JPH03259178A - Shelf tag for display and handy terminal used for same - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily cope with the modification of article information by providing a plate type display part, a communication part which transmits and receives merchandise information between a memory and an external equipment, a power source part, and a fixing means which fixes a main body to shelves. CONSTITUTION:The display shelf tag 10 consists of the plate type display part 11, memory 12, communication part 13, and power source part 14. The communication part 13 has a function for sending data from the memory 12 to the outside through a communication window 5 and also has a function for receiving data from outside through the communication window 5 and storing it in the memory 12 and a shelf fixture 4 is provided on the reverse surface of the display shelf tag 10 and can be fixed on the front surface of the display shelves. Therefore, the merchandise information can be stored in this memory 12 and displayed on the display part 11 and the article information can easily be altered by rewriting the memory 12. Consequently, the modification of the merchandise information can easily be coped with.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a display shelf label that displays product information about displayed products, and a handy terminal used therefor.

[Conventional technology]

In supermarkets, etc., various products are displayed on shelves, and each product is labeled with a display shelf label (Nf).This display shelf label contains the product name, price, code number, etc. Alternatively, product information such as barcodes about these items is displayed. Conventionally used display shelf labels are paper card type, and display the product name, price, code number, and barcode. Product information such as these was printed on the card-type shelf tags or printed using an electronic printer.

In recent years, EOS (
Electronic Ordering 5yst,
em) has been widely adopted, and this EO! Terminals 2-jl and 7'tz are used daily. The clerk is 15. .

Walk around the shelves displaying products with a handheld terminal and a handheld terminal, and when it comes to products that require replenishment, read the product code from the shelf label for that product and use the handheld terminal to read it. Input from the L keyboard. Alternatively, in the case of a handy terminal equipped with a bar 1 reader, the bar code F on the shelf label L is directly read by the reader terminal C. After all the ordering information has been entered into the 4-handy terminal in this way, it is connected to the computer and the ordering information is transferred to the post combination coater.

In this way, post-commercial management will be responsible for ordering and product management.

[The invention solves the problem 1. [Problems to be Solved] However, conventional card-type shelf labels have a problem in that it takes time and effort to change product information. For example, if the price of a product changes, you must create a card-type shelf label,..., fA, 1, and replace the shelf label. ．In addition, when changing the display location of products, it is necessary to replace shelf labels.
There are some required lessons.

In addition, the ordering process using the conventional hump and equal 4-C is the product code read from the shelf label, j, 1;
Since the clerk inputs from 4"-Bold, it is time-consuming and error-prone. Even when using a handheld terminal equipped with a barcode reader, the clerk has to read the bar:1-F. Also, if you store all the data such as the number of orders for each product (::, =) on the day terminal side, it will require a considerable amount of memory. Therefore, the store clerk usually uses the keyboard to enter the information each time.
There is. For this reason, ordering work (--currently, it takes a lot of time and effort5), but the present invention can easily deal with changes in product information, and also saves labor in ordering work. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a display shelf label that can be used for display purposes, and a terminal used therefor.

[Means to solve the problem]

(1) The first invention of the present application is a display shelf label, which includes a memory for recording product information about displayed products;
A plate-shaped display section for displaying product information in this memory, a communication section for sending and receiving product information between the memory and external equipment, a power supply section for supplying power, and a display section for displaying products on display. A fixing means for fixing the main body to the shelf is provided.

(2) The second invention of the present application is a terminal used for a display shelf label, which includes a memory for storing product information on displayed products, and a human resource section for inputting product information into the memory. a display section for displaying product information in memory; a communication section for transmitting and receiving product information between the display shelf label; and a data transfer means for transmitting and receiving product information with the post computer. , and a power supply section for supplying power.

[For production]

The feature of the present invention is that an electronic shelf label driven by an independent power source is used in place of the conventional card type shelf label.
? It is at the =- point. Since this display shelf label is equipped with a memory and a display section, product information can be stored in the memory and displayed on the display section. Product information can be easily changed by rewriting the memory. Also % L...

It is possible to send and receive product information between the display shelf labels 2 and -minal. This eliminates the need to input the necessary information from the keyboard to the hump terminal side or read the bar code as in the past, which greatly speeds up the ordering process. [Example] The present invention will be described below based on an illustrated example. 1st
The figure is an external view of a display shelf label and hump terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Overall and 1. It has a flat plate shape, and has a shape suitable for mounting on a product display shelf. A liquid crystal panel 1 is attached to the front, and product information is displayed on this liquid crystal panel.

In the example shown here, the product information and 17 contain the product name (sliced ham), price 1 (¥398), and product code (SRH
-39426), the number of orders (20) is displayed. A battery insertion slot 2 is provided in a portion of the display shelf label 10, and a plate-shaped battery 3 is inserted through the battery insertion slot 2. As the plate batteries 3 and L7, it is preferable to use as thin a battery as possible, such as a so-called vapor battery. Display shelf label 1
A shelving example 4 is provided on the back side of 0. Currently, product display shelves commonly used in supermarkets and the like have grooves formed in the front for inserting card-type shelf labels. The shelf fixture 4 has a shape suitable for being inserted into a groove on the front surface of the display shelf, and the entire display shelf label 10 can be fixed to the front surface of the display shelf. In the end, although this display shelf label 10 is slightly thicker than the conventional card-type shelf label, it is approximately 41 mm thicker than the card-type shelf label. This makes it possible to attach it to the front of a display shelf. A customer can obtain product information such as the product name and price of the displayed product by viewing the display on the liquid crystal panel 1. This display shelf label] 0
Another feature is that a communication window 5 is provided. Through this communication window 5, it has a function of communicating with a handy terminal 20, which will be described later.

The handy terminal 20 communicates through the communication window 6 with L7ζ! ”,
It is possible to communicate with the display shelf label 1 ( ) described above.

In the device of this embodiment, communication is performed by sending and receiving optical signals. This handy terminal 20 is placed on display shelf label 1.
0 and move it to the position shown by the dashed line in the figure, optical communication can be performed between the communication windows 5 and 6.

In the device of this embodiment, a communication window 5 is formed on the four front faces of the display shelf label 1-0, and a communication window 6 is formed on the convex portion of the upper end of the handy terminal 20.

Therefore, by fitting the convex portion into the concave portion and bringing the communication window 5 and the communication window 6 into close contact with each other, it is possible to transmit and receive optical signals. Therefore, it is possible to prevent noise from being mixed in by external light. A keyboard door is provided on the top of the hump terminal 20.
Necessary instructions or data can be input to the handy terminal 20 from the terminal. In addition, a liquid crystal panel 8 is provided on the top surface of the handy terminal 20, and the store clerk can check the information entered from the keyboard 7 and the receipt or receipt from the display shelf label 1-0 while looking at the display on this liquid crystal panel 8. You can check the information.

Next, the internal configurations of the display shelf label 10 and the handy terminal 20 shown in FIG. 1 will be explained based on the block diagram shown in FIG. 2. The display shelf label] 0 is composed of a plate-like display section 11, a memory 12, a communication section] 3, and a power supply section 14. In this embodiment, the plate-shaped display section 1 is the liquid crystal panel 1 shown in FIG. It is preferable to use a device as thin as possible as the plate-shaped display section 11 and 5, and it is generally preferable to use a liquid crystal panel. It should be noted that a plasma display, an LED array, etc. may be used if necessary, but the display should have sufficient resolution to display text such as product name and price. The memory 12 has a function of storing product information to be displayed on the plate-shaped display section 1. Product information can also be stored in the form of character codes, but in that case, character font data for display must also be prepared. Therefore, in order to downsize the memory 12, it is preferable to store it in the form of raster data (data for each dot that makes up a character). Communication department 13
has a function of transmitting data in the memory 12 to the outside via the communication window 5, and also has a function of receiving data from the outside via the communication window 5 and storing it in the memory 12.

In this embodiment, communication is performed using optical signals as described above. The power supply section 14 has a function of supplying necessary power to each of the above-mentioned sections. In this embodiment, a vapor battery is used as the power supply section 14, as described above.

On the other hand, the handy terminal 20 has a communication section 21, a control section 22, a memory 23 as means for performing its central functions.
, an input section 24, and a display section 25. Communication Department 2]
is read 1. through the control unit 22. It has a function of transmitting data in the memory 23 to the outside via the communication window 6, and a function of receiving data from the outside via the communication window 6 and storing it in the memory 23 via the control unit 22. has.

The input section 24 corresponds to the keyboard 7 shown in Fig.
7. The clerk manually sends instructions or data from the keepold door to the control section 22. The display section 25
Data input from the input unit 24, data received from the communication unit 21, or data transferred from a host computer (described later) are displayed on the liquid crystal panel 8 (not shown).

A kanji ROM 26 is connected to the control unit 22 . The kanji ROM 26 stores font data for characters including kanji, and can generate raster data indicating the dot arrangement of the character based on the character code. Further, a modem 27 is connected to the control unit 22, and further connected to a connection terminal 28. This connection terminal 28 is a terminal for connecting this handy terminal 20 to a host computer, and data is transferred to and from the host computer through this terminal. The power supply section 29 has a function of supplying necessary power to each of the above-mentioned sections. Since the display shelf label 10 of the handy terminal 20 is not required to be very thin, it is sufficient to use a radiographic dry battery as the power supply section 29.

Now, the procedure for performing EO3 using such display shelf label 10 and handy terminal 20 will be explained. first,
Prepare a plurality of display shelf labels 0 and place them at predetermined positions on the product display shelf.Next, set the product information to be displayed on each display shelf label 10.This is as follows. You can do it as follows. First, manually enter the product information to be displayed from the keyboard 7. Alternatively, you may enter the product information from the post combination coater side via the connection terminal 28. However, the product information to be displayed is stored in the memory 23, and can be displayed on the display section 25 for confirmation if necessary.This product information is transmitted to the display shelf label 10 side. To do this, the communication window 6 may be brought into close contact with the communication window 5, and a transmission command may be input from the keypad 7.The control unit 22 reads out the product information to be transmitted from the memory 23 and sends it to the communication unit 21. At this time, the font data in the kanji RO8 126 is referred to, and the product information in the character code format is converted to product information in the raster data format consisting of dots.Communication Department 2
1 transmits this product information to the communication section 13 by optical communication. In this way, the product information to be displayed is stored in the memory 12, and the product information is displayed on the plate-like display section 11 based on this.

To change the product information that has been set on the display shelf label 10, new product information may be created on the handheld terminal 20 side and sent to the display shelf label 10. [However, compared to conventional card-type shelf labels, it is much easier to change the display contents.

Now, the work to check for products that require replenishment ordering is as follows. The clerk uses a handy terminal 2
0 in hand, I walk around the product shelves and find a product that requires a replenishment order. Up to this point, the process is the same as when using a conventional handheld terminal. When a product that requires a replenishment order is found (=1), the clerk presses the handy terminal 20 against the display shelf label for that product] 0 so that the communication window 5 and the communication window 6 are in close contact. 7, and in this state manually enter a command for data transfer from the keyboard 7. Then, an instruction to request data transfer is issued from the communication unit 21 to the communication unit 13, and the communication unit 13 transfers the data to the memory 1-2. Transfers the product information in ``Product code S R, Order information such as "Please order 20 pieces of the product H-39426" is obtained, and the control unit 22 stores this order information in the memory 23.

The only operations performed by the clerk are to press the handy terminal 20 on the display shelf label 10 for the product that requires a replenishment order, and to input a command from the keyboard 7 for data transfer.

In this way, when replenishment orders are checked for all products in the store, all order information is stored in the memory 23 within the handy terminal 20.

Finally, this handy terminal 20 is connected to the host computer via the connection terminal 28, and the memory 23 is connected to the host computer via the connection terminal 28.
Transfers the ordering information within to the host computer side. The subsequent order processing is performed by the host computer.

In this way, the display shelf label 10 and the handy terminal 20
Since bidirectional data transfer can be performed between the two, there are various other possible uses. For example, when the display positions of two types of products are exchanged, it is not necessary to physically exchange the display shelf label 1 () itself, but only the internal product information can be exchanged. This can be done very easily by first transferring the product information to the handy terminal 20 and then retransferring it to the display shelf label 10.

Although the present invention has been described above based on the illustrated embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment only.
Various applications are possible. For example, in the case of the power supply unit 4 in the display shelf label 10, instead of using batteries, an electric wire is laid along the shelf board and the power is supplied from the electric wire in 1.2. Good too. Alternatively, by running a data bus connected to a host computer along the shelf and connecting each display shelf label 10 to the host computer online, data can be sent and received directly from the host computer. Furthermore, in the above embodiment,
Although the kanji R and OM are not provided in the display shelf label 10,
If space and cost are sufficient, a kanji ROM may also be provided within the display shelf label 10.

In this case, data can be transferred between the display shelf label [] and the handy terminal 20 in the character code format. Furthermore, on the liquid crystal panel 1 of the display shelf label 10, it is possible to display not only product information such as the product name and price, but also product advertising phrases, store logos, etc., and commercial effects can also be expected. .

〔Effect of the invention〕

(1) According to the first invention of the present application, instead of the conventional card-type shelf label, an electronic display shelf label driven by an independent power source is configured, so that product information can be changed. By rewriting the memory, it becomes possible to easily

(2) According to the second invention of the present application, a communication means applicable to the display shelf label according to the first invention is added to the handy terminal.
There is no need to enter necessary information from the keyboard into the handy terminal or read barcodes, making ordering operations much easier.

4...Input section, 25...Display section, 26...Kanji R,
OM.

27...Modem, 28...Connection terminal.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A memory that stores product information about displayed products, a plate-like display section that displays the product information in the memory, and communication that sends and receives product information between the memory and external equipment. A display shelf label comprising: a power supply section, a power supply section for supplying power, and a fixing means for fixing the main body to a shelf on which products are displayed. (2) A memory for storing product information about displayed products, an input section for inputting product information into the memory, a display section for displaying the product information in the memory, and a display shelf label. a communication department that sends and receives product information between
A handy terminal comprising a data transfer means for transmitting and receiving product information to and from a host computer, and a power supply section for supplying power.