Vote Recording Apparatus.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd Feb., 1895
Complete Specification Left, 1st Nov., 1895-Accepted, 25th Jan., 1896
Vote Recording Apparatus.
I, WILLIAM LAKE of 99 Cornwall Road, Lambeth, in the County of Surrey,
Oil and Colourman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
The object of this invention is to facilitate the recording of votes at meetings
of Boards of Guardians, District Councils, and of other public, and private
bodies.
The apparatus is constructed as follows:-
In a case a series of horizontal shutters are pivoted; in these a number of slips,
made of cardboard, wood, or metal, on which are painted, printed, or written the
names of those members who are present at a meeting, are inserted: the shutters
are pivoted so that they can be turned to show the faces of the slips or to hide
them from view, and the necessary movements are given to them by levers worked
by means of an electric current from a battery or batteries conveyed by wires to
electro-magnets acting upon certain of the said levers, and a lever and rod (on
which are a number of suitable projections to engage with the righting-tails of the
slotted levers and that can be worked either by hand or by an electro-magnet and
that can be actuated by the chairman of the meeting or by any authorized person)
to re-adjust the shutters after a vote has been taken. Opposite each shutter on
one side of the case or on the shutters themselves are numbers to correspond with
other numbers affixed to the tables opposite the seats in the rooms in which the
meetings may be held, or affixed to the seats, and near to these numbers what are
technically known as "pushes" are attached to or inserted in the tables; from the
pushes" wires are led to the battery or batteries, and to the electro-magnets, so
that when a vote is taken all that those present at the meeting have to do is, to
press the "pushes" in front of them, which coupling up the wires between the
electro-maguets and the battery or batteries causes the magnets to act on tripping
levers, so as to release catches retaining certain of the levers, in the slots of which
the crank pins of the cranks attached to the pivots of the shutters work, the shutters
then assume a vertical position by reason of their being so pivoted that their
centres of gravity are below their pivots, (or this turning action may be performed
by springs connected with the framing of the case and the pivots) bringing the
names of those voting into view.
"
After a vote has been recorded the chairman or other authorized person can
then re-adjust the shutters by pressing the "push" that couples up the wires from
the battery or batteries and the electro-maguet that works the lever of the
re-adjusting rod, or the lever may be worked by hand; the drawing shows the latter
arrangement. The shutters are kept in position by catches while a vote is being
taken.
In the event of a change being made in the seat occupied by a voter all that has
to be done in connexion with the apparatus is, the slip bearing the name of the
voter is taken out of its place in the shutter, set apart for the vacated seat, and
is inserted in the shutter corresponding with the newly occupied seat.
Figure 1 of the drawing shows a case in elevation with twelve shutters in it,
but a case can be made to show any desired number.
Figure 2 is a side elevation of a case showing an electro-magnet for working one
of the shutters only; each shutter has its own electro-magnet and set of levers.

page_text: Figure 3 shows, to an enlarged scale, an electro-magnet and set of levers; and
Figure 4 is a plan of the same.
(a) is the case; (b) the shutters; (c) the electro-magnets; (d) the slips; (e) the
re-adjusting lever shown for hand working; (f) the re-adjusting rod with
projections (9) acting on the righting-tails (h); (k) is a spring to retura rod (f)
to its normal position; (1) is the tripping lever; (m) is the catch on the tripping
lever; (n) is the slotted lever; (o) is the retaining bar; (p) is the crank attached
to the shutter pivot; (g) are the pivots and (r) the battery.
Dated this 2nd day of February 1895.
:
I, WILLIAM LAKE of 99 Cornwall Road, Lambeth, in the County of Surrey,
Oil and Colourman do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the-same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement:→
The object of this invention is to facilitate the recording of votes at meetings
of Boards of Guardians, District Councils, and of other public and private
bodies.
The apparatus is constructed as follows:
In a case a series of horizontal shutters are pivoted; in these a number of slips,
made of cardboard, wood, or metal, on which are painted, printed, or written the
names of those members who are present at a meeting, are inserted; the shutters
are pivoted so that they can be turned to show the faces of the slips or to hide
them from view, and the necessary movements are given to them by levers worked
by means of an electric current from a battery or batteries conveyed by wires to
electro-magnets acting upon certain of the said levers, and a lever and rod. (on
which are a number of suitable projections to engage with the righting-tails of
the slotted levers and that can be worked either by hand or by an electro-magnet
and that can be actuated by the chairman of the meeting or by any authorized
person) to re-adjust the shutters after a vote has been taken. Opposite each
shutter on one side of the case, or on the shutters themselves, are numbers to
correspond with other numbers affixed to the tables opposite the seats in the rooms
in which the meetings may be held, or affixed to the seats, and near to these
numbers what are technically known as "pushes" are attached to or inserted in
the tables; from the "pushes" wires are led to the battery or batteries, and to
the electro magnets, so that when a vote is taken, all that those present at the
meeting have to do is, to press the "pushes" in front of them, which coupling up
the wires between the electro-magnets and the battery or batteries causes the
magnets to act on tripping levers, so as to release catches retaining certain
of the levers, in the slots of which the crank pins of the cranks attached to
the pivots of the shutters work, the shutters then assume a vertical position by
reason of their being so pivoted that their centres of gravity are below their pivots
(or this turning action may be performed by springs connected with the framing of
the case and the pivots) bringing the names of those voting into view.
After a vote has been recorded, the chairman or other authorized person can
then re-adjust the shutters by pressing the "push" that couples up the wires from
the battery or batteries and the electro-magnet that works the lever of the
readjusting rod, or the lever may be worked by hand, the drawing shows the latter
arrangement. The shutters are kept in position by catches while a vote is being
taken.

page_text: In the event of a change being made, in the seat occupied by a voter, all
that has to be done in connexion with the apparatus is, the slip bearing
the name of the voter is taken out of its place in the shutter set apart for
the vacated seat, and is inserted in the shutter corresponding with the newly
occupied seat.
Figure 1 of the drawing deposited with the Provisional Specification shows a
case in elevation with twelve shutters in it, but a case can be made to show any
desired number.
Figure 2 is a side elevation of a case showing an electro-magnet for working
one of the shutters only; each shutter has its own electro-magnet and set of
levers.
Figure 3 shows, to an enlarged scale, an electro-magnet and set of levers;
and Figure 4 is a plan of the same.
(a) is the case; (b) the shutters; (c) the electro-magnet; (d) the slips; (e) the
re-adjusting lever shown for hand working; (f) the re-adjusting rod with pro-
jections (9) acting on the righting-tails (h); (k) is a spring to return rod (f) to
its normal position; (1) is the tripping lever; (m) is the catch on the tripping
lever; (n) is the slotted lever; (o) is the retaining bar; (p) is the crank attached
to the shutter pivot; (9) are the pivots; and (r) the battery.
Having generally described my invention and shown what it is by means of the
drawings, I will now proceed to further describe it. In a case (a) a series of
horizontal shutters (b) are pivoted, in these a number of slips (d) made of cardboard,
wood, or metal are inserted; the shutters (b) are pivoted so that they can be turned
to show the faces of the slips (d), or to hide them from view, and the necessary
movements are given to them by levers (h), (l), (n), and (p) worked by means of
an electric current from a battery or batteries (r) conveyed by wires to electro-
magnets (c) which act upon the ends of the tripping levers (1) causing the opposite
ends to rise, and with them the catches (m) attached to their undersides, by which
action the catches (o) on levers (n) are released, and the levers (n) and (p), the
latter being attached to the shutters, fall causing the shutters (6) to assume a
vertical position. The levers (h) will then have risen to the position shown by
dotted lines and will have caught against the stops (y) also shown in dotted lines,
the normal position of the stop. The re-adjusting rod (f) is then lowered to the
position shown in Figure 3 and the levers and shutters are by means of the
levers (h) which are acted upon by the stops (9) brought into their normal position
as shown; the re-adjusting rod then returns upwards to its normal position. The
levers (), (n), and (p) and the shutters (6) are retained in position by the
catches (o) being held by the catches (m) on the tripping levers (1) which have
fallen owing to the ends of these levers that are furthest from the magnets being
heavier than the ends near to the magnet, and the current of electricity from the
battery having been cut off by the release of the push used by the voter in recording
his vote. The levers (1) are attached to the levers (n). The pivots on which the
shutters turn, there being one at each end of each shutter, are shown by the
letters (2).
My vote-recording apparatus may have two sets of shutters in lieu of one, as just
described, by which arrangement the chairman of a meeting may have the vote-
recorder placed immediately opposite to him in full view of the whole room, and
he will thus be enabled to see the names of those who are voting, at the saine time
that those present facing the chairman or president can also see the names of those
voting, and if their own vote is being properly recorded.
With this arrangement of shutters the electro-magnets are placed in a horizontal
position, and on their frames, vertical iron or steel plates are pivoted near to their
lower ends, and to the tails of these plates (which I call "trippers") are fastened
coiled springs (on which a tension is put before attachment) for the purpose of
keeping the tails of the two "trippers" of each magnet drawn towards one another
when a current of electricity is not passing through the coil of the electro-magnet;
but when a current is passing the attractive action of the magnet is' such that it

page_text: overcomes the action of the spring and pulls the "trippers" towards itself, and in
doing this, releases two horizontal levers which have had their ends resting on the
top of the "trippers" their other ends being attached to the pivots of two shutters,
one at the front and one at the back of the case, and these, in consequence of their
support at one end having been withdrawn from under them, fall, and in doing so
cause the shutter, to whose pivots they are fastened, to assume a vertical position
in lieu of the horizontal one they had previously had, and expose their faces
bringing the name of" a voter to view. On the outside of the horizontal
levers just mentioned, and on the same pivots, levers or catches are fixed to
the pivots, these are for the purpose of resetting the shutters in their
normal position, which is done by means of vertical rods, having pins or studs on
them, and worked as previously described for the single faced apparatus. The
shutters assume the vertical position after the release of their levers owing to their
pivots being above the centre of gravity of the shutters and the levers attached to
them, and they are kept from going beyond the vertical position by means of stops
attached to the case.
When it may be necessary to make the recording apparatus as small as possible,
the electro-magnets and their set of levers and "trippers" are placed alternately
one on each side of the case.
The electro-magnets are constructed of an iron bar having a plug of copper
driven or screwed into each end; on these ends are screwed brass discs, which have
had a disc of insulating material placed on the inner side of each previously. The
bar itself is covered with an insulating material, and silk covered copper wire is
then wound on to the reel thus made; one end of the wire passes through one of
the insulating discs and is carried to the outside of the coil, being additionally
insulated by india rubber tubing where it passes through the said disc to the outside
of the coil. One of the ends of this wire is secured to a strip of metal that is
attached to the framing of the apparatus and it is used as a ready means of
connecting the wires of the coils to the wire of the battery, but if it should be
preferred these wires can be taken direct to the battery without the intervention of
the said strip of metal; the other end of the wire of the coil is led to the
"pushes" opposite the seats that have been mentioned. The battery or batteries
to work this apparatus have wires led to the "pushes" and to the strip of metal
previously mentioned to which is attached one end of the wires of the electro-
magnets, from the "pushes" return wires are led to and connected with the other end
of the electro inagnet wires, so that on a "push" being pressed a complete circuit
with the battery is made and a.current of electricity will pass from the battery through
the coil, and cause the magnet to pull the upper parts of the vertical "trippers
towards itself, and release the levers resting on them that are attached to the pivots
of the shutters, by which means they are caused to face outwards and expose to
view the name of the individual who is voting. Should a voter wish to change his seat,
and at the same time to prevent the necessity of the shifting of the card, bearing his
name, on to the shutter connected with his new seat, plugs and sockets are inserted
in the lengths of the returning wires, so that the attendant has only to insert the
plug of the newly occupied seat into the socket corresponding with the vacated seat,
to accomplish his purpose. This of course is presuining that the first mentioned
seat is not occupied after it has been vacated. Any suitable battery for producing
electricity may be employed for the purposes of this invention. The adjustment of
the shutters to their normal position is done by similar means to that previously
described.
Figure 5, of the drawings, shows the arrangement of the magnet and levers for
recording one vote by the double faced recorder.
c is the electro-magnet; I, I, are the "trippers," or tripping levers; the
levers (n, p) are attached to the pivots of the shutters; hare righting levers
that are fixed to the shutter pivots q, q; f,f, are the re-adjusting rods, which, by
means of the studs or projections g, g, on them, when they are raised, cause the
studs g, g, to lift the levers h, h, and set the shutters b, b, in their normal

page_text: position. The spring s keeps the "trippers" I, 1, away from the faces of the
magnet c, when the apparatus is not at work, and is the equivalent of the heavy
tail of the "
tripper" in Fig. 3. t, t, are stops to limit the movement of the
"trippers."
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 :-
The apparatus as herein described for the purpose of recording votes at public
or private meetings.
E. H. G. BREWSTER,
Agent for Applicant.