EP0917125A1 - Visual communication system with LCD pricetags updatable by remote control - Google Patents

Abstract

Updatable price tags especially for use on edible goods have analphanumeric liquid crystal display (LCD) and a battery powered receiver anddrive circuits. The information displayed may be organized and updatedthrough a hand held battery powered remote control provided with akeyboard for entering the information (unit price).

Description

• The present invention relates to visual communication systems usingupdatable price tags for goods displayed in retail sale shops.
• In shops, supermarkets and similar points of sale where goods and productsfor sale are displayed together with their relative price, it is common to employprice tags that may be easily updatable to avoid the need of reprinting theprice tags or labels.
• In particular, in case of edible products, the use of updatable price tags,composable by rearrangement of a plurality of preprinted alphanumeric cardsis widespread for readily updating the price of goods on sale manually. Pricetags are commonly supported by pins, stands or other card holding devicesthat may be placed directly on meat cuts, forms of cheese, small goods,precooked foods and the like.
• The manual updating of the displayed price, even if done with such helpfulimplements, remains a time consuming and laborious operation because ofthe large number of price tags to update often daily or just about sofrequently.
• Moreover, the frequent handling of these price tags, often held in place byspecial clips or hooks located on their rear side and engaging with the upperend, pins stuck in edible products, imposes periodic washing and disinfectingtreatments of the price tags and supporting components. The possibility ofmanually updating the displayed prices without the need to handle the pricetags would be a great advantage in terms of a quicker and easier updatingwhile improving cleanliness conditions.
• To these needs offer an effective response the present invention, accordingto which all the price tags, rather than employing preprinted alphanumericcards, are furnished with an alphanumeric liquid crystal display to show theprice of the goods.
• Essentially, the price marking system is characterized in that each updatableprice tag has an alphanumeric liquid crystal display, a circuitry comprising areceiver of electromagnetic signals, a circuit coupled to said receiverconverting the decoded or demodulated signals received into logic signals, aprocessing circuit of said logic signals controlling a driving stage of the liquidcrystals displays and a power supply battery.
• Setting and updating of the displayed price is made by the use of a batterypowered remote control, equipped with a keyboard to key in the updatinginformation, a processing circuit of the signals produced through thekeyboard, and a transmitter stage of electromagnetic signals modulated bythe signals as processed by said processing circuit.
• Preferably, the updating remote control itself is furnished with analphanumeric liquid crystals display showing the data set through thekeyboard.
• The carrier signal may be a radio frequency (RF) signal, or an optic signal forexample of wavelength in the infrared range (IR).
• In practice the price setting-updating remote control may be structured ingeneral terms like a familiar remote control of a TV or HF apparatus, with thedue differences, while each battery powered price tag incorporates thereceiving, decoding and processing circuits that control the setting-updatingofthe relative alphanumeric liquid crystal display (LCD.)
• Figures 1 and2 show respectively the exterior appearance and a functionalblock diagram of each battery powered price tag of the system of theinvention, according to an embodiment thereof.
• Figures 3 and4 show respectively the exterior appearance and a functionalblock diagram of a battery powered remote control of the system.
• By referring to Fig. 1, each battery powered price tag of the system of thepresent invention can be realized even with a different exterior appearancefrom that the sample shown.
• Essentially, eachprice tag 1 is equipped with an alphanumeric liquid crystalsdisplay 2 of six or more figures, to permit the updating of both the currencyand the price, as well as of an eventual reference to the weight or itemsnumber.
• The price tag may be conveniently furnished with one or moretransparentpockets 3 and 4, into which may be inserted, in a conventional manner, oneor more printed labels or cards for showing specifications, provenience andother details of the good and/or promotional messages.
• The body of theprice tag 1 is essentially abox 5 of molded plastic material,sealably closed in a substantially permanent manner in order to preventinfiltration of fluids, juices, washing solutions, disinfecting liquids, and the like.
• On the back of thebox 5 of the price tag there will be a hatch for accessingthe battery compartment for a periodic substitution of the powering battery.
• Depending on the type of the electromagnetic signals receivable from theprice tag receiver, there may be on the front side of the same a "window"transparent to theelectromagnetic signals 6, for example of infraredwavelength.
• Of course, when the electromagnetic signals are radio frequency (RF)signals, the body of molded plastic material of the price tag is in itself perfectlytransparent to such signals and it will not be necessary the presence of any"window" 6, but the circuitry within the box likebody 5 will be perfectlysuitable to receive the RF signals.
• The scheme of the internal circuitry of each price tag receiver is shown by way of a block diagram in Fig. 2.
• The block RECEIVER detects and demodulates the electromagnetic signalsdestined to it, and beside a specific transducer, for example a RF signalsantenna or a phototransistor or photodiode in case of (IR) signals, the blockincludes converter circuits that may be of the heterodyne type as in acommon radio receiver or of a different type depending on the nature of thesignals employed for the transmission via ether as well as detecting anddemodulating circuits and circuits for amplifying the signals received.
• The demodulated or detected signals, properly amplified are converted inlogic signals by the LOGIC REGENERATION block, so that they can beprocessed by a logic processing block that can incorporate a microprocessorand a driving stage of the alphanumeric liquid crystals display of the price tag(CPU & LCD DRIVER)
• A rechargeable or periodically replaceable battery powers all the circuitalblocks as well as the LCD DISPLAY
• Fig. 3 shows the external appearance of a remote control for setting thevisual communication implements of the system of the present invention.
• According to a preferred embodiment, the remote control T is also furnishedwith an LCD display which is useful for the operator to set and check the datathat are thereafter transmitted upon an enter command to an updatable pricetag of Figures 1 and 2.
• The remote control is furnished with an essential keyboard for composing thealphanumeric price string as well as any other updatable data to be displayedon the price tag.
• The basic scheme of the remote-control/transmitter unit is shown by way of ablock diagram in Fig. 4.
• The keyboard constitutes the input device of the data that are then processedby the CPU & LCD DRIVER, that may include a microprocessor and drivingcircuits for the alphanumeric liquid crystals display, reproducing on the displaythe set alphanumeric string. The set data signals are eventually sent to theRF or IR TRANSMITTER.
• The same digital data that drive the LCD display constitute in fact themodulating signals that are eventually sent to the transmitter block, whichmay contain conventionally a carrier wavelength generating circuit, amodulating stage of the carrier frequency or of the carrier wavelength infunction of the digital signals received from the processing circuitry, and apower stage driving a transmission antenna for a modulated RF signal oroptical device for emitting a modulated IR signal.
• Preferably the modulation of the carrier frequency is of a digital type, realizedfor example in a pulse width modulation (PWM) mode which is relativelysimple to implement and particularly reliable, though any other method ofmodulation may be alternatively used.
• If an RF carrier signal is used, both the antenna A of the transmitter and thereceiving antenna inside the price tags will be highly directional in order tofacilitate the one-by-one updating, in an essentially independent way of aplurality of price tags that often may be disposed necessarily close to eachother.
• Obviously, if the electromagnetic signals are optical or IR signals, thedirectionality would be relatively intrinsic and eventually increased by lensesand/or diaphragms in either the transmitter and/or the receiver, thus requiringan alignment of the two during the transfer of the updated data, set on theremote control and eventually transmitted to the receiver price tag by atransmission command.
• In practice the system of visual communication of the present invention maybe implemented in different ways or embodiments similarly to the remotecontrol of TV sets and the like.
• The circuits and the transducers used to realize the price tag receivers as wellas the remote updating transmitter will depend upon design choices.

Claims (7)

1. A system of visual communication of the price of goods on sale,comprising at least an updatable price tag placed on or about the goods, andmeans for manually updating the price shown, characterized in that eachupdatable price tag has a battery powered alphanumeric liquid crystal display,a circuitry comprising a receiver of modulated electromagnetic signalstransmitted via ether, a circuit coupled to said receiver converting modulatingsignals of said electromagnetic signals to logic signals, a processing circuit ofsaid logic signals generating drive signals of said liquid crystal display;

   at least a battery powered supplied remote control having akeyboard for keying in updating data, a processing circuit of the signalsgenerated by said keyboard and a transmitter of said electromagnetic signalsmodulated by logic signals produced by said processing circuit.
2. The system of claim 1, characterized in that said updating remotecontrol has an alphanumeric liquid crystal display for visualizing the keyed-indata before processing and transmitting them.
3. The system according to the claim 1, in which saidelectromagnetic signals transmitted by said updating remote control andreceived by an updatable price tag are digitally modulating PWM signals.
4. The system according to an any of the preceding claims,characterized in that battery powering means of said price tags and of saidremote control comprise at least a rechargeable battery and a rechargingcircuit directly connectable to the mains.
5. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that saidreceiver of each updatable price tag and said transmitter comprise directionaltransducers
6. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that saidelectromagnetic signals are RF signals.
7. The system according to the claim 1, characterized in that saidelectromagnetic signals are IR signals.

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