VOTING BOOTH
A voting booth (10), comprising: a case (95) having a top portion (100) hingedly connected to a bottom portion (110); a plurality of legs (20) removably secured to the top portion (100); a plurality of legs (20) removably secured to the bottom portion (110); the legs (20) capable of being stored between a leg retainer (210) and at least one of a top portion surface (102) and a bottom portion surface (112); a 3-panel unit (170) capable or being stored within the case (95), and the 3-panel unit capable of being removably secured to a top portion surface (102) and a bottom portion surface (112); and a plurality of single unit side panels (150) capable of being stored within the case (95) and capable of being removably secured to the top portion surface (102) and the bottom portion surface 112.
This invention was not made with Government support under. The Government does not have any rights in this invention.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONVoting is a cornerstone of democracy. In the 2004 United States presidential election, the voting booth and/or its components became an important issue in the accuracy of voting in Florida. Although a voting booth may be erected for the day that the polls are open, one booth may have hundreds of voters. Accurate voting in the United States requires privacy. Thus, a voting booth that offers privacy is needed.
Efficiency in the usage of space at the voting area is important, as voting areas comprise many different places, such as school lobbies, church lobbies, other confined areas, or larger venues. Thus, a design that is novel in its structure and function in space efficiency is needed.
When the booth is not erected and being used, it must be transported and stored. Thus, a design that is novel in its structure and function for transporting and storing is needed.
As can be seen, there is a need for a voting booth that has improved transport and storage capability. There is further a need for a convertible voting booth that can convert from a dual voting booth, to a singular voting booth.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONAn aspect of the present invention comprises a voting booth (10), comprising: a case (95) having a top portion (100) hingedly connected to a bottom portion (110); a plurality of legs (20) removably secured to said top portion (100); a plurality of legs (20) removably secured to said bottom portion (110); said legs (20) capable of being stored between a leg retainer (210) and at least one of a top portion surface (102) and a bottom portion surface (112); a 3-panel unit (170) capable or being stored within said case (95), and said 3-panel unit capable of being removably secured to a top portion surface (102) and a bottom portion surface (112); and a plurality of single unit side panels (150) capable of being stored within said case (95) and capable of being removably secured to said top portion surface (102) and said bottom portion surface 112.
In one further embodiment, the voting booth 10 may have an illumination source, such as a light emitting diode (LED) 240 disposed near the handle 70 on the top portion 100.
The present invention may be made from recycled plastic.
These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings, description and claims.
The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out the invention. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for illustrating the general principles of the invention, since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims.
REFERENCE NUMERALS10 voting booth or voting booth assembly
20 leg
30 side panel or privacy screen
40 leg receiving side
50 rear panel
60 leg socket
70 handle
80 case hinge
90 snaplock
92 detent
95 case
100 top portion
102 top portion surface
104 facing direction
110 bottom portion
112 bottom portion surface
120 detent
130 leg receiving cup
140 hinge
150 single unit side panel
152 tab extension
153 vertical tab extension
154 tab receiver
155 vertical tab extension receiver
160 snap catch
170 3-panel unit
172 3-panel unit tab extension
174 3-panel unit tab receiver
180 top-bottom unit or single unit
190 leg top portion
200 leg bottom portion
210 leg retainer
212 leg retainer opening
220 groove
230 elastic band
300 single case width
310 stack of 5 cases width
When assembled and useful as a voting booth 10 or voting booths 10, the voting booths 10 comprise legs 20 to support an unfolded case 95. The unfolded case 95 may have a bottom portion 110, hingedly connected to a top portion 100 via a case hinge 80. Referring to
The legs 20 may be inserted in a leg receiving cup 130. The leg receiving cup may extend away from the leg to form a leg socket 60, (best seen in
As seen in
As illustrated in
It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing relates to exemplary embodiments of the invention and that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.
Claims
1. A voting booth (10), comprising:
- a case (95) having a top portion (100) hingedly connected to a bottom portion (110);
- a plurality of legs (20) removably secured to said top portion (100);
- a plurality of legs (20) removably secured to said bottom portion (110);
- said legs (20) capable of being stored between a leg retainer (210) and at least one of a top portion surface (102) and a bottom portion surface (112);
- a 3-panel unit (170) capable or being stored within said case (95), and said 3-panel unit capable of being removably secured to a top portion surface (102) and a bottom portion surface (112); and
- a plurality of single unit side panels (150) capable of being stored within said case (95) and capable of being removably secured to said top portion surface (102) and said bottom portion surface 112.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:
- a handle (70) formed from an aperture corresponding portions of the top portion (100) and bottom portion (110), whereby a person can place a hand through said handle (70) to hold and carry the case (95).
3. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:
- a hinge (140) connected to the top portion (100) and the bottom portion (100); said hinge (140) disposed opposite the handle (70), whereby the top portion (100) and bottom portion (110) can be opened and closed via the hinge (140).
4. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:
- a snap lock (90) that engages with a snap catch (160) to retain the case (95) in a closed position; said snap lock (90) can be moved away from said snap catch (160) to unlock the case (95) so that it may be opened.
5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the leg (20) has a leg top portion (190) that is removably connected to a leg bottom portion (200) via an elastic band (230) disposed within each leg, whereby said leg top portion (190) is pulled toward said leg bottom portion (200) via said elastic band (230).
6. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:
- a leg retainer (210) disposed on the inside of the top portion (100), said leg retainer (210) disposed away from a top portion surface (102) so that a folded leg (20) may be disposed between said leg retainer (210) and said top portion surface (102).
7. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:
- said 3-panel unit (170) having a 3-panel unit tab extension (172) extending downwardly therefrom, said 3-panel unit tab extension (172) capable of engaging with a corresponding 3-panel unit tab receiver (174) that is disposed in a top portion surface (102) and a separate 3-panel unit (170) having said 3-panel unit tab extension (172) that is capable of engaging with a corresponding 3-panel unit tab receiver (174) that is disposed in a bottom surface (112), so that either of said 3-panel unit (170) may be securely positioned and removed via the engagement of said 3-panel unit tab extension (172) with said 3-panel unit tab receiver (174).
8. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:
- said single unit (180) having a single unit side panel (150) that has a tab extension (152) extending downwardly therefrom, said tab extension (152) capable of securely removably engaging with a tab receiver (154), said tab receiver (154) disposed on said bottom portion surface (112).
9. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:
- said 3-panel unit (170) is comprised of a rear panel (50) hingedly connected and between two side panels (30), whereby said 3-panel unit (170) can be placed in a closed position for storage and transport, or opened up and removably positioned into a 3-panel tab receiver (174).
Type: Application
Filed: Sep 16, 2008
Publication Date: Mar 18, 2010
Inventor: Jeff DeLongchamp (Grand Rapids, MI)
Application Number: 12/211,179
International Classification: A47B 46/00 (20060101);