DE29616955U1 - Electronic display system - Google Patents

Description

( Evsecvf uhr, Speiser & Partner

·· ■ * ' * --*·«·"'* 3remen Patent Attorneys

European Patent Attorneys ··" " " "" Dipl.-Ing. Günther Eisentunr

Dipl.-!ng. Dieter K. Speiser Or.-lng. Werner W. Rabus Dip!.-Ing. Jürgen Brügge Dipl.-Ing. Jürgen Klingharot Dipl.-Ing. Klaus G. Göken Patent attorneys Dipl.-Ing. Mark Andres Jochen Ehlers Lawyers Ulrich H. Sander Christian Spintig

Munich Patent Attorneys

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Dipl.-Phys. Gerhard Lied)

Dipl. -Wirtsch. -Ing. Rainer Fritsche

Bremen, 27 September 1996 Patent Attorney

Dipl.-Chem. Dr. Peter Schuler

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European Patent Attorney Dipl.-Ing. Jutta Kaden

PC-LINE IT consulting... _A1 . _{c T} , _{M UA}

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Electronic display system

The present invention relates to an electronic display system, in particular for picking goods for a large number of customers, with a data processing system with a database program into which picking data from customer orders can be entered.

In the delivery halls of product manufacturers or wholesalers, certain goods are put together for various customers in quantities that result from customer orders. For this purpose, the customer orders are generally entered into databases that can be viewed in the delivery hall, for example with a PC or just a screen. The display system consists of a monitor controlled by a video card in the PC. With this display system, the assistant who puts together a delivery of goods for a customer and loads them into a van, for example, has to procure a corresponding number of each ordered item from the warehouse one after the other and place them in the

Load the transporter. After the goods have been put together for a specific customer, this process is repeated for the other customers until all customer orders have been processed. This electronic display system has the disadvantage that the system-related work processes are labor- and time-intensive.

The present invention is based on the object of creating an electronic display system which enables cost and time savings when assembling goods for a large number of customers.

This object is achieved according to the invention in an electronic display system of the type mentioned at the outset by a data input device coupled to the data processing system for entering a code of a product category, a plurality of displays coupled to the data processing system via data lines and individually addressable by the data processing system and an allocation program stored in the data processing system which, when a product category is read in from the database, reads out a display value for each display and transmits the associated display value to each display.

The advantages of the present invention lie primarily in the fact that the electronic display system according to the invention enables an economical workflow: In order to pick customer orders more quickly, picking lines can be set up in which a specific storage location is determined for each customer, where the pre-ordered goods can be collected for delivery to the respective customer. A display of the electronic display system according to the invention is installed at each storage location.

To compile a customer order, a different process can now be used with the help of the electronic display system according to the invention: The code of a first type of goods is entered into the data input device. The allocation program of the data processing system then reads the delivery quantities of this article for all customers from the database and transmits the delivery quantity as a display value to the respective displays, which are located at the storage location of the corresponding customer. This makes it possible for the line to be run with a specific article when compiling customer orders and for the quantity of the article that the display shows to be stored at each display. The same process is then repeated for all other articles that appear in the customer orders.

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The electronic display system according to the invention enables a significantly more efficient workflow when assembling customer deliveries that consist of a large number of goods. This results in time and cost savings that are not possible with the known order picking process.

The electronic display system according to the invention particularly preferably has at least one fastening rail for holding one or more displays. The fastening rail can be mounted above the storage locations so that a display can be attached to the fastening rail above each storage location. The fastening rail contains at least one data conductor, preferably two data conductors, for electronically coupling the data processing system and displays. This allows the distance between the displays to be varied and, if necessary, the displays can also be quickly rebuilt. The electronic coupling of the displays to the data processing system via a fastening rail that also enables electrical coupling - as has previously only been known for light rails for holding light emitters - enables a previously unknown modularity in the structure and low maintenance costs due to the possibility of exchanging defective displays for replacement displays without any additional installations.

The displays can be powered by batteries; however, it is advantageous to provide two additional power conductors in the mounting rail to power the displays. This eliminates the need to regularly replace the batteries in the displays.

For safety reasons, it is also advantageous to provide a neutral conductor in the mounting rail.

According to a particularly preferred embodiment of the present invention, a connecting shoe is attached to each display, which can be mechanically locked to the mounting rail in order to attach the display. A contact is provided on the connecting shoe for each conductor in the mounting rail, which, when the connecting shoe locks into the mounting rail, couples the conductors in the mounting rail to the corresponding data or voltage inputs of the display. The advantages of this embodiment are in particular that if a display is defective, it can be removed from the mounting rail in a simple manner and replaced with an intact display - the

is conveniently kept ready as a spare part at all times. This ensures that the display system is very highly available with extremely low maintenance requirements. Any faults that may occur can be rectified very quickly without significantly affecting the workflow.

A commercially available busbar for spotlights is particularly preferred as a mounting rail. Busbars are available commercially that have five power conductors (which are actually intended for three-phase generators). Coupling elements that are also commercially available and can be inserted into the busbar are used for these busbars, although at least one power conductor, preferably two power conductors, are not used for power supply but for data transmission. The mounting rails can preferably be coupled mechanically and electrically to other mounting rails on the front in a modular manner. In this way, a delivery hall can be equipped with any number of mounting rails.

The data processing system is preferably an easy-to-use PC or a mobile data unit (MDE), which also offers the advantage that the MDE device can be taken off the line and fed with line data to a central computer via a serial interface. After the data transfer, the MDE device can then be reconnected to the line.

The data input device advantageously contains a scanner, in particular a barcode scanner, by means of which a type of goods can be detected mechanically in a particularly simple manner.

An embodiment of the invention is explained in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. They show:

Fig. 1 a schematic diagram of an electronic display system

for picking goods; and

Fig. 2a and 2b Cross sections of fastening rails of the electronic display system according to Fig. 1, each with a display not shown to scale.

Fig. 1 shows a plan view, broken away from one side, of a delivery hall with an electronic display system 1 for picking goods for a large number of customers. In the delivery hall, a large number of

of picking lines, which are indicated with rectangles and labeled L1, L2 and L3. For the picking lines labeled L2, some displays 7 are shown as examples, which are arranged on fastening rails 9 above the storage locations on the picking lines, where the goods intended for delivery to a specific customer are collected. The fastening rails 9, described in more detail with reference to Fig. 2a and 2b, are connected on the one hand to each of the displays 7 and on the other hand to a data input system 6, which in turn is connected to a data processing system 3 - for example a PC or a mobile data unit (MDE) - via data lines and is coupled to the data processing system 3 via a serial interface. Via the serial interface, data is transferred from the data processing system 3 to the data input system 6 using a predetermined protocol, which converts the data into a format that can be read by the displays 7 and forwards it to the displays 7. Also connected to the data processing system 3 is a scanner 5 for detecting a type of goods that is to be distributed on a picking line L1 and L2.

In Fig. 2a and 2b, the fastening rails 9 and the displays 7 are illustrated in simplified representations. The representations are not to scale; the fastening rails 9 are shown enlarged in relation to the displays 7. The fastening rails 9 - commercially available power rails for three-phase generators - have power conductors 13, data conductors 11 and a neutral conductor 15 arranged in pairs opposite one another. The conductors 11, 13, 15 are designed as metal rails; the data conductors 11 are coupled to the data processing system 3 via a serial interface and the power conductors 13 to the power supply 4 shown in Fig. 1.

A connecting shoe 17 is attached to the housing of each display 7, which has contacts 11', 13' and 15' corresponding to the conductors 11, 13, 15, via which the data or voltage inputs of the display 7 can be coupled to the conductors 11, 13, 15 in the mounting rail 9. The connecting shoe 17 is rotatably attached to the display 7 so that after the display 7 has been inserted into the mounting rail 9, the display 7 can be swiveled in a desired display direction.

The functionality of the display system shown in Fig. 1, 2a and 2b is based on the workflow it enables: To pick goods, an employee goes to the warehouse with a stock of a specific item.

Line head, for example, of the picking line L2 and enters the article that is now waiting to be distributed into the system via barcode scanner 5. The data processing system 3 uses the article code to search for all customers in the database who have ordered this article; the assignment program of the data processing system sends the display number belonging to a specific customer and the corresponding delivery quantity via the serial interface. The displays retrieve their data and display the value. The employee can then drive the article through the line and place the appropriate quantity of an article at each display. If a new article is identified on the data processing system 3 via the barcode scanner 5, the corresponding quantities are immediately shown on the displays.

Claims (11)

Expectations 1. Electronic display system, in particular for picking goods for a large number of customers, with a data processing system with a database program into which picking data from customer orders can be entered,
characterized by a data input device (5) coupled to the data processing system (3) for entering a code of a type of goods,
a plurality of displays (7) coupled to the data processing system (3) via data lines and individually addressable by the data processing system (3), and an allocation program stored in the data processing system (3) which, when a type of goods is read in from the database, reads out a display value for each display (7) and transmits the associated display value to each display (7). 2. Electronic display system according to claim 1, characterized by at least one fastening rail (9) for receiving one or more displays (7). 3. Electronic display system according to claim 2, characterized in that the fastening rail (9) contains at least one data conductor (11) for the electrical coupling of the data processing system (3) and displays (7). 4. Electronic display system according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the fastening rail (9) contains two data conductors (11). 5. Electronic display system according to one of claims 2 to 4,
characterized in that the fastening rail (9) contains two current conductors (13) for supplying power to the displays. 6. Electronic display system according to one of claims 2 to 5,
characterized in that the fastening rail contains a neutral conductor (15). 7. Electronic display system according to one of claims 2 to 6,
characterized by a connecting shoe (17) on each display (7) which is the fastening rail (9) can be mechanically coupled, wherein a contact (11', 13', 15') is provided on the connecting shoe (17) for each conductor (11, 13, 15) in the fastening rail (9), by means of which contact the conductors (11, 13, 15) in the fastening rail (9) can be coupled to corresponding data or voltage inputs of the display (7) when the connecting shoe (17) is inserted into the fastening rail (9). 8. Display system according to claim 7, characterized in that the fastening rail (9) is a commercially available busbar for spotlights and the connecting shoe (17) that can be inserted into the fastening rail (9) is a suitable coupling element for spotlights for insertion into the busbar. 9. Electronic display system according to one of claims 2 to 8,
characterized in that the fastening rails (9) can be coupled mechanically and electrically to further fastening rails (9) in a modular manner. 10. Electronic display system according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the data processing system (3) is a PC or a mobile data unit (MDE). 11. Display system according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the data input device (3) contains a scanner, in particular a barcode scanner.