Year: 1895

page_text: Date of. Application, 22nd May, 1895-Accepted, 27th July, 1895

page_text: Said secondary motor may be of any suitable construction, my invention not
being limited to the construction illustrated. Each secondary motor is preferably
connected indirectly with the wind-chest through the agency of a pneumatic
controlling device adapted to be operated by a light pressure of air and to open a
valve, g, controlling the passage, h, which connects the secondary motor with the
wind-chest. The said pneumatic controlling device comprises a flexible diaphragm, g,
extending across a chamber, 92, communicating with the wind-way, a', a disk, g³,
secured to said diaphragm and resting on the outer side thereof, and a stem, g*,
secured to said disk and supporting the valve, g. When the wind-way, a', is closed,
the pneumatic controlling device is in the position shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the
valve being closed; but when said wind-way is opened by a perforation in the
tally-sheet, a greater volume of air enters the wind-way than can
the wind-chest through the vent, a³, the surplus air entering the chamber, 92, and
raising the said controlling device, thus opening the valve, g.
This opens
communication between the wind-chest and the secondary motor, so that the
primary motor exhausts air from the chamber, f, of the secondary motor, and causes
it to operate the accompanying register. By the employment of the pneumatic
controlling device adapted to be operated by a comparatively light air pressure and
serving to open communication between the primary and secondary motor, I am
enabled to operate the register positively and forcibly.
escape to
The register here shown comprises a screw-threaded shaft, i, journalled in
bearings in the frame of the machine, and provided with the ratchet, f, above
described, a nut, i, engaged with said shaft and provided with a pointer, 2, and a
fixed graduated plate, ³, over which said pointer is moved by the step-by-step
rotation of the shaft caused by the pneumatically operated mechanism above
described. The shaft is prevented from backward rotation by means of a
ratchet,, and pawl, ". A disk, i, is affixed to the shaft and is marked on its
periphery with numerals showing the number of votes registered by a single
rotation of the shaft. A fixed pointer, 10, co-operates with the disk, ³, said pointer
and disk in connection with the scale-plate, 23, and progressively moving pointer, ²,
showing at any time the exact number of votes registered, the plate, 3, and
pointer, 2, registering accurately any number which is a multiple of twenty-five, or
any other number which is registered by a complete rotation of the shaft, while
the disk, , and pointer, 210, register accurately any number of votes up to
twenty-five.
The nut, , is constructed in two separable sections, 3 and 4, yieldingly held against
the shaft by springs, 66, interposed between the lower section and collars on rods, 5 5,
affixed to the upper section and passing loosely through holes in the lower section.
The upper section has a handle by which it may be raised to disengage it from the
shaft and permit it to be moved freely along the same, the lower section having no
screw-thread, so that it readily slides on the thread of the shaft. The pointer can
therefore, be quickly returned to its starting-point after the operation of the
register has been completed. The tally-sheet has a series of parallel spaces
extending lengthwise of the sheet, and said spaces are divided into series, there
being one series of spaces for each office, and as many spaces in each series as there
are candidates for the office. For example, in the example shown there are eight
series of spaces, one marked "Governor," another "Lieutenant-Governor" and so
on through the entire ticket; each series having five spaces, marked respectively
Republican," "Democratic," "Prohibition" 66
Populist" and "Labor." Said
sheet is used with a voting-machine organized to perforate the sheet, each voter
making a perforation opposite the name of the candidate of his choice in each
series, the result being the formation of rows of perforations in the spaces, the
.sheet being moved progressively after being punched by each voter, so that each
space has a number of boles representing the number of votes for the candidate
represented by that space.
“
The sheet on removal from the voting-machine is wound upon a receiving-roll, j,
which is journalled in bearings in a frame, 12, mounted on the machine, and the

page_text: outer end of the sheet is carried over to a receiving-roll,, also journalled in bearings
on said frame, the rolls being located at opposite sides of the channel-board, so that
the intervening portion of the sheet crosses and bears closely on the top of the
channel-board. The frame,, is provided with a rod or fulcrum, ³, which is
adapted to turn and to move end wise in suitable fixed bearings, the frame being
thus adapted to tilt or oscillate crosswise of the channel-board and to move back
and forth end wise thereof. The object of the tilting movement of the carriage is
to enable one roller to be connected with an operating shaft below it, and the
other roller at the same time disconnected from another operating shaft, in order
that the tally-sheet may be moved in either direction over the channel-board, the
particular object being to enable the sheet to be moved in one direction to count
and register the votes, and then moved in the opposite direction to verify the
count before removing it from the machine. Said shafts, which are indicated by
the letters, k', in Fig. 2, are rotated simultaneously in opposite directions by
suitable connections with the pneumatically operating crank-shaft, e, and are
provided respectively with pinions, k2 k³, adapted to mesh with gears, ja, affixed
to the rolls. When the frame is tipped to the position shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the
roll, ¿¹, is engaged with the shaft, k', and is rotated thereby in the direction
indicated by the arrow in said figure, the roll, j, being loose. When the frame is
tipped in the opposite direction, the roll j, is engaged with the shaft, k, and is
rotated thereby in the opposite direction, the roll, j¹, being loose.
Hence by
changing the position of the frame as described, the motion of the sheet may be
reversed.
The connections between the crank-shaft, e, and the roll-operating shafts, k k¹,
comprise a pinion, m, (Fig. 2), on the crank-shaft, a gear, m', meshing with said
pinion and having a pulley connected by a belt, m³, with a pulley, m³ on the
shaft, k, and a gear, m², meshing with the gear, m', and having a pulley
connected by a belt, m', with a pulley, m³, on the shaft, k.
The channel-board has as many wind-ways, a', as there are offices represented
on the ticket; and for each wind-way there is a register-operating secondary
motor and an accompanying register; so that, there being eight offices represented
on the ticket, there will be eight wind-ways in the channel-board, and eight
registers.
The wind-ways are spaced so that when the sheet is in operative position and
is moving over the channel-board, the rows of holes in the sheet representing
the votes for one party will coincide with the wind-ways, the frame, 2, and the
tally-sheet being adjustable laterally, so that the votes for the candidates of each
party may be brought into position to coincide with the wind-ways until all the
votes have been counted. For example, if the Republican votes are to be counted
first, the carriage is adjusted to bring the row of holes representing the votes
for Governor over the first wind-way, the row representing the votes for Lieutenant-
Governor over the second wind-way, and so on through the entire ticket, the
row representing the votes for each Republican candidate being in line with the
appropriate wind-way. The crank-shaft is then rotated and operates the pneumatic
Inotors and one of the tally-sheet supporting-rolls.
The movement of the sheet across the channel-board causes each row of holes
to actuate the corresponding register through the intervening pneumatic devices,
so that at the end of the movement the registers indicate the total number of
votes for each Republican candidate. The frame, , is then tilted to reverse the
feed-movement of the sheet, and then if it is desired to verify the count, the
sheet may be moved back across the channel-board in the opposite direction
without adjusting the frame and sheet laterally; or if the recount is not desired,
the carriage and sheet will be then adjusted laterally to bring the rows of holes
representing the Democratic votes into line with the wind-ways and the sheet
moved over the channel-board in a direction opposite to that of its preceding
movement, this movement counting and registering all the Democratic votes.
In

page_text: this way all the votes are counted and registered by parties, the registers being
reset after each operation.
The provision of means for reversing the movement of the sheet after each
operation enables the different counts to follow each other in rapid succession,
the result being the same whether the sheet is moved in one direction or the other:
The provision of means-for adjusting the sheet laterally on the channel-board
after each count enables one register to indicate the number of votes for all the
candidates for a given office, so that only as many registers are required as there
are offices named on the ticket. Without the lateral adjustment of the sheet,
it would be necessary to provide a separate register for each candidate, so that
the machine would be very much more complicated, bulky, and expensive.
With the ticket here shown, eight offices being named, only eight registers are
required, while without the lateral adjustment of the sheet the number of registers
would necessarily be the number of offices named multiplied by the number of
candidates for each office, which would be forty in the present case.
It is obvious that the machine may be enlarged or extended by providing a
separate register for each party, and I do not desire, therefore, to limit myself
to the provision of means for laterally adjusting the tally-sheet.
:
The tally-sheet and its supporting frame, 1, may be adjusted laterally by means
of an adjusting screw, 10, working in the frame, j', and bearing on one end of
the channel-board, as shown in Fig. 1.
I prefer to divide the wind-ways in the channel-board into two rows, each
occupying a different lateral position on the sheet-supporting surface of the board,'
as shown in Fig. 8, so that all of the wind-ways cannot receive air at the same
time. This arrangement. prevents the possibility of more air being admitted at
once to the wind-chest than the exhausting-apparatus can properly remove.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1. In a pneumatic counting or registering apparatus, the combination of a series
of registers, a series of secondary pneumatic motors or actuating devices operatively
connected with said registers, a primary pneumatic motor common to all the
secondary motors, means normally closing communication between the primary
and secondary motors, a channel-board or sheet-support having a series of wind-
ways leading to the said closing means whereby air admitted to said wind-ways
may act to displace the latter and thereby open communication between the
primary and secondary motors, said wind-ways also communicating with the primary
motor, and means for feeding a perforated sheet over the said channel-board.
2. In a pneumatic counting or registering apparatus, the combination of a wind-
chest, air-exhausting means communicating therewith, a channel-board or sheet-
support having a series of wind-ways communicating between the upper side of
the board and the wind-chest, diaphragms extending over parts of said wind-ways,
valves resting on said diaphragms, bellows-like chambers, passages extending
between said chambers and the wind-chest and normally closed by said valves,
a series of registers operatively connected with the bellows-like chambers, and
means for feeding a perforated sheet over the channel-board.
3. In a pneumatic counting or registering apparatus, the combination of a series
of counting registers, a channel-board having a series of wind-ways, tally-sheet
supports laterally movable to adjust the sheet over the channel-board to cause
different divisions of the sheet to co-operate successively with the wind-ways, and
pneumatic register-operating mechanism rendered operative by air admitted through
said wind-ways.
4. In a counting and registering apparatus, the combination of a series of
counting registers, a channel-board or sheet-support having a series of wind-ways,
tally-sheet feeding mechanism arranged to move a tally-sheet over the channel-

page_text: board, said mechanism including a tilting frame having sheet-supporting rolls and
two operating shafts rotated in opposite directions and each adapted to be engaged
with and disconnected from one of said rolls by a movement of said frame, whereby
the feed movement of the sheet may be reversed, and pneumatic register-operating
mechanism controlled by air admitted through the wind-ways.
5. A pneumatic counting or registering apparatus having a channel-board or
sheet-support provided with a series of wind-ways staggered or arranged in rows
with the members of the rows out of alignment, whereby the admission of air to
all the wind-ways simultaneously is prevented.
6. In a counting and registering apparatus, the combination of a series of
counting registers, a series of secondary pneumatic motors engaged therewith, a
primary pneumatic motor common to all the secondary motors and connected
therewith by passages normally closed by valves, a channel-board or sheet-support.
having a series of wind-ways, pneumatic valve-opening devices operated by air
admitted to the wind-ways, and a sheet-feeding mechanism adapted to feed a
perforated tally-sheet across the channel-board.
7. The combination of a series of counting registers, a series of secondary
pneumatic motors engaged therewith, a primary pneumatic motor normally
disconnected from the secondary motors, a tally-sheet having a series of wind-ways
provided with pneumatically controlled means for connecting the primary motor
with the secondary motors, a sheet-feeding mechanism including a tilting franie
having sheet-supporting rolls arranged at opposite sides of the channel-board, said
rolls being provided with gears, two intermediate shafts each having a pinion
arranged to be engaged with one of the rolls by a movement of the frame, and a
driving-shaft connected by means substantially as described with the primary motor
and with the intermediate shafts, whereby the said motor and intermediate shafts
are simultaneously operated, the said shafts being rotated in opposite directions, so
that the sheet may be moved in either direction.
יימ
V
JOHN MTAMMANY.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.