GB2166577A

GB2166577A - Digital price ticket

Info

Publication number: GB2166577A
Application number: GB08428088A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Gabriel Ordonez
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1984-11-07
Filing date: 1984-11-07
Publication date: 1986-05-08
Also published as: GB2166577B; GB8428088D0

Abstract

A price ticket comprises a digital display which can be readily altered, and preferably alpha characters for the inclusion of a description of the product to be sold, The display (LCD or LED's) may be set by buttons 20 - - - - 30 or linked to a central control and it may be arranged to flash or change colour and in addition have an illuminated symbol or picture. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Digital price ticket The present invention relates to price tickets for the display of prices of products on the shelves of a shop.

A first known price ticket includes a plastic or cardboard card on which a price is written by hand. The card may be provided with a spike for insertion into the item to be sold.

The price may only be altered by crossing out on the cardboard card or rubbing off on the plastic card and writing in the new price.

A second known price ticket includes a plastic or metal frame possibly with a spike, the frame being adapted to carry one or more small cards with prices or figures which can be combined to make prices. The price may be easily altered by substitution of one or more of the small cards. However a larger number of small cards must be kept in stock.

Also if the cards touch the food item on which they have been placed then they become contaminated with food and for hygiene reasons may not be transferable to a different food item without sterilisation. In a busy shop this may not be carried out adequately-especially if price changes are required during the day and this may result in the shopkeeper bring prosecuted for contravention of the hygiene regulations.

Additionally if plastic or cardboard "write on" types are used the writing is often not very legible creating problems for the shopper and possible hesitation over making a purchase. With the frame and small card type often figures are different in size or format and this creates a poor impression to the shopper leading to an impression of a poorly managed shop and thereby reflecting on the quality of the merchandise being poor.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a price ticket for merchandise which is readily alterable and which always displays the price in a neat and uniform manner.

According to the present invention there is provided a price ticket for a display of prices on products including a digital display, means for altering the digital display and means for attaching the price ticket in close proximity to a product the price of which is being displayed.

Preferably the price ticket comprises means for displaying a description of the product for sale and means for displaying the price of a specified quantity of the product.

In a preferred form the price ticket is provided with a spike for insertion into the product to be sold.

Preferably the price ticket includes a digital display which is powered by a battery which may be of the rechargeable type. Alrernatively one or more price tickets may be connected to a common power source, preferably low voltage D.C. for operation of the display. The low voltage D.C. will be preferably generated from an A.C. mains voltage supply.

The display may be illuminated continuously or may be controlled to flash intermittently to attract the customer.

In a more preferred embodiment the display comprises two lines of text for the description of a product for sale, a first price display relating to a first quantity and a second price display relating to a second quantity. The two price displays may be electronically linked.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a price ticket incorporating a digital display according to the present invention; and Figure 2 shows a diagrammatic plan view of a display incorporating a number of electronic price tickets as shown in Fig. 1.

With reference now to Fig. 1, the price ticket comprises a. rectangular box 10 which is relatively slim in construction (see Fig. 2) with a spike 12 for insertion into the product whose price is to be displayed. The spike 12 of the ticket may for example be inserted into a greengrocery product (e.g. an apple) or a delicatessen product (e.g. sliced meat) or into the corner of a box containing the product.

The fixing of the price ticket in close proximity to the product could be by other means for example vacuum, hook or any other suitable method.

The rectangular box 10 contains a first display 14 a second display 16 and a third display 18. The first display 14 contains in a preferred example two lines of text which can be used to describe the type of article being sold e.g. FRENCH BEANS. The number of characters in each line of display is chosen to be sufficient for the longest descriptive word, bearing in mind that very long words can normally be shortened.

The second display 16 contains a numerical display of up to for example 3 digits with a floating decimal point and the third display also contains up to 3 digits with a floating decimal point but is for a different quantity to that of the second display. In the ticket chosen the second display is for 100 grm quantities and the third for one quarter of one pound quantities.

The displays may be altered by respective reset buttons 20, 22; 24, 26 and 28, 30.

To alter the text button 20 is first pressed to enable alteration of the first letter (T). The letter which is being changed may be indicated for example by flashing of this letter only. The second button on depression will cycle the letter through the alpha characters until the desired character is reached when the second button will be released and the first button again depressed to change to the next alpha character. An ability to produce a blank character is preferably provided so that a display can be centralised or a space left between words.

The price buttons 24, 26 and 28, 30 may be similarly operated to produce the numeric displays 16 and 18. The numeric display 16 may be used to display the price for example of 100 grms of the product and the display 18 may be used to display the price of a different quantity-for example one quarter of a pound. The parts of the display indicating the quantity may be alterable through selected quantities e.g. 50 grm, 100 grm, 500 grm, 1 Kgm by the buttons 24, 26 and may not necessarily be alterable in unit steps as may the main price display. Alternatively the 100 grm and QTR may be displayed as fixed items e.g. printed on the ticket. The displays 16 and 18 may be electronically linked such that alteration of one price automatically alters the other price. This is useful where one price is a direct multiple of the other or for example in countries where two currencies are used.

The displays 14, 16, 18 are enclosed within the box 10 which is preferably hermetically sealed and therefore the price ticket may be easily sterilised if required. The buttons 22, 24, 26, 28 and 30 may be plastic or rubber covered to produce the hermetic seal.

The spike 12 may be replaced by a dual spike arrangement for more secure mounting.

The displays may be of the liquid crystal (LCD) type or of the light emitting diode (LED) type.

With reference to Fig. 2, where it is required to have particularly bright displays which are on continuously or for very long periods, it is advantageous to have them powered from an external source. A back-up battery within each ticket can be provided to retain the price and details when the main power is switched off.

In Fig. 2 a plurality of tickets 10 are connected by lines 40 to a central control and power source 42. The D.C. power for each ticket 10 is fed via lines 40 (comprising two wires) to each ticket. If one or more of the tickets are required to flash to indicate for example a special bargain price then this can be controlled by a timing control within controller 42 or within each ticket 10 by for example pressing two buttons simultaneously e.g. 20 and 22.

The use of a central control enables the tickets to be de-energised at a timed instant-for example at 10 o'clock at night and switched back on at for example 7 o'clock in the morning to advertise prices. If required only tickets connected to a specific lead 44 in the shop window need be energised after closing time.

Each ticket may be provided with a pig tail lead 46 long enough to connect to a main lead 48 equipped with outlet points 50. The main lead 48 is then connected to the lead 44 at outlet point 52. Since the tickets 10 will normally consume very little power-of the order of tens of milliamps-then a large number can be connected to any one lead 44.

The ticket 10 could be arranged to be connected in a single line arrangement working from one power source which could be used for a long supermarket type of shelf display.

The display may be designed to provide different colours for example for different types of produce e.g. green for vegetables, red for meats etc. The displays may be provided with means for changing the colour of all or only part of the display or a variety of displays of different colours may be provided. A flashing feature may be provided on particular displays-for example red displays to indicate a price reduction for example.

The display may in addition to the price include means for displaying an effect for attracting the customer such as an illuminated symbol or picture of the product.

When used in a supermarket or other large store the displays may be linked to a central control which is operative to change the price on one or more of the displays. When used in a store which uses bar code read out for preparation of the customers bill the price on the shelf may be altered at the same time as the price at the check out thus making changes in price during the day extremely easy. Since such control may be relatively expensive it may be reserved for those sensitive sale areas where price changes are required-for example to clear the shelves at the end of a day or the last day in the week. In such a system no price set buttons need be provided on each display ticket and therefore the tickets will be tamper proof.

To ensure that displays are tamper and fault proof the ticket may be provided with a feedback system which can show an error at the central control. Alternatively for individual tickets the display may be "locked" by pressing for example buttons 20, 24 and 28 simultaneously and only "unlocked" for changes to be made by for example pressing buttons 22, 26 and 30 simultaneously.

Since the digital price tickets will be more expensive than the card or plastic known types they may themselves be provided with security tags to prevent loss.

Claims

1. A price ticket for the display of prices on products including a digital display, means for altering the digital display and means for attaching the price ticket in close proximity to a product, the price of which is being displayed.

2. A price ticket as claimed in Claim 1 including means for displaying a description of the product for sale and means for displaying the price of a specific quantity of the product.

3. A price ticket as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, in which the price ticket is provided with a spike for insertion into the product to be sold.

4. A price ticket as claimed in any preceding claim including a digital display powered by a battery.

5. A price ticket as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 3 including means for connecting an external D.C. voltage source to power the said display.

6. A price ticket as claimed in any preceding claim including means for illuminating the display continuously or for controlling the display to flash intermittently.

7. A price ticket as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the display comprises two lines of text for the description of the product for sale, a first price display relating to a first quantity and a second price display relating to a second quantity.

8. A system for the display of prices in a shop including a plurality of price tickets as claimed in Claim 5 including control means for switching on and off one or more of the price tickets.

9. A system for the display of prices as claimed in Claim 8 in which such control means includes means for causing the price tickets to switch on and off in a controlled manner.

10. A system for the display of prices as claimed in Claim 8 or Claim 9 in which the control means includes means for providing signals to one or more of the tickets to change the displayed details.

11. A price ticket for the display of prices constructed substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.