JP2007289502A - Electronic shelf label - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To set the display of advertising copy, etc. in a desired color anytime via communication by using a memory liquid crystal capable of the display in a plurality of colors simultaneously on an electronic shelf label. <P>SOLUTION: A display panel 16 in the electronic shelf label 1 is divided into two upper and lower display areas; liquid crystal which selectively reflects green light is injected into the upper display area 161, and liquid crystal which selectively reflects red light is injected into the lower display area 162. By using black substrates on the back of the liquid crystal both in the upper display areas 161 and 162, green letters, etc. are displayed on the black background in the upper display area 161 and red letters, etc. are displayed on the black background in the lower display area 162. In addition, a red bar code which can be read by a red laser bar-code scanner, is displayed in the lower display area 162. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic shelf label that is arranged near a product displayed in a display case or the like of a store and displays information related to the product.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an electronic shelf label in which an electronic shelf label is arranged in the vicinity of a product and information related to the product is displayed has been put into practical use (for example, see Patent Document 1).

The electronic shelf label includes a receiving unit that receives display information such as a commodity price from an external terminal, a storage unit that stores the display information, and a display unit that displays the display information using an electrophoresis method. The display unit is composed of an electronic information display unit that displays the price of the product and a print information display unit, and the electronic information display unit conceals other parts while leaving the display content part transparent in advance. A masking plate printed with a certain printing ink is attached to the front surface, and a voltage is applied to the electrophoretic medium to change the display color of the transparent portion for display. Here, the transparent portion is a 7-segment numerical portion, and the numerical portion, that is, the display color of the price can be changed by applying a voltage to the electrophoretic medium.
JP 2001-109407 A

  In the electronic shelf label of the above-mentioned patent document 1, it is possible to change the price display, but other display parts such as “member price”, “normal price”, “yen”, etc. are printed. There is no configuration that can change the display by communication until such character display. Therefore, although it is an electronic shelf label, its use can only be changed by communication, and there is a problem that usability cannot be fully considered.

  The present invention was devised to solve such problems, and its purpose was to enable diversification of display forms by using a dot matrix memory liquid crystal capable of simultaneously displaying a plurality of display colors. It is to provide an electronic shelf label.

  In order to achieve the above object, an electronic shelf label of the present invention is an electronic shelf label that is arranged in the vicinity of a product and displays information related to the product, and communication means that communicates with an external device, received by the communication means Storage means for storing information; a display panel divided into a plurality of display areas; and display means for displaying information stored in the storage means in the plurality of display areas of the display panel. Features.

  In this case, the display color displayed on the display panel can be displayed in a combination of two or more different colors for each display area. For example, by setting the color of the back of the display panel to black and the color of information to be displayed in an arbitrary display area to be green, it is possible to obtain a display in which information such as green characters is highlighted on a black background. Further, by setting the information to be displayed in the other display area to be red, it is possible to make a display in which information such as red characters is highlighted on a black background.

  Here, the display panel is a cholesteric display method. A cholesteric liquid crystal is a device that performs display using two different molecular orientations due to phase transitions. The liquid crystal molecules of the cholesteric liquid crystal have a spiral shape, and light of a specific wavelength is reflected (selective reflection) by this spiral structure. If the spiral axis is directed toward the display surface, light of a specific wavelength is reflected. Light is transmitted through the display panel when a voltage is applied and the spiral axis is oriented in a direction lying on the display surface. The cholesteric liquid crystal maintains the state of the helical axis even when the application of voltage is stopped, and can continue the subsequent display.

  Further, the information received from the external device may include display position information that specifies a position for displaying the information on the display panel. That is, not only the display contents can be set and changed for each of the plurality of display areas, but also the display contents of only a part of the display area specified by the display position information can be set and changed.

  Here, the information displayed on the display panel is information that can be read by the reading device. Specifically, the reading device can be a barcode scanner using a red laser, and the readable information can be information using a barcode. In this case, the display medium for displaying the barcode is a red display medium. By displaying in red, the red barcode can be reliably read by the barcode scanner of the red laser.

  In addition, the electronic shelf label of the present invention further includes a clock unit for measuring the current time, the information received from the external device includes a display start time, and the display unit includes the display included in the information. The information may be displayed at the start time. Thus, for example, when changing to the service price by the time service, if the display start time is set to the time service start time, the display price of the electronic shelf label is set to the normal sales price at the same time as the time service time. Can be automatically changed from time service price.

  The information received from the external device includes a display end time, and the display means ends displaying the information displayed on the display panel when the display end time included in the information is reached. It is good also as a structure. Thereby, at the same time as the time service period elapses, the display price of the electronic shelf label can be automatically changed from the previous time service price to the normal sales price.

  The information received from the external device may include current time information, and the current time information of the information may be set to the time measured by the clock means. As a result, the time measured by the electronic shelf label can be set to an accurate time, and the time service price can be displayed at a more accurate time.

  According to the present invention, the display panel is divided into a plurality of display areas, and the information stored in the storage means can be individually displayed in the plurality of display areas of the display panel. The information related to the product can be displayed in various display forms through communication with the. In this case, by enabling display with a combination of two or more different colors for each display area, it is possible to realize a display form that is more changed and has a strong impact on the shopper.

  Hereinafter, an electronic shelf label according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an overall configuration of an electronic shelf label system using the electronic shelf label of the present embodiment.

  The electronic shelf label system 100 according to the present embodiment can be broadly divided into a large number of electronic shelf labels 1, 1,. The electronic shelf label system 100 includes a shelf label (ESL) server 2 that transmits to the (ESL) 1 and is connected to a POS (Point Of Sales) system 200 installed in the store via a LAN.

  The POS system 200 includes a store server 6 that manages product information, sales information, order information, etc., a plurality of POS terminals 7, 7,... That perform sales processing for shoppers, and a handy terminal 9 possessed by an employee. It is composed of one or a plurality of wireless LAN access points 8 for performing wireless communication with the handy terminal 9, and these store server 6, each POS terminal 7, 7, ... and the wireless LAN access point 8 are connected by a LAN. Has been.

  The electronic shelf label system 100 includes a shelf label server 2, a base station 3, which is a repeater, one or more transceivers 4, 4,..., And a large number of electronic shelf labels 1, 1,. .

  The shelf label server 2 is installed in a store backyard or the like, and is connected to the base station 3, the store server 6, and the POS terminal 7 through a LAN.

  The shelf label server 2 obtains information (product name, product code, sales price, unit price, special price information, etc.) related to the product from the store server 6, creates display information to be displayed on the electronic shelf label 1, Data is transmitted to the electronic shelf label 1 via the transceiver 4.

  The base station 3 has a function of controlling data between the shelf label server 2 and the transceiver 4 and a function of communicating with the electronic shelf label 1 as a transceiver. The transceiver 4 has a function of transmitting / receiving to / from the electronic shelf label 1. The electronic shelf label 1 receives commands and data from the transceiver 4 and displays product information.

  FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the shelf label server 2.

  The shelf label server 2 includes a control unit 21 that controls the entire server, a memory unit 22 such as a ROM that stores control programs, and an external storage unit 23 such as a CD-ROM / RAM, DVD-RAM, hard disk (HD), and IC memory. A display unit 24 composed of an LCD or the like, an input unit 25 composed of a mouse, keyboard, touch panel, etc., a communication unit 26 for performing communication via a LAN, and a power source unit 27 for supplying power to these units. Each part except for is connected by a bus 28. Information relating to the product, identification information (ID) of the electronic shelf label, management information associated with the identification information, and the like are stored in the external storage unit 23.

  FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the electronic shelf label 1.

  The electronic shelf label 1 includes a battery 11 as a power supply unit, an LCD power supply circuit 12 that generates LCD power, a temperature sensor 13, a control IC 14 that controls the electronic shelf label 1, an antenna 15, a display panel 16, and a cholesteric LCD of the display panel 16. And a COMMON driver 17 and a SEGMENT driver 18 for driving the cholesteric liquid crystal.

  The control IC 14 includes a CPU 141 for controlling the electronic shelf label 1, a ROM 142 for storing a control program, a RAM 143 for storing data to be displayed on the display panel 16, an RTC (Real Time Clock) 144 for measuring the current time, a battery 11 An A / D converter (ADC) 145 for detecting the voltage and temperature sensor 13, an RF circuit 146 that is a wireless communication unit, and an I / O circuit 147 that outputs control signals and LCD drive signals for the LCD power supply circuit 12. ing.

  The battery 11 is supplied to the LCD power circuit 12 and the control IC 14. The temperature sensor 13 is used to detect the temperature around the electronic shelf label and generate an LCD drive signal and an LCD power source according to the temperature. The LCD power supply circuit 12 is a circuit that converts the power supplied from the battery 11 into a power supply for driving the LCD. The power supply voltage suitable for LCD driving is generated based on the voltage of the battery 11 input to the control IC 14 and the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 13. In other words, the CPU 141 of the control IC 14 generates a control signal for generating an optimum voltage, and sends the control signal from the I / O circuit 147 to the LCD power supply circuit 12, so that the LCD power supply circuit 12 is suitable for driving the LCD. A power supply voltage is generated.

  The control IC 14 communicates with the shelf label server 2 from the RF circuit 146 via the antenna 15 and the transceiver 4. Display data from the shelf label server 2 is stored in the RAM 143. When the current time is measured by the RTC 144 and the predetermined time is reached, the control IC 14 reads out data of a necessary area to be displayed on the cholesteric LCD from the RAM 143, and sends it from the I / O circuit 147 to the COMMON driver 17 and the SEGMENT driver 18. Output. Then, a signal is sent from the COMMON driver 17 and the SEGMENT driver 18 to the cholesteric LCD, and information about the product is displayed on the cholesteric LCD. A cholesteric LCD has a plurality of display areas on opposite glass substrates, and liquid crystals of different display colors are injected into each of the display areas.

  4A and 4B are external views of the electronic shelf label 1. FIG.

  The electronic shelf label 1 has a case body 1 </ b> A that is horizontally long, and the entire front surface is a horizontally long display panel 16. On the display panel 16, product information as shown in FIG. 4 (a) or (b) and management information (information of a management table T described later) can be switched and displayed. Normally, product information as shown in FIG. 4A or 4B is displayed when the product is arranged in the vicinity of the product. When the employee wants to confirm the management information of the product, the product information screen shown in the figure is switched to the management information screen (not shown) by pressing a switching button (not shown) or an instruction from the handy terminal 9. It is like that. Then, after confirming the management information, when the electronic shelf label 1 is used again as it is, the switching button may be pressed again or an instruction may be given again from the handy terminal 9. As a result, the management information screen is switched again to the product information screen shown in FIG. 4 (a) or (b).

  In this embodiment, the display panel 16 uses a cholesteric liquid crystal having a memory property. A cholesteric liquid crystal is a device that performs display using two different molecular orientations due to phase transitions. The liquid crystal molecules of the cholesteric liquid crystal have a spiral shape, and light of a specific wavelength is reflected (selective reflection) by this spiral structure. If the spiral axis is directed toward the display surface, light of a specific wavelength is reflected. Light is transmitted through the cell when a voltage is applied and the spiral axis is oriented in a direction that lies on the display surface. The cholesteric liquid crystal maintains the state of the helical axis even when the application of voltage is stopped.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the display area of the display panel 16 is vertically divided into two, liquid crystal that selectively reflects green light is injected into the upper display area 161, and red light is injected into the lower display area 162. Liquid crystal that selectively reflects is injected. The substrate on the back side of the liquid crystal is a black substrate for both the upper display area 161 and the lower display area 162. As a result, the upper display area 161 displays a green character or the like on a black background, and the lower display area 162 displays a red character or the like on a black background.

  In the present embodiment, a barcode is displayed as product information in the lower display area 162. The barcode is often read by a barcode scanner using a red laser. In the present embodiment, the bar code can be read by displaying the red bar code in the lower display area 162 where the red laser light can be selectively reflected. Furthermore, the contrast of the reflected light in the barcode display area and the reflected light in the other areas is increased by setting the case body 1A to a color that does not reflect the red laser light, for example, black, blue, or green. Thus, the barcode reading accuracy can be improved.

  FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a memory map of the RAM 143 of the control IC 14.

  The RAM 143 has an entire display area data area 143a in which display data of the entire area of the electronic shelf label is stored, a lower display area for changing display of bar code, time service guidance, catch phrase, etc. according to the time zone. A lower display area data area 143b in which 162 display areas are stored, and a display area in a special price display area 161 (see FIG. 4A) for changing price information and the like according to a time zone such as a time service are stored. A special price display area data area 143c, a work area 143n for temporarily storing data, and the like.

  FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a display area map of the display panel 16.

  The entire display panel 16 has a display area from (0, 0) to (x, y), the upper display area 161 is a display area from (0, 0) to (x, y2), and the lower display area 162 is , (0, y2 + 1) to (x, y) display areas.

  FIG. 7 shows a configuration example of the management table T of each electronic shelf label 1 managed by the shelf label server 2.

  This management table T includes shelf label ID, product ID, shelf number, catch phrase, product name, normal price, special price, special price sales start time, special price sales end time, person in charge, last electronic shelf label display update date and time, etc. It consists of items. The shelf label ID is given a unique number of about 6 to 7 digits according to the number of types of products displayed in the store. Similarly, the product ID is assigned a unique number of about 6 to 7 digits according to the number of products to be displayed, or a 13-digit JAN code is used. The shelf No. is a number assigned to a large number of shelves arranged according to the area and shape of the store. In this example, the shelf No. is a combination of English letters and numbers. For example, an English character represents one zone when the store is divided into a plurality of stores, and a numeral indicates an arrangement position (arrangement order) from one end of the zone. The price stored in the special price item is a price displayed on the electronic shelf label only during the sales service period set in the special sale end time item from the next special sale start time. Except for this period, the amount stored in the item of normal price is displayed as a selling price on the electronic shelf label. The previous electronic shelf label display update date and time is the latest time when the display change command can be normally transmitted from the shelf label server 2 to the electronic shelf label 1.

  FIG. 8 shows a configuration example of a display change command transmitted from the shelf label server 2 to the electronic shelf label 1.

  This display change command includes a command code, data size, shelf label ID, display start position (x1, y1), width (m dots), height (n dots), display start time, display end time, current time information, It consists of display data. The command code is an instruction code for the electronic shelf label 1 from the shelf label server 2. The data size is the data size of the command. The shelf label ID is an ID of a target electronic shelf label to which a command is transmitted from the shelf label server 2. The display start position is position data at which display data included in the command starts to be displayed. The width is the number of dots in the x direction for displaying the display data. The height is the number of dots in the y direction for displaying the display data. The display start time is a time at which display data is displayed on the display panel 16 of the electronic shelf label 1. The display end time is a time at which the display of the display data displayed on the display panel 16 of the electronic shelf label 1 is ended. The current time information is time information for setting the time of the RTC 144 of the electronic shelf label 1 to an accurate time. The display data is display data that is displayed on the display panel 16 of the electronic shelf label 1.

  That is, this display change command is a command for changing display data of an area of m dots in the x direction and n dots in the y direction from the positions of the display positions x1 and y1. For example, when the display change command is the display start position (x1, y1), the width m dots, and the height n dots, as shown by the broken line in FIG. 6, (x1, y1) to (x1 + m−1, y1 + n) The display area of -1) is changed. In this example, the display data of the area straddling the upper display area 161 and the lower display area 162 is illustrated, but the display data of a part of the area 161a of the upper display area 161 may be changed. Is possible.

  Upon receiving this command, the electronic shelf label 1 returns an ACK (Acknowledgement) signal indicating successful reception or a reception error to the shelf label server 2.

  FIG. 9 is a functional block diagram of the handy terminal 9.

  The handy terminal 9 includes a control unit 91 that controls the entire terminal, a memory unit 92 such as a ROM that stores a control program, and a red laser barcode that reads a red barcode displayed in the lower display area 162 of the electronic shelf label. A scanner unit 93, a printing unit 94 for printing a barcode or the like directly attached to a product, a display unit 95 including an LCD, a key input unit 96a including a numeric keypad and various function keys, and a touch input unit 96b including a touch panel and a touch pen The wireless communication unit 97 communicates with the store server 6 and the shelf label server 2 through the wireless LAN access point 8 and a battery 98 for supplying power to these units. The other units except for the battery 98 are connected by a data bus 99. ing.

  FIG. 10 is an external view of the handy terminal 9.

  The handy terminal 9 has an LCD display unit 95 disposed at the upper front portion of the main body, and a key input unit 96a disposed at the lower front portion of the main body. Further, a touch input unit 96b such as a transparent touch panel is disposed on the display unit 95 so as to overlap. Also, the printed matter printed from the built-in printing unit 94 is fed out from the upper part of the main body. This printed matter is, for example, a barcode label attached directly to a product.

  Next, in the electronic shelf label system 100 having the above-described configuration, a processing operation when the electronic shelf label 1 receives a display change command from the shelf label server 2 will be described with reference to flowcharts shown in FIGS.

  When the control IC 14 of the electronic shelf label 1 receives a display change command (hereinafter simply referred to as “command”) from the shelf label server 2 (step S1), whether or not the shelf label ID of the received command matches its own ID. Is determined (step S2). As a result, when the ID does not coincide with the own ID (when No is determined in step S2), the processing is ended as it is.

  On the other hand, if it matches the own ID (if it is determined Yes in step S2), it is next determined whether or not the designation of the display area included in the command is correct (step S3). Whether or not the display area designation is correct is determined based on whether the area designated by the display start position (x1, y1), width (m dots), and height (n dots) included in the command is displayed on the display panel 16. Judgment is made based on whether or not the display area is within the range of (0, 0) to (x, y). As a result, when the designation of the display area is not correct (when No is determined in step S3), a display designation area error is returned to the shelf label server 2 (step S14), and the process is terminated.

  On the other hand, if the designation of the display area is correct (if it is determined Yes in step S3), it is next determined whether or not the data size is correct (step S4). That is, it is determined whether or not the data size of the command matches the data size of the actually received command. As a result, if the data sizes do not match (if No is determined in step S4), a data size error is returned to the shelf label server 2 (step S15), and the process ends.

  On the other hand, when the data size is correct (when determined Yes in step S4), the current time information of the received command is set in the RTC 144 (step S4A). Next, the display area of display data is determined (step S5). As a result, if the display area is the entire area (that is, all of the upper display area 161 and the lower display area 162), the operation proceeds to step S6, and the display data is displayed in the entire area data area 143a of the RAM 143. Is stored. If the result of determination in step S5 is that the display area is the lower display area 162, the operation proceeds to step S7, and display data is stored in the lower display area data area 143b of the RAM 143. If the display area is the special price display area area 161a as a result of the determination in step S5, the display data is stored in the special price display area data area 143c of the RAM 143 in step S8.

  When the display data is stored in the RAM 143 in this way, the control IC 14 returns an ACK signal indicating successful reception to the shelf label server 2 (step S9).

  Next, the control IC 14 monitors the current time measured by the RTC 144, and determines whether or not the current time has reached the display start time included in the command (step S10). When the current time becomes the display start time (when it is determined Yes in step S10), the display data stored in the display area data areas 143a to 143c of the RAM 143 is read and output to the display panel 16 (step S11). ). That is, the control IC 14 reads display data necessary for display on the cholesteric LCD from the RAM 143 and outputs the display data from the I / O circuit 147 to the COMMON driver 17 and the SEGMENT driver 18. As a result, signals are sent from the COMMON driver 17 and the SEGMENT driver 18 to the cholesteric LCD, and display data relating to the product is displayed on the cholesteric LCD.

  Thereafter, the control IC 14 monitors the current time measured by the RTC 144 and determines whether or not the current time has reached the display end time included in the command (step S12). When the current time becomes the display end time (when it is determined Yes in step S12), it is determined whether the display data area whose display has ended is the entire display area (step S13). As a result, when it is determined that the display area is the entire display area (Yes in Step S13), the process proceeds to Step 16, and the control IC 14 erases the display data displayed on the display panel 16 (Step S13). S16). It is determined that the display data area that has been displayed in step 13 is not the data of the entire display area (for example, the time service price display (special price display) as shown in the special price display area 161a in FIG. 4B). If yes, the process proceeds to step 17 to change the display to the original sales price shown in FIG. 4A (step 17). This display example is a display example when the shelf label ID of the display change command transmitted from the shelf label server 2 is “000001” (see the management database T in FIG. 7).

  In the above embodiment, the barcode is displayed in the lower display area 162 of the display panel 16 (see FIG. 4). However, in this portion, as shown in FIG. It is also possible to display a catch phrase by characters or pictograms.

It is the schematic which shows the whole structure of the electronic shelf label system using the electronic shelf label of this invention. It is a functional block diagram of a shelf label server. It is a functional block diagram of an electronic shelf label. It is an external view of an electronic shelf label. It is explanatory drawing which shows the memory map of RAM of control IC. It is explanatory drawing which shows the display area map of a display panel. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structural example of the management table of the electronic shelf label managed with a shelf label server. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structural example of the display change command transmitted to an electronic shelf label from a shelf label server. It is a functional block diagram of a handy terminal. It is an external view of a handy terminal. It is a flowchart which shows a processing operation when an electronic shelf label receives a display change command from a shelf label server. It is a flowchart which shows a processing operation when an electronic shelf label receives a display change command from a shelf label server. It is explanatory drawing which shows the other example of a display of an electronic shelf label.

Explanation of symbols

1 Electronic shelf label 2 Shelf label server 3 Base station 4 Transceiver 6 Store server 7 POS terminal 8 Wireless LAN access point 9 Handy terminal 11 Battery 12 LCD power circuit 13 Temperature sensor 14 Control IC
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 15 Antenna 16 Display panel 17 COMMON driver 18 SEGMENT driver 21 Control part 22 Memory part 23 External storage part 24 Display part 25 Input part 26 Communication part 27 Power supply part 28 Bus 100 Electronic shelf label system 143 RAM
143a All area data area 143b Lower display area data area 143c Special price display area data area 143n Work area 161 Upper display area 161a Special price display area 162 Lower display area 200 POS system

Claims (11)

An electronic shelf label that is placed near the product and displays information about the product,
A communication means for communicating with an external device;
Storage means for storing information received by the communication means;
A display panel divided into a plurality of display areas;
An electronic shelf label comprising: display means for displaying information stored in the storage means in a plurality of display areas of the display panel.   2. The electronic shelf label according to claim 1, wherein a display color displayed on the display panel is a combination of two or more different colors for each display area.   The electronic shelf label according to claim 1, wherein the display panel is a cholesteric display method.   4. The electronic shelf label according to claim 1, wherein the information received from the external device includes display position information for designating a position for displaying the information on the display panel.   5. The electronic shelf label according to claim 4, wherein the information displayed on the display panel is information including information readable by a reading device.   6. The electronic shelf label according to claim 5, wherein the reading device is a red laser reading device.   The electronic shelf label according to claim 6, wherein the readable information is information by a barcode.   The electronic shelf label according to claim 7, wherein the display medium for displaying the barcode is a red display medium. A clock means for measuring the current time,
The information received from the external device includes a display start time,
The electronic shelf label according to claim 1, wherein the display unit displays the information when a display start time included in the information is reached. The information received from the external device includes a display end time,
10. The electronic shelf label according to claim 9, wherein the display means ends displaying the information displayed on the display panel when a display end time included in the information is reached. The information received from the external device includes current time information,
The electronic shelf label according to any one of claims 9 to 10, wherein the current time information of the information is set at a time measured by a clock means.

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