Improvements in Portable Polling Booths for Elections.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 21st Dec., 1897
Complete Specification Left, 21st Oct., 1898-Accepted, 26th Nov., 1898
Improvements in Portable Polling Booths for Elections.
I, SIDNEY REID, of Akenside Hill, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Printer and Stationer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention consists in an arrangement of doors uniform and interchangeable
(excepting as aftermentioned) fitted with inside and outside hinges firinly
secured by one member of the hinge to each door and provided for the other
member of the hinge with perforations and thumb bolts and nuts, or thumb tap-
I also
bolts to be screwed into the hinge so as to be easily secured by hand.
provide double corner doors, which are also uniform and interchangeable, the
hinges being however fixed to both doors. I employ stays so as to give stiffness
to unsupported sides and each door is fitted with grooves and panels so as that the
necessary printed noticos and regulations required for the election, can, when mounted
on cardboard or other suitable material, be slipped into position and securely
retained there. Each door is also provided with a groove or grooves so as that it
can be made, with a corresponding door opposite to it, to support a shelf or desk
on which the voter can mark his voting paper, and there are grooves or provision
so as that any desired notice may be displayed in any desired direction.
Certain of the doors I can so erect as to form divisions between the desks so as
to afford the needed privacy for each desk.
By these arrangements I can promptly erect in any room, polling station or
place all the desired facilities for voting and fit in all necessary printed regulations
and instructions, and at the close of the election I can remove the material for
subsequent use, no nails or floor attachments being required.
I would have it understood that while I have described the doors as uniform and
interchangeable I do not necessarily confine my invention to doors of an absolutely
uniform width, the interchangeable character of each being limited in this way for
convenience in exceptional cases.
Dated this Seventeenth day of December 1897

page_text: be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
My invention consists in an arrangement of doors uniform and interchangeable
(excepting as aftermentioned) fitted with inside and outside hinges firmly secured
by one member of the hinge to each door and provided for the other member of the
hinge with perforations and thumb bolts and nuts, or thumb tap-bolts to be screwed
into the hinge so as to be easily secured by hand. I also provide double corner
doors which are also uniform and interchangeable, the hinges being however fixed
to both doors. I employ stays so as to give stiffness to unsupported sides and each
door is fitted with grooves and panels. so as that the necessary printed notices and
regulations required for the election, can, when mounted on cardboard or other
suitable material, be slipped into position and securely retained there. Each door
is also provided with a groove or grooves or so as that it cau be made with a
corresponding door opposite to it to support a shelf or desk on which the voter can
mark his voting paper, and there are grooves or provision so as that any desired
notice may be displayed in any desired direction.
Certain of the doors I can so erect as to form divisions between the desks so as
to afford the needed privacy for each desk.
By these arrangements I can promptly erect in any room, polling station or place
all the desired facilities for voting and fit in all necessary printed regulations and
restrictions, and at the close of the election I can remove the material for
subsequent use, no nails or floor attachments being required.
I would have it understood that while I have described the doors as uniform and
interchangeable I do not necessarily confine my invention to doors of an absolutely
uniform width, the interchangeable character of each being limited in this way for
convenience in exceptional cases.
In the drawing hereto annexed Fig. 1 represents one of the identical doors
referred to, similar lettering applies to similar parts in all views.
Fig. 2 shows the door as seen from the top with the recesses R R into which
instructions for voting or any other desired printed matter may be inserted, these
instructions are shewn in position in Fig. 1, marked Z, the dotted lines outside the
continuous line X representing the edges of the cardboard backing.
The parts marked A Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 are iron projections fastened to each door
with recess therein arranged as holder for any stay which may be required, or as
holder for any notice which it may be desired to suspend in any position such as
that displayed in Fig. 3.
BB in Fig. 4 represents corner doors which are identical with the other doors,
saving in that these two are fastened together as shown, the outside of each however
exactly corresponds with a similar side in the identical doors.
I have said that I provide each door with a groove or grooves. This is shewn
at C C in Fig. 1 with a small section beside it marked Fig. 5 shewing the profile of
the groove. It will be seen that if two doors are placed parallel to each other a
shelf may easily be slipped into this groove so as to serve as a table or desk on
which the voter may mark his voting paper. The position of the doors being such
as that one voter cannot overlook another.
When by the introduction of a partition between two doors, they do not come into
contact with each other, instead of putting two thumb bolts through the loose side
of the hinge DI put in only one thumb bolt into the second hole of the hinge,
(as shewn in Fig. 7,) the holes being so set apart as to allow for this.
Fig. 4 represents plan of a polling booth erected complete with 6 desks, chair
and table for presiding officer and clerk, and ballot box. $ S being stiffening stays,
but for clearness I have not shewn recesses R R or the iron projections A A.
Fig. 6 is an enlarged view of the hinges D D of two doors when put together, and
Fig. 7 represents two doors with partition between.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said

page_text: invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is :-
The use of a number of uniform and interchangeable doors provided with
identical appliances for the erection of polling booths substantially as described.
Dated this Twentieth day of October 1898.
J. JAMESON.
Akenside Hill, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Agent for Applicant.