectively a sectional view, and an elevation partly in
section shewing an arrangement of the pneumatic piston in which a flexible disc of
any suitable metal is used formed in a manner similar to those used commonly in
an aneroid barometer. a is the flexible disc, and b, b¹ are rigid supporting plates
made of cast iron. The plate b¹ is formed with the projections b³ 6 upon it so
that it may allow of the projections c' c¹ upon the cover.c which support, and tend
to prevent deformation in the flexible plate when it is bulged by the air pressure
towards the cover plate. The plate 6 might obviously be similarly formed to b¹,
and the frame d have projections cast upon it similar to c¹ c¹. At its external and
internal edges the plate a is made air tight in any suitable and usual way.
Fig 15 is a section through E E.
Figs 16 to 24 are various views of another form of my apparatus. Figs 17
and 19 are respectively end and side elevations, fig 24 is a plan; figs 16 and 18
are longitudinal and tranverse sections, fig 21 is a sectional plan; fig 23 is a
section through the line A A, fig 20 is a section through the line B B., and fig 22 is
a partial view of the cover of the piston. In this apparatus the piston a is cast in
one piece with the feeder a¹. It is oblong in form and is in air tight connection
with the casing through the rubber or leather diaphragm b.. This diaphragm
should be moulded or otherwise stamped to the form it takes when the piston is at
one end of its stroke so as to prevent its being in tension when the latter is in that 5
position and thus tending to bring the piston back to its mid-position. The
feeder a¹ has the recess a³ formed within it open at the two sides and at the
bottom. c is helical path of cast iron (the surface of which may be smooth and
blackleaded) in which the reserve voting balls are kept, and it becomes steeper
towards its lower end at c' where it terminates opposite the recess in the feeder. &
The outside wall of this helical path is formed of a separate casting c³ which is
kept in its place by means of the cover c³ which is soldered (or otherwise fastened)

page_text: to the centre portion of the helical path at c. The feeder and piston which moves
between suitable guiding faces shewn as a³ as a³ have also cast together with them
the bolt at which as the feeder is moved forward into the position in which it
receives a ball, shewn in fig 23, interlocks with the voting disc d entering the
opening d. d is a spiral spring which is attached to the screw in the casing d³
and to the screw in the voting disc d³, and its tension tends always to bring the
latter into the position shewn in figs 16, 18, and 20. e is a handle revolving in
the bearings e¹ and e³ and fixed into the voting disc by means of the square e³ and
pin driven tightly through it e. This handle enables the voter to revolve the disc
partially round its axis. d is a web of metal which prevents the voting ball from
falling when the disc is in mid position. When however it is turned round by the
voter the ball may fall down either upon the Aye or No side of this web, and will
then fall down the Aye or No pipe marked respectively ƒ and g in figs 16 and 20,
which latter correspond with the pipes marked fande in fig 9. The piston is
acted upon through the air supplied or withdrawn through the drilled hole a³ and
brass (or other) pipe at which is bent after being passed through the hole a and
then soldered onto the small lead pipe a which latter is connected beneath the
floor with the air mains. The form of the casing shewn in figs 16 and 20 enables
me to prevent these small pipes from being exposed to injury by completely
enclosing them from the point at which they are connected with the piston to the
point at which they pass beneath the floor. h is a thick piece of plate glass
cemented (or otherwise suitably fastened) into the cover; and through it the top
part of the voting disc, the feeder and the balls may be seen as shewn in dotted
lines at fig 19. Brief directions to the voter shewing how to use the apparatus
are cast upon or otherwise attached to the voting box in the positions plainly
shewn in the drawing, and by their means, even if the spiral spring is out of order,
votes may be given with perfect certainty. k is a curtain hung upon the bent.
wire which passes through the holes drilled in the lugs kk. The ends of the
wire k³ ³ prevent it from falling down below the position shewn in the drawing.
It can however be turned up against the casing and sprung or latched under the
projection k so as to be out of the way and present no obstacle to the voter in
passing.
The air mains, which, being only an ordinary system of piping, need no particular
description here, are connected by any ordinary cocks or valves with the receivers m,
m, m, fig 12 and n, n, n, of the same figure. The set of receivers marked m, m, m,
contain air at a pressure above that of the atmosphere and those marked n, n, n,
contain air at a pressure below that of the atmosphere (a light pressure being
found most convenient, varying less than 5 pounds from the pressure of the
atmosphere in either directions). The cocks or valves are of ordinary type and
are under control of the officer in charge of the voting, and they enable him to
make connection at will between the air mains and either of the above described
sets of receivers so as to produce either a plenum or a partial vacuum in the
voting boxes. o fig 12 is a motor cylinder driving the two pumps p and q one of
which charges the receivers m, m, m, and the other of which exhausts the
receivers n, n, n.
The elevators e f fig 12 may be of any ordinary kind, and the lifting movement
may be produced either by drawing them up by means of a cord passed over a
pulley by hand, or by means of any suitable gear. An automatic tipping movement
may be fitted to them so that they may discharge their contents into the spouts e°
and fat a suitable elevation. They should however be enclosed in a casing as
shewn in the figure to prevent the balls from being tampered with.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is :-
(1.) The method of supplying a number of voters with voting balls by means of
power controlled from a single sourse substantially as hereinbefore described and
llustrated in the opening drawings

page_text: (2.) The use of air at a pressure above the atmosphere to actuate the feeder of
a voting box in one direction and of air pressure less than that of the atmosphere
to allow the feeder to be pressed by the atmosphere in the other direction,
substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
(3.) The use of a flexible rubber, leather, or other diaphragm with rigid centre
for actuating the feeder of a voting box substantially as hereinbefore described and
illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
(4.) The method of keeping the reserve of balls for the supply of each voter's
box in an inclined tube or passage of such form that they will tend to roll down
into the position in which they are taken hold of by the mechanism substantially
as hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
(5.) The method of enabling the voter to deflect or guide a ball with which he
is supplied by means of mechanism into the Aye or No passage of a voter's box
without his being able to touch or handle it substantially as hereinbefore described
and illustrated in the accompanying drawings
(6.) The method of constructing a voting box in which the balls can be seen
when they are being acted upon by the voter without his being able to remove
them from the box otherwise than by properly voting them, substantially as
hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
(7.) The method of collecting the voted balls by means of allowing them to roll
down inclined spouts substantially as described and illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
(8.) The method of allowing the voted balls to discharge themselves into the
basins of a pair of scales so that a vote may be instantly determined by the weights
of the respective sets of Aye and No balls substantially as herein before described
and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
(9.) The system of voting gear, ballot boxes, and appliances connected therewith
herein described and shewn.
Dated this fourth day of November 1901.