JP4822872B2 - Electronic shelf label system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic shelf label system that displays product data including selling prices of a plurality of products in a store using a plurality of electronic display tags.

  Generally, in stores such as supermarkets and convenience stores, the selling prices of products in the store are managed centrally by a product master stored in a POS system or the like. On the other hand, the selling price to the customer (consumer) is often transmitted by a paper medium shelf label arranged at the display position of the product. When such a paper medium shelf label is adopted, the management of the shelf label must be relied upon manually, and thus human error such as a mistake in selling price tends to occur. For this reason, there is a possibility that an incorrect selling price different from the selling price at the time of settlement by the register of the POS system is transmitted to the customer.

  In order to solve such a problem, an electronic shelf label system (ESL system / Electronic Shelf Label System) has been put into practical use in recent years. In the electronic shelf label system, a portable electronic display tag for displaying product data such as selling price is arranged corresponding to the display position of each product. Then, the product data including the selling price based on the product master is transmitted from the distribution side device to each electronic display tag, and the selling price is displayed on each electronic display tag. Thus, the correct selling price that matches the transaction price that is the selling price at the time of settlement is displayed on the electronic display tag, and the correct selling price is transmitted to the customer (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  As prior art documents disclosing techniques related to the present invention, there are the following documents.

JP 2004-265196 A JP 2005-301030 A

  By the way, in a store, in order to increase the customer's willingness to purchase a product, a sales method called “special sale” in which the selling price of a specific product is lower than the normal price is frequently adopted. In general stores, in order to widely inform customers about the selling price of products that are subject to special sales, newspaper advertisements with information on the products are posted on bulletin boards, etc., as posting areas in the stores. There are things to do.

  Information on products that can be placed in such newspaper advertisements is only information on products that are planned for sale in advance. However, there is a case where the selling price of a product is changed according to the weather, sales situation, etc. of the day such as a time sale. In this case, it is impossible to post information on the product in the posting area. For this reason, when the selling price of a product is changed on an occasional basis, manual work such as in-store broadcasting or temporary advertisement created at any time is required.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an electronic shelf label system that can provide product data such as an accurate selling price of a product in a posting area different from the display position of the product. And

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention of claim 1 is an electronic shelf label system that shows product data including selling prices of a plurality of products in a store using a plurality of electronic display tags having a display device, Each of the plurality of electronic display tags is associated with one of a plurality of products in the store, and each of the plurality of electronic display tags is a first display tag disposed at a display position of the product or the product. It is used as a second display tag arranged in a display area different from the display position, and a plurality of second display tags are arranged in the display area, and a plurality of products in the store and a plurality of electronic display tags Storage means for storing correspondence information indicating a correspondence relationship, and distribution means for delivering the product data of the product to an electronic display tag associated with the product based on the correspondence information, Multiple products A part of the specific product is associated with both the first display tag and the second display tag by the correspondence information, and the distribution unit corresponds the product data of the specific product to the specific product. Delivered to both the first display tag and the second display tag attached, and the plurality of second display tags are divided into a plurality of groups each corresponding to an attribute of a product, and a plurality of second display tags belonging to the same group A second display tag is collected and arranged; a receiving unit that receives a selection of the specific product from a plurality of products in the store; a unit that specifies an attribute of the specific product received by the receiving unit; Selection means for selecting one second display tag from the second display tags belonging to the group corresponding to the specified attribute of the specific product, the specific product, and the selected second display tag And corresponding It means for kicking Ru further comprising a.

The invention of claim 2 is the electronic shelf label system according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of groups are respectively associated with unique colors, and the plurality of second display tags each belong to its own device. that displays a color corresponding to the group in a predetermined area of the screen of the display device.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the electronic shelf label system according to any one of the first and second aspects, wherein each of the arrangement positions of the plurality of second display tags in the posting area is stored. Means for associating the posting area with at least a part of the display area of the display screen, and displaying an indicator at each position in the display area corresponding to an arrangement position of the plurality of second display tags in the posting area. It has a, and.

According to the inventions of claims 1 to 3 , product data of a specific product is distributed and displayed on both the first display tag arranged at the display position of the specific product and the second display tag arranged in the posting area. Is done. Thereby, accurate product data of a specific product can be provided in a posting area different from the display position of the product.

According to the first to third aspects of the invention, the product data of the desired product can be provided in the posting area by the user.

According to the inventions of claims 1 to 3 , the specific product is associated with the second display tag belonging to the group corresponding to the attribute of the specific product. For this reason, it is possible to provide the product data of the product in accordance with the same attribute-intensive to the customer, it is possible to easy-to-understand information.

In particular, according to the invention of claim 2 , the second display tag indicating the product data of the product having the same attribute displays the same color in the predetermined area. For this reason, it is possible to clearly grasp which attribute data of the product of which attribute is displayed on the second display tag.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Hereinafter, an electronic shelf label system applied to a store such as a supermarket or a convenience store will be described as an example.

<1. First Embodiment>
<1-1. Overview of using electronic billboards>
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a plurality of electronic display tags provided in the electronic shelf label system according to the present embodiment are arranged on a product shelf 60 of a store. As shown in the figure, the product shelf 60 is divided into spaces called faces 61, and the same type of products 6 are collected and displayed on each face 61. That is, the face 61 is a display position of the product 6.

  An electronic display tag 5, which is a portable small communication device, is attached to the product shelf 60 corresponding to each face 61. Each of these electronic display tags 5 is associated with one product 6 (more precisely, one product type), and is disposed on a frame 62 below the face 61 of the corresponding product 6. Each electronic display tag 5 includes a display unit, and product data such as a selling price related to the corresponding product 6 is displayed on the display unit. The customer (consumer) at the store recognizes the selling price of the product 6 by such display of the electronic display tag 5. The position of the electronic display tag 5 is not fixed, and the electronic display tag 5 can be removed from the frame 62 and rearranged at another position. In the present embodiment, a plurality of product shelves 60 as shown in FIG. 1 are arranged in a sales space in the store.

  In this way, all the products in the store are associated with the electronic display tag 5, and the product data such as the selling price is provided to the customer by the electronic display tag 5 arranged at the display position. On the other hand, the electronic display tag 5 of the present embodiment can be placed in a display area in a store different from the display position of the product 6.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state in which a plurality of electronic display tags 5 provided in the electronic shelf label system are arranged on a bulletin board 7 which is a posting area in the store. Such a bulletin board 7 is provided at a position that is easily noticed by customers in the sales space, such as near the entrance of a store. As shown in the figure, a plurality of electronic display tags 5 are arranged in a matrix on the bulletin board 7.

  Some specific products among a plurality of products in the store are also associated with the electronic display tag 5 arranged on the bulletin board 7. The product data such as the selling price of the specific product is also provided to the customer on the bulletin board 7. The specific product to be posted is selected from the products handled in the store by the store staff who is the user of the system (details will be described later). For example, a “recommended product” at that time, such as a product that is targeted for sale at that time, or a product that the store wants to promote sales to customers in particular, is selected as the specific product. Thereby, the customer can easily grasp the product data regarding the “recommended product” at that time by visually checking the bulletin board 7.

  The electronic display tag 5 arranged in the display position of the product as shown in FIG. 1 and the electronic display tag 5 arranged in the posting area as shown in FIG. 2 are the same device as the device structure. Hereinafter, for the sake of convenience, the electronic display tag 5 placed at the display position of the product is referred to as “shelf label” 5a, and the electronic display tag 5 placed in the posting area is referred to as “posting tag” 5b.

<1-2. Configuration of store information system>
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a store information system including the electronic shelf label system 1 applied to a store. As shown in the figure, the store information system 100 includes a store controller 2 and a POS system 3 along with the electronic shelf label system 1. The POS server 31 included in the POS system 3 and the ESL server 10 included in the electronic shelf label system 1 are connected to the store controller 2 via the LAN 21. Thereby, data communication is enabled among the store controller 2, the POS system 3, and the electronic shelf label system 1.

  The store controller 2 is composed of a general computer and functions as a device that manages the store information system 100 in an integrated manner. The store controller 2 is connected to an external network such as the Internet, and can communicate with a computer or the like disposed in a headquarter center that manages the store via the external network.

  The POS system 3 is a system that collects and analyzes information related to the sale of products at the time of sale, and includes a plurality of registers 32 that perform product settlement together with a POS server 31 that collectively manages the POS system 3. ing. The POS server 31 and the register 32 are connected by a dedicated communication cable.

  The POS server 31 is composed of a general computer, and a product master 301 indicating product data such as the sale price of the product is stored in the hard disk. In each of the plurality of registers 32, the product is settled based on the selling price described in the product master 301.

  Product data relating to all products in the store is centrally managed by the product master 301. The product data described in the product master 301 includes “product code” that is product identification information, “product name” that is the name of the product, “department” that indicates the department to which the product belongs, and “normal” that is the normal selling price. Data items such as “price”, “transaction price” that is the selling price actually used in the settlement of the register 32, and “eye catch information” that is a word for attracting customers to the product are included. Here, the “department” indicates an attribute of a product such as fruits and vegetables, fresh fish, and meat. The “transaction price” described in the product master 301 can be changed by direct operation of the POS server 31 or the like.

<1-3. Configuration of electronic shelf label system>
The electronic shelf label system 1 is broadly divided into a plurality of electronic display tags 5 described above and a distribution side device 40 that distributes product data to be displayed on the electronic display tag 5. The distribution side device 40 includes the ESL server 10, a base station 41, and a plurality of transceivers 42.

  The ESL server 10 is a server device that manages the electronic shelf label system 1 in an integrated manner, and is arranged in a backyard or the like separate from the sales space in the store. The base station 41 is connected to the ESL server 10 and each transceiver 42, and functions as a signal relay between the ESL server 10 and each transceiver 42.

  The transceiver 42 transmits and receives signals to and from the electronic display tag 5 in the store using wireless communication such as infrared communication. More specifically, the transceiver 42 has a function of transmitting to the electronic display tag 5 a data signal that is a radio signal indicating product data or the like to be displayed on the electronic display tag 5. The transceiver 42 is fixedly arranged on the ceiling at almost constant distances over the entire sales space. As a result, the distribution-side device 40 distributes the data signal to all the electronic display tags 5 arranged in the sales space including the shelf label 5a arranged on the commodity shelf 60 and the bulletin board 5b arranged on the bulletin board 7. It is possible to do.

  The configuration of the ESL server 10 as hardware is the same as that of a general computer. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a basic configuration of the ESL server 10. As shown in the figure, the ESL server 10 includes a CPU 11 that performs various arithmetic processes, a ROM 12 that stores basic programs, a RAM 13 that serves as a work area for arithmetic processes, a hard disk 14 that stores programs and various data files, and various displays. A display 15 to be performed, an input unit 16 including a keyboard and a mouse, and a data communication unit 17 having a data communication function are provided.

  Further, the ESL server 10 includes an interface 18 for communicating with the base station 41. A control signal for controlling the electronic display tag 5 and a data signal including product data to be displayed on the electronic display tag 5 are transmitted to the base station 41 via the interface 18, and are further transmitted from the base station 41 via the transceiver 42. Is transmitted to the electronic display tag 5.

  The hard disk 14 of the ESL server 10 stores a program dedicated to the ESL server in addition to the operating system program, and various functions as the ESL server 10 are realized by the CPU 11 performing arithmetic processing according to this program. Is done. As the operating system of the ESL server 10, a system that supports a GUI that can respond to a mouse operation is employed.

<1-4. Data file structure>
The hard disk 14 of the ESL server 10 stores a product file 101 and a posting file 102 that are data files used for distributing product data to the electronic display tag 5.

  The product file 101 mainly shows various types of information related to the products in the store, but is also used as correspondence information indicating the correspondence between the products and the shelf labels 5a. On the other hand, the bulletin file 102 is mainly used as correspondence information indicating the correspondence between the product (specific product) and the posting tag 5b.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the product file 101. As shown in the figure, the product file 101 has a table format, and each of the records 101a indicates product data relating to one product. Specifically, data items such as “product code”, “product name”, “normal price”, “transaction price”, and “eye catch information” are registered for each record 101a. These product data are registered based on the product data of the product master 301 of the POS system 3 described above by communication between the ESL server 10 and the POS system 3. As a result, the product data 101 and the product master 301 always have the same product data.

  In addition, in each record 101a of the product file 101, a data item of “device code” that is unique hardware identification information (hardware ID) is registered in each of the plurality of electronic display tags 5 included in the electronic shelf label system 1. ing. Thus, by registering the “device code” in each record 101a, all the products in the store are associated with the plurality of electronic display tags 5 serving as the shelf labels 5a in terms of data.

  Each record 101 a of the product file 101 further includes a data item of “specific product flag” indicating whether or not the product is selected as a specific product for which product data is to be provided on the bulletin board 7. If the “specific product flag” is “ON”, the product is selected as the specific product, and if it is “OFF”, the product is not selected as the specific product.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the posting file 102. As shown in the figure, the posting file 102 also has a table format, and each record 101a indicates information related to one posting tag 5b. Specifically, data items such as “coordinate position”, “device code”, and “product code” are registered for each record 102a.

  “Coordinate position” indicates an arrangement position of the bulletin board 5 b on the bulletin board 7. The format “VVHH” is adopted for “coordinate position”. The first two-digit “VV” indicates the number of the billboard 5b from the top (position in the vertical direction), and the second two-digit “HH” is the number from the left of the billboard 5b. (Position in the horizontal direction). For example, the “coordinate position” of the bulletin board 5b at the upper left corner is indicated as “0101”. For example, the “coordinate position” of the bulletin board 5b present in the third row from the top and the second column from the left is indicated as “0302”.

  The “device code” indicates the device code of the bulletin board 5 b and is registered based on the electronic display tag 5 actually arranged on the bulletin board 7. The “product code” indicates a product code of a specific product for which product data is to be displayed on the bulletin board 5b. Thus, by registering the “device code” and the “product code” in each record 102a, the electronic display tag 5 that is the posting tag 5b and the product that is the specific product are associated in terms of data. Therefore, the specific product is associated with the shelf label 5 a in the product file 101 and also associated with the posting tag 5 b in the posting file 102.

  Note that the bulletin board 5b is not always associated with the product, and there is a case where the post tag 5b is not associated with the product. In the record 102a related to the posting tag 5b in such an unsupported state, the “product code” is not registered.

<1-5. Configuration of electronic display tag>
Next, the configuration of the electronic display tag 5 will be described. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an external configuration of the electronic display tag 5. As described above, the electronic display tag 5 can be used as either the shelf label 5a or the posting tag 5b.

  As shown in the figure, on the front surface of the electronic display tag 5, a display unit 51 for displaying product data such as the selling price of the corresponding product, and communication capable of receiving a radio signal such as a data signal from the distribution side device 40. The part 52 is arranged.

  The display unit 51 is composed of a dot matrix type liquid crystal display device composed of a plurality of pixels and capable of displaying not only numerical values but also various information such as characters, symbols and figures. Yes. In the example of FIG. 7, “product name” 6 a, “normal price” 6 b, “transaction price” 6 c, and the like for the corresponding product are displayed on the display unit 51. In addition, a partial area at the top of the display screen of the display unit 51 is an eye catch area 51a for attracting customers, and “eye catch information” 6d for a product corresponding to the area 51a is also displayed. The

  In addition, the electronic display tag 5 includes therein a control unit 53 configured by an integrated circuit for controlling the operation of the apparatus, and the control unit 53 is provided with a nonvolatile memory 54 for storing various information. ing. In the memory 54, the device code of the device itself is stored in advance. Further, the product data included in the data signal transmitted from the transceiver 42 and received by the communication unit 52 is temporarily stored in the memory 54, and then displayed on the display unit 51 as shown in FIG. It has become.

<1-6. Product data distribution operations>
The basic operation of the electronic shelf label system 1 is to distribute product data from the distribution side device 40 to the electronic display tag 5 and display the product data on the display unit 51. Distribution of such product data is performed when the system is started up, when the selling price of the product is updated, and the like. Here, when the selling price is updated, the “ordinary price” in the product master 301 is changed, or the “transaction price” is changed on an occasional basis when a special sale such as a time sale is performed.

  When the system is activated, the product data is distributed to the electronic display tags 5 corresponding to all the products in the store. On the other hand, when the selling price is updated, the product data is only applied to the electronic display tags 5 corresponding to the target products. be delivered. In this way, by distributing the product data as necessary, the selling price displayed on the electronic display tag 5 and the selling price (transaction price) at the time of settlement by the actual register 32 are always matched. Furthermore, regarding the specific product, product data is distributed not only to the corresponding shelf label 5a but also to the corresponding bulletin board 5b. Hereinafter, the distribution operation of such product data will be described.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an operation flow of the electronic shelf label system 1 related to distribution of product data related to one product. In the figure, the operation indicated by the symbol Pa indicates the operation of the electronic display tag 5 as the shelf label 5a, the operation indicated by the symbol Pb indicates the operation of the electronic display tag 5 as the posting tag 5b, and the other operations are the distribution side. The operation of the device 40 is shown. In this description, one target product is referred to as “target product”.

  First, the CPU 11 of the ESL server 10 of the distribution side device 40 searches the product file 101 for a record 101a including the “product code” of the target product. Then, product data such as “product name”, “normal price”, “transaction price”, and “eye catch information” of the target product is acquired from the record 101a (step S11). Furthermore, the “device code” associated with the “product code” of the target product is acquired from the record 101a. The “device code” acquired here indicates the shelf label 5a corresponding to the target product (step S12).

  Next, a data signal including the “device code” and the acquired product data is transmitted from the transceiver 42. Thereby, the product data to be displayed is transmitted to the shelf label 5a related to the “device code” (step S13).

  The transmitted data signal is received by the communication unit 52 of the shelf label 5a of “device code” included in the data signal (step S21). Under the control of the control unit 53 of the shelf label 5a, the product data included in the data signal is displayed on the display unit 51 of the shelf label 5a as shown in FIG. 7 (step S22).

  When the product data is distributed to the shelf label 5a, the CPU 11 of the ESL server 10 next determines whether or not the target product is a specific product. For this determination, the “specific product flag” of the record 101a of the target product is used (step S14). At this time, if the target product is not a specific product (No in step S14), the distribution operation of the product data related to the target product ends.

  On the other hand, when the target product is a specific product, the CPU 11 searches the posting file 102 for a record 102a including the “product code” of the target product. Then, the “device code” associated with the “product code” of the target product is acquired from the record 102a. The “apparatus code” acquired here indicates the posting tag 5b corresponding to the target product (step S15).

  Next, a data signal including the “device code” and the product data acquired in step S <b> 11 is transmitted from the transceiver 42. Thereby, the merchandise data to be displayed is transmitted to the notice tag 5b related to the “device code” (step S16).

  The transmitted data signal is received by the communication unit 52 of the “device code” posting tag 5b included in the data signal (step S31). Then, the product data included in the data signal is displayed on the display unit 51 of the posting tag 5b as shown in FIG. 7 under the control of the control unit 53 of the posting tag 5b (step S32).

  By the operation as described above, when the target product is a specific product, the product data is distributed to both the shelf label 5a and the posting tag 5b. As a result, the same product data relating to the specific product is displayed on both the shelf label 5a and the bulletin board 5b. Therefore, the exact selling price of the specific product that matches the selling price (transaction price) at the time of settlement by the actual register 32 is provided to the customer along with the display position of the specific product as well as on the bulletin board 7 away from the display position. As a result, even if the “transaction price” of a specific product is changed in order to implement an unscheduled time sale, etc., the latest accurate “transaction price” at that point in time will be Both can be provided to customers.

<1-7. Creation of bulletin file>
The number of electronic display tags 5 arranged as the bulletin board 5b on the bulletin board 7 is not constant and can be changed as appropriate. In such a case, the posting file 102 is newly created. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a flow of processing for creating the posting file 102. This process is a process executed by the CPU 11 by performing a predetermined operation via the input unit 16 of the ESL server 10. Hereinafter, this process will be described.

  First, a dialog for accepting the number of electronic display tags 5 used for the bulletin board 7 from the user is displayed on the display screen of the display 15. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing this dialog D1. This dialog D1 includes two text boxes Tb1 and Tb2 for designating the vertical number (column number) and horizontal number (row number) of the electronic display tag 5, respectively, and a “create” button Cb1. .

  The user inputs a desired number in the text boxes Tb1, Tb2 via the input unit 16, and clicks the “Create” button Cb1. As a result, the numerical values input in the text boxes Tb1 and Tb2 are respectively accepted by the CPU 11 as the vertical and horizontal numbers of the electronic display tag 5 used for the bulletin board 7 (step S41).

  Next, a new posting file 102 is created based on the number of electronic display tags 5 accepted. The number of records 102a included in the bulletin file 102 matches the number of electronic display tags 5 (vertical number × horizontal number). The format of the bulletin file 102 to be created is the same as that shown in FIG. 6, but only “coordinate position” is registered among the data items, and all records 102 a are recorded for “device code” and “product code”. Is not registered (step S42).

  Next, a process of registering “device code” in each record 102a of the posting file 102 is performed (step S43). In this case, a dialog D <b> 2 shown in FIG. 11 is displayed on the display screen of the display 15. The lower part of the dialog D2 includes a text box Tb3 for inputting a device code, a “register” button Cb2, a “delete” button Cb3, and an “end” button Cb4.

  The central part of the dialog D2 includes a posting virtual area Ba1 that is a display area schematically showing a plurality of posting tags 5b arranged on the bulletin board 7. The posting virtual area Ba1 is associated with the area of the bulletin board 7. A text label L1 serving as an index is displayed at a position corresponding to the position of the bulletin board 5b on the bulletin board 7. The text label L1 in the posting virtual area Ba1 is arranged based on the data item of “coordinate position” of each record 102a of the posting file 102. That is, one text label L1 corresponds to one record 102a of the posting file 102, and further, one posting tag 5b arranged at a position in the bulletin board 7 corresponding to the display position in the posting virtual area Ba1. It will correspond to. Hereinafter, the text label corresponding to the bulletin board 5b is referred to as “posting label”.

  The user refers to the dialog D2 and registers the “device code” of the actual notice tag 5b for each of the records 102a corresponding to the notice label L1. Of the notice label L1, the “recording code” of the corresponding record 102a is registered as “registered”, and the “recording code” is not registered as “unregistered”. The

  The user selects one of the posting label L1 displayed as “unregistered” by clicking through the input unit 16, inputs “device code” in the text box Tb3, and then clicks the “register” button Cb2. click. As a result, the “device code” input to the record 102a corresponding to the selected notice label L1 is registered, and “registered” is displayed on the notice label L1. Note that the “device code” must be input based on the notice board 5b arranged on the actual bulletin board 7, and the “device code” of the used electronic display tag 5 as the shelf label 5a should not be input. .

  In addition, when it is desired to correct the registration relationship of the “device code” for the posted label L1 displayed as “Registered”, the user selects the posted label L1 by clicking, and clicks the “Delete” button Cb3. As a result, the “device code” in the record 102a corresponding to the posting label L1 is deleted, and the posting label L1 is displayed as “unregistered”. Thereafter, another “device code” may be registered for the notice tag label L1.

  After the registration of the “device code” regarding all the notice tag labels L1 is completed, when the “end” button Cb4 is clicked, the process of creating the notice file 102 is completed (see FIG. 9).

<1-8. Selection and mapping of specific products>
In the bulletin file 102 created as described above, the “product code” of each record 102a is unregistered. For this reason, it is necessary to select a desired specific product from a plurality of products in the store, and to associate the selected specific product with any one of the billboards 5b. In addition, there is a case where the specific product is changed, and also in this case, it is necessary to select a new specific product and associate the specific product with any one of the bulletin boards 5b.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a flow of processing relating to selection and association of specific products performed in such a case. This process is also a process executed by the CPU 11 by performing a predetermined operation via the input unit 16 of the ESL server 10, but the operation indicated by the symbol Pb in the figure is an electronic display that becomes the bulletin board 5b. The operation of the bill 5 is shown. Hereinafter, this process will be described.

  First, a dialog for selecting and associating a specific product is displayed on the display screen of the display 15 (step S51). FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the dialog D3. The dialog D3 includes a posting virtual area Ba2 on the left side, and a new corresponding product area Ga1, a current corresponding product area Ga2, and an “end” button Cb8 on the right side.

  The posting virtual area Ba2 is a display area schematically showing a plurality of posting tags 5b arranged on the bulletin board 7, like the posting virtual area Ba1 of the dialog D2 illustrated in FIG. That is, the posting virtual area Ba2 is associated with the actual area of the bulletin board 7, and the posting label L2 is displayed as an index at a position corresponding to the position of the posting board 5b on the bulletin board 7. The display of the posting virtual area Ba2 is also performed based on the data item of “coordinate position” of each record 102a of the posting file 102.

  Selecting one posting tag label L2 of the posting virtual area Ba2 substantially corresponds to selecting one posting tag 5b arranged at the position of the bulletin board 7 corresponding to the position. The user uses the dialog D3 to associate a specific product with each of the posting tags 5b indicated by these posting tag labels L2. As a result, the “product code” is registered in the record 102 a of the posting file 102. Of the notice label L2, the corresponding notice tag 5b is displayed as “corresponding” if it is associated with the product, and “not supported” is displayed if it is not associated with the product.

  The new corresponding product area Ga1 is an area indicating a specific product that is to be newly associated with the bulletin board 5b. The new corresponding product area Ga1 includes text boxes Tb4 and Tb5 indicating a product code and a product name of a specific product, a “select” button Cb5, and a “correspondence” button Cb6.

  On the other hand, the current corresponding merchandise area Ga2 is an area indicating the specific merchandise currently associated with the bulletin board 5b. The current corresponding product area Ga2 includes text boxes Tb6 and Tb7 indicating the product code and product name of the specific product, and a “cancel” button Cb7.

  When the corresponding posted label L2 is selected by clicking, the “product code” and “product name” of the product associated with the posted tag 5b indicated by the posted label L1 are acquired from the posted file 102 and the like. They are displayed in the text boxes Tb6 and Tb7 of the corresponding product area Ga2. As a result, it is possible to confirm the specific product associated with the bulletin board 5b at that time. In addition, when it is desired to cancel the correspondence relationship with the product of the posting tag 5b, the “cancel” button Cb3 is clicked. As a result, the “product code” in the record 102a of the notice tag 5b is deleted. Then, the post label L2 related to the post 5b is displayed as “Not supported”. Even in the case of the post card 5b that has already been associated with a product, another product can be newly associated by canceling the correspondence relationship with the already-supported product in this way.

  When associating a product with the unsupported bulletin board 5b, first, the user inputs the “product code” of the product to be specified as a specific product in the text box Tb4 of the new corresponding product area Ga1, and clicks the “select” button Cb5. . As a result, the product with the input “product code” is selected as the specific product to be associated with the bulletin board 5b, and the selected specific product is received by the CPU 11 (FIG. 12: step S52).

  Then, the “product name” related to the input “product code” is acquired from the product file 101 and displayed in the text box Tb5. At this time, if the input “product code” does not exist in the product file 101, an error is displayed, and the product of the “product code” is not recognized as a specific product. As a result, a specific product is selected from among a plurality of products handled at the store. Note that a specific product may be selected by inputting “product name” instead of “product code”.

  Next, the user selects by clicking one posting label L <b> 2 that is displayed as “Unsupported” to be associated with the specific product. The posting tag 5b corresponding to the selected posting tag label L2 is received by the CPU 11 as an object of association, and the frame Fr is displayed on the posting tag label L2. As described above, each bulletin board label L2 is displayed based on the position of the corresponding bulletin board 5b on the actual bulletin board 7. For this reason, the user can easily select the bulletin board 5b at a desired arrangement position as a target for displaying the product data of the specific commodity only by selecting one bulletin label L2 (step S53).

  Until the “Correspondence” button Cb6 is clicked (No in Step S54), Step S52 and Step S53 can be repeated, and the order of Step S52 and Step S53 can be switched.

  When the “Correspondence” button Cb6 is clicked (Yes in Step S54), in response to this, the specific product selected in Step S52 corresponds to the notice tag 5b indicated by the notice label L2 selected in Step S53. Attached. More specifically, under the control of the CPU 11, the “product code” of the specific product is registered in the record 102a of the selected post tag label L2 in the post file 102 (step S55).

  Next, the “specific product flag” of the record 101a including the “product code” of the specific product in the product file 101 is rewritten to “ON”, and the product file 101 indicates that the product is selected as the specific product. (Step S56).

  Next, product data of the specific product such as “product name”, “normal price”, “transaction price”, and “eye catch information” is acquired from the record 101a of the specific product (step S57). Subsequently, the “device code” of the posting tag 5 b that is the object of association is acquired from the posting file 102. Then, a data signal including product data relating to the specific product is transmitted to the bulletin board 5b (step S58). The transmitted data signal is received by the bulletin board 5b (step S61), and the product data included in the data signal is displayed on the display unit 51 (step S62). As a result, provision of product data relating to the specific product to the customer on the bulletin board 7 is started.

  The above series of operations can be repeated until the “end” button Cb8 is clicked (No in step S59). Thereby, the user can select a desired product in the store as a specific product, and can display the product data of the selected specific product on the desired bulletin board 5b. If “end” button Cb8 is clicked (Yes in step S59), the processing relating to selection and association of the specific product is completed.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the user (store staff) can select a specific product from a plurality of products in the store, so the product data of the desired product is provided to the customer on the bulletin board 7. it can. The processing shown in FIG. 12 can be performed at an arbitrary timing, and the user can naturally change the product to be the specific product. Therefore, by appropriately selecting a product that is most likely to be promoted at that time, such as a product that is subject to time sale, as the specific product, the product data of the product can be effectively provided to the customer.

  In the posting virtual area Ba2 of the dialog D3, the posting label L2 is shown at a position corresponding to the position where the posting tag 5b is arranged. Then, the user can select the posting tag 5b to be associated with the specific product by selecting one of the posting label L2 from among them. Therefore, the user can easily display the product data of the desired specific product on the bulletin board 5b at the desired position while assuming the actual bulletin board 7. For example, it is possible to easily display the product data of a product to be promoted particularly on the bulletin board 5b arranged in the top row so as to stand out more prominently.

<2. Second Embodiment>
Next, a second embodiment will be described. In the present embodiment, the bulletin board 5b is divided into a plurality of groups each corresponding to a product category and used. The electronic shelf label system 1 of the present embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment in the configuration, and the contents of data and the contents of processing are different from those of the first embodiment. Below, it demonstrates centering on difference with 1st Embodiment.

  FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of the posting file 102 according to the present embodiment. In the bulletin file 102, for each record 102a, in addition to the data items similar to those in the first embodiment (see FIG. 6), data items of “group” are registered. This “group” indicates the group to which the bulletin board 5b belongs. In this embodiment, three groups of “fruit and vegetables group”, “fresh fish group” and “meat group” are prepared so as to correspond to the product categories of “fruits and vegetables”, “fresh fish” and “meat”, respectively. The notice board 5b is set to belong to any group.

  Such a group is set together with the device code when registering the device code of each posting tag 5b in the process of creating the posting file (FIG. 9: Step S43). FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of the dialog D4 displayed on the display screen of the display 15 of the ESL server 10 at this time. The dialog D4 includes a combo box Cn for designating a group in addition to the control group included in the dialog D2 (see FIG. 11) in the first embodiment.

  In such a dialog D4, the user selects the posting label L1, inputs “device code” in the text box Tb3, further designates the group in the combo box Cn, and then clicks the “register” button Cb2. . Thereby, the user can set a group to which each posting tag 5b belongs.

  It is possible for the user to arbitrarily determine which posting tag 5b is set to which group, but it is desirable to set the posting tag 5b arranged in the vicinity of each other in the same group. For example, in the example of FIG. 16, the posting tags 5b included in the upper two rows are “fruit and vegetables group”, the posting tags 5b included in the middle two rows are “fresh fish group”, and the posting tags 5b included in the lower two rows are “meat group”. "Is set.

  Next, processing relating to selection and association of a specific product in the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 17 is a diagram showing the flow of this processing. Also in this process, first, a dialog for selecting and associating a specific product is displayed on the display screen of the display 15 of the ESL server 10 (step S71). FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of the dialog D5.

  Similarly to the dialog D3 (see FIG. 13) in the first embodiment, the dialog D5 also includes the posting virtual area Ba2 on the left side, the new corresponding product area Ga1, the current corresponding product area Ga2, and the “ An “end” button Cb8 is included.

  However, in the posting virtual area Ba2, it is clearly indicated to which group the posting tag 5b corresponding to each posting tag label L2 belongs. In addition, the new corresponding product area Ga1 includes a text box Tb8 for indicating the “department” of the specific product to be newly associated, and the current corresponding product area Ga2 includes the specific product already corresponding to the posting tag 5b. A text box Tb9 for indicating the “department” is included. The new corresponding product area Ga1 does not include the “correspondence” button Cb6 included in the dialog D3 illustrated in FIG.

  Also in the present embodiment, when associating a product with the unsupported bulletin board label L2, first, the user inputs the “product code” of the product to be specified as a specific product in the text box Tb4 of the new corresponding product area Ga1, Click the “Select” button Cb5. As a result, the product with the input “product code” is selected as the specific product, and the selected specific product is received by the CPU 11 (FIG. 17: step S72).

  Then, the “product name” and “department” related to the input “product code” are acquired from the product file 101 and displayed in the text boxes Tb5 and Tb8, respectively. That is, the “department” of the specific product is specified by the CPU 11 (step S73). At this time, if the input “product code” does not exist in the product file 101, an error is displayed as in the first embodiment.

  Next, from the plurality of posting tags 5b registered as records 102a in the posting file 102, the posting tags 5b belonging to the group corresponding to the “department” of the specific product are extracted based on the data item “department”. Is done. For example, in the example of FIG. 18, since the “department” of the specific product is “fruits and vegetables”, in this case, the bulletin board 5b belonging to the “fruits and vegetables group” is extracted. Further, from the extracted bulletin board 5b, the bulletin board 5b not corresponding to the product is extracted. Whether or not each posting tag 5b is incompatible with the product is determined based on whether or not the data item “device code” is registered in each record 102a of the posting file 102.

  As a result, the bulletin board 5b corresponding to the “department” of the specific product and not corresponding to the product is extracted. Then, the CPU 11 selects one posting tag 5b from the extracted posting tags 5b as a target to be associated with the specific product. A frame Fr is displayed on the posting label L2 corresponding to the selected one of the posting tags 5b, thereby indicating to the user which of the posting tags 5b has been selected. Note that when there are a plurality of the extracted bills 5b, any one of the bills 5b may be selected. For example, the bulletin tag 5b having the highest registration order of the record 102a may be selected (step S74). ).

  Further, when there is no posting tag 5b that does not correspond to the product and the posting tag 5b associated with the specific product cannot be selected (Yes in step S75), any one of the posting tags 5b corresponding to the “department” of the specific product It is necessary to change the correspondence with the product. For this reason, an error display indicating that to the user is made. In response to this display, the user clicks on the bill label L2 to select the bill 5b to be changed by the user. The bulletin board 5b selected by the user is received by the CPU 11, and the bulletin board 5b is selected as one bulletin board 5b associated with the specific product (step S76).

  Next, the one billboard 5b, which is a target to be associated with the specific product, is associated with the specific product selected in step S72. More specifically, under the control of the CPU 11, the “product code” of the specific product is registered in the record 102a related to the one posting tag 5b in the posting file 102 (step S77).

  Next, the “specific product flag” of the record 101a of the specific product in the product file 101 is rewritten (step S78), and the product data of the specific product is acquired from the record 101a of the specific product (step S79).

  Subsequently, the “device code” and “group” of one posting tag 5 b that is the object of association are acquired from the posting file 102. Then, a data signal including product data and “group” relating to the specific product is transmitted to the notice tag 5b (step S80). Thereafter, when “end” button Cb8 is clicked (Yes in step S81), the processing related to selection and association of the specific product is completed.

  The transmitted data signal is received by the bulletin board 5b (step S91). In response to this, in the billboard 5b, the group color corresponding to the “group” included in the data signal is specified by the control of the control unit 53 (step S92).

  In the present embodiment, a unique color is associated as a group color with each of the plurality of groups to which the bulletin board 5b belongs. Specifically, the group color of the “fruit and vegetable group” is “green”, the group color of the “fresh fish group” is “blue”, and the group color of the “meat group” is “red”. Such correspondence between groups and group colors is stored in advance in the memory 54 as table data. The control unit 53 refers to the table data stored in the memory 54 to identify the group color corresponding to the “group” included in the received data signal. Here, the “group” included in the data signal is a “group” set in the bulletin board 5 b in the bulletin file 102. That is, by such processing, the control unit 53 can specify the group to which the own apparatus belongs from the data signal, and can further specify the group color corresponding to the group.

  When the group color is specified, the product data included in the data signal is displayed on the display unit 51 as shown in FIG. 7 (step S93), and the product data related to the specific product is provided to the customer on the bulletin board 7. Be started. At this time, the background color is displayed as a group color in the eye catch area 51a. As a result, the customer can intuitively grasp which section of the product data the product belongs to, by checking the background color of the eye catch area 51a of the bill 5b. is there. For this reason, the product data of the specific product can be provided to the customer more effectively.

  In addition, when a group of bulletin boards 5b is set as shown in FIG. 16, as shown in FIG. 19, the background color of the eye catch area 51a of each bulletin board 5b is the group of the group to which each bulletin board 5b belongs. Displayed in color. That is, the background color of the eye catch area 51a is “green” for the “fruit and vegetable group” posting tags 5b in the upper two rows, “blue” for the “fresh fish group” posting tags 5b in the middle two rows, and “ In the “Meat Group” bulletin board 5b, it becomes “red”. Since the customer can grasp the department of the product corresponding to each of the notice tags 5b by using the group color as a clue, and can roughly recognize which part of the product is posted on which bulletin board 7, the bulletin board 7 Therefore, it is possible to easily find product data relating to the desired product.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, one posting tag 5b is automatically selected by the CPU 11 from the products and the unsupported posting tags 5b, and the selected posting tag 5b is associated with the specific product. Is done. For this reason, the user does not need to select the bulletin board 5b to be associated with the specific product, and can easily associate the specific product with the bulletin board 5b.

  Further, the department of the specific product is specified, and the CPU 11 selects one post tag 5b to be associated with the specific product from the post tags 5b belonging to the group corresponding to the department. For this reason, it is possible to automatically associate the specific product with the bulletin board 5b of the group corresponding to the department. Therefore, for example, as shown in FIG. 16, by setting the bulletin board 5b located in the vicinity on the bulletin board 7 to the same group, product data of specific products related to the same department can be provided to the customer collectively, It can be provided in an easy-to-understand manner.

<3. Third Embodiment>
In the above embodiment, the display unit 51 of the electronic display tag 5 is configured by a liquid crystal display device. However, the display content can be rewritten and is called “electronic paper”, and the drive power is not supplied. You may comprise with the non-volatile display device which maintains the display content.

  As the non-volatile display device, for example, the one disclosed in Patent Document 2 can be used. Hereinafter, such a nonvolatile display device will be briefly described.

  FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view of the display unit 51 including a nonvolatile display device. As shown in the figure, the display unit 51 includes two substrates 91 and 92 made of a transparent material such as glass in parallel at a predetermined interval. A partition wall 93 is formed between the two substrates 91 and 92 at predetermined intervals so as to partition the space. Each of the spaces partitioned by the partition wall 93 functions as one pixel 90. When the display unit 51 is viewed from the display surface side (the side indicated by the arrow Ar in the figure), such pixels 90 are arranged in a matrix.

  In each pixel 90, electrodes 94 and 95 made of ITO or the like are provided on the inner surfaces of the substrate 91 and the substrate 92, respectively. Further, in the space surrounded by the electrodes 94 and 95 and the partition wall 93, two kinds of particles 96 and 97 composed of a substance in an intermediate state having both fluid and particle characteristics are enclosed. . One of these two kinds of particles is a colored particle 96 colored with a predetermined color, and the other is a white white particle 97. The colored particles 96 are charged at a relatively high potential, and the white particles 97 are charged at a relatively low potential.

  In the pixel 90 having such a configuration, when a potential difference is applied between the electrodes 94 and 95 so that the potential of the electrode 95 on the back side opposite to the display surface side becomes higher as shown in FIG. The colored particles 96 charged to the potential move to the display surface side, and the white particles 97 charged to the low potential move to the back side. Therefore, when the pixel 90 is viewed from the display surface side, the pixel looks like the color of the colored particles 96.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 22, when a potential difference is applied between the electrodes 94 and 95 so that the potential of the electrode 94 on the display surface side becomes high, the colored particles 96 charged at a high potential move to the back side due to the Coulomb force. The white particles 97 charged at a low potential move to the display surface side. Therefore, when the pixel 90 is viewed from the display surface side, the pixel looks white.

  In this way, by controlling the potential difference applied to the electrodes 94 and 95 for each pixel, the coloration / non-coloration state of each pixel can be switched. Thereby, the display part 51 can display various images, and the display content can be rewritten. Further, the positions of the particles 96 and 97 are maintained even in the state where the driving power is not supplied due to the properties of the particles 96 and 97. For this reason, the display content is maintained even when the drive power to the display unit 51 is not supplied.

  The display unit 51 of the electronic display tag 5 basically displays the product data of the associated product at all times. For this reason, if a non-volatile display device is employed as the display unit 51, power is not consumed except when the display content is rewritten. Therefore, compared with the case where a liquid crystal display device or the like is employed, power consumption is reduced. Can be greatly suppressed.

  Further, the colored particles 96 can have any color by selecting a coloring material for coloring the colored particles 96. Therefore, if the display screen of the display unit 51 is divided into a plurality of areas and the colored particles 96 having different colors are used for each area, it is possible to display information using partially different colors.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 23, the display screen of the display unit 51 includes an eye catch area 51a displaying “eye catch information” 6d, a selling price area 51b displaying “transaction price” 6c, and other areas 51c. Divide into Then, green colored particles 96 are used for the eye catch area 51a, red colored particles 96 are used for the selling price area 51b, and black colored particles 96 are used for the other areas 51c. Thereby, “eye catch information” 6d can be displayed in green, “transaction price” 6c in red, and other information in black. Further, if the potential difference applied to the electrodes 94 and 95 is reversed, the background color and the character color can be interchanged. For example, in the eye catch region 51a, the background color is shown in green and the character color is shown in white. Is possible.

  Further, a plurality of types of electronic display tags 5 having different colors of colored particles 96 used for the background color of the eye catch area 51a are prepared, and the same type of electronic display tags 5 are grouped in the same group in the second embodiment. If it is used as the post tag 5b, it is possible to easily perform the same color display as in FIG.

  More specifically, the green type electronic display tag 5 using the “green” colored particles 96 in the eye catching area 51a, the blue type electronic display tag 5 using the “blue” colored particles 96, and “ A red-type electronic display tag 5 using colored particles 96 of “red” is prepared. Then, the green type electronic display tag 5 is used as the posting tag 5b belonging to the “fruit and vegetable group”, the blue type electronic display tag 5 is used as the posting tag 5b belonging to the “fresh fish group”, and the red type electronic display tag is used. 5 is used as a bulletin board 5b belonging to the “Meat Group”. In this way, each posting tag 5b corresponds to the group to which the own device belongs, as in FIG. 19, without the control unit 53 of each posting tag 5b specifying the group to which the own device belongs or the group color thereof. The color can be displayed as the background color of the eye catch area 51a.

  Further, full-color display may be performed by superimposing three types of nonvolatile display devices using colored particles 96 corresponding to the three primary colors (RGB, CMY, etc.). According to this, the same control method as in the second embodiment can be adopted.

<4. Other variations>
Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible.

  In the above embodiment, a partial area of the dialog displayed on the display screen of the display 15 of the ESL server 10 is used as the posting virtual areas Ba1 and Ba2. However, the entire area of the display screen of the display 15 is posted. It may be used as a virtual area.

  In the second embodiment, the background color of the eye catch area 51a that is a partial area of the display screen of the display unit 51 of the electronic display tag 5 is set to the group color. The background color of the entire area may be a group color.

  In the second embodiment, the bulletin board 5b identifies the group color. However, even if the CPU 11 of the ESL server 10 identifies the group color and transmits information indicating the group color to the bulletin board 5b. Good.

  In the above embodiment, one bulletin file 102 is used, but a plurality of bulletin files 102 may be created. In this way, it is possible to provide a plurality of posting areas in the store.

  In the above-described embodiment, the posting area is described as being provided at a position in the sales space where the customer can easily pay attention. However, the posting area may be provided at a position where only the store staff can refer to the shop staff.

It is a figure which shows a mode that the some electronic display tag was arrange | positioned on the goods shelf of a store. It is a figure which shows a mode that the some electronic display tag was arrange | positioned on the bulletin board of a shop. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the shop information system containing an electronic shelf label system. It is a figure which shows the basic composition of an ESL server. It is a figure which shows an example of a goods file. It is a figure which shows an example of a posting file. It is a figure which shows the external appearance structure of the electronic display tag. It is a figure which shows the flow of the delivery operation | movement of the merchandise data by an electronic shelf label system. It is a figure which shows the flow of the creation process of a posting file. It is a figure which shows the dialog for accepting the number of electronic display tags. It is a figure which shows the dialog for registering an apparatus code. It is a figure which shows the flow of selection of specific goods and a matching process. It is a figure which shows the dialog for selecting and matching specific goods. It is a figure which shows an example of the posting file in 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the dialog for registering the apparatus code in 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of a setting of the group of a bulletin board. It is a figure which shows the flow of selection of specific goods and the matching process in 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the dialog for selecting and matching the specific goods in 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows a mode that each bulletin board 5b displayed the group color. It is sectional drawing of the display part comprised with a non-volatile display device. It is a figure which shows an example of the state of the pixel of a non-volatile display device. It is a figure which shows an example of the state of the pixel of a non-volatile display device. It is a figure which shows the display screen of the display part of an electronic display tag.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Electronic shelf label system 5 Electronic display tag 51 Display part 51a Eye catch area 53 Control part 54 Memory 5a Shelf label 5b Bulletin board 101 Product file 102 Bulletin file

Claims (3)

An electronic shelf label system that displays product data including selling prices of a plurality of products in a store using a plurality of electronic display tags having a display device,
Each of the plurality of electronic display tags is associated with one of a plurality of products in the store,
Each of the plurality of electronic display tags is used as a first display tag arranged at a display position of a product or a second display tag arranged in a posting area different from the display position of the product,
A plurality of second display tags are arranged in the posting area,
Storage means for storing correspondence information indicating a correspondence relationship between the plurality of products in the store and the plurality of electronic display tags;
Distribution means for distributing the product data of a product to an electronic display tag associated with the product based on the correspondence information;
With
Some specific products among the plurality of products in the store are associated with both the first display tag and the second display tag by the correspondence information,
The distribution means distributes the product data of the specific product to both the first display tag and the second display tag associated with the specific product ,
The plurality of second display tags are divided into a plurality of groups each corresponding to a product attribute,
A plurality of second display tags belonging to the same group are collected and arranged,
Receiving means for receiving selection of the specific product from a plurality of products in the store;
Means for specifying an attribute of the specific product received by the receiving means;
Selecting means for selecting one second display tag from among the second display tags belonging to the group corresponding to the identified attribute of the specific product;
Means for associating the specific product with the selected second display tag;
Further comprising an electronic shelf label system according to claim Rukoto a. The electronic shelf label system according to claim 1,
Each of the plurality of groups is associated with a unique color,
Each of the plurality of second indication tag, an electronic shelf label system according to claim you to view the color corresponding to the group to which the own apparatus belongs to a predetermined region of the screen of the display device. In the electronic shelf label system according to any one of claims 1 and 2,
Means for storing the arrangement positions of the plurality of second display tags in the posting area;
Means for associating the posting area with at least a part of the display area of the display screen, and displaying an indicator at each position in the display area corresponding to the arrangement position of the plurality of second display tags in the posting area; ,
Electronic shelf label system comprising: a.

Images