KR20150014166A - Device of creating data for displaying of electonic tag in electronic shelf label system and method of creating data for displaying of electonic tag in electronic shelf label system - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a device to generate data for a display screen of an electronic tag in an ESL system and a method thereof. The device includes a control unit which includes: a component generation unit which generates a component corresponding to an area on the screen of the electronic tag; and a display content setting unit which sets display content displayed in the component. The present invention reduces volume of data for a display screen of an electronic tag and facilitates generation of the data for the display screen of the electronic tag.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a data generating apparatus for an electronic tag display screen of an ESL system, and a data generating method for an electronic tag display screen of an ESL system. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0002] SHELF LABEL SYSTEM}

The present invention relates to a data generation device for an electronic tag display screen of an ESL system and a data generation method for an electronic tag display screen of an ESL system.

In order to display and sell a large number of items in a certain space, such as a retail store, labels for displaying information and prices of goods are used.

In general, price labeling is a method in which product information necessary for sale, such as price and discount information, is handwritten directly on paper or is printed on paper in accordance with the standardized format, .

Although the conventional method as described above may seem simple and simple and can be implemented at a low cost, a standardized format is used for items of merchandise of tens of thousands or more, such as a large-sized retail store, and the price fluctuates from time to time There is a limit to the existing paper label application method.

In other words, when a price change occurs in some items among a large number of commodities, the commodity information such as the changed price is handled or printed, and then the position of the commodity displayed in the commodity shop is displayed to correct and replace the label You must give.

Therefore, every time the price information of a commodity is changed, the time and workforce for such correction and replacement are needed, and there is a need for improvement in the property of a large retail store.

That is, there is a need to develop a means to change product information quickly, accurately, and simply with minimal cost.

In recent years, attempts have been made to replace existing paper labels with electronic tags using electronic devices in order to meet the demands of the market, and related arts are disclosed in a plurality of documents such as Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2.

(ESL), Electronic Price Label (EPL), and Electronic Information Label (EIL), depending on the language and culture of each country or country that develops related technologies. It is caused by the cultural / linguistic difference that is described and its purpose and purpose are very small.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be referred to as "electronic tag" in English, and "ESL " in English.

On the other hand, initially developed electronic tags have applied a so-called segment method (or passive method) in which predetermined segments are turned on or off in a panel on which a plurality of segments are arranged to display numbers, letters, special symbols and the like.

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, electronic tags capable of outputting various images and the like on a screen have been developed and are in the process of being put to practical use, in addition to display of formal characters and the like in accordance with development of related technologies such as a display panel and communication technology.

However, in order to display various types of information in the graphic type electronic tag, data having a greatly increased capacity as compared with the conventional segment method must be transmitted and processed in the electronic tag.

In order to transmit and receive such a large amount of data wirelessly, and to receive and process the large amount of data efficiently, high performance hardware is required, and problems such as an increase in the manufacturing cost of the electronic tag and a decrease in the battery duration .

Accordingly, it is required to develop a technique for displaying various information in a graphical manner with lower performance and power consumption.

U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2010-0205000 U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2010-0106588

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic tag display screen of an ESL system capable of efficiently generating display screen data for reducing resource consumption, which is used for recognizing and outputting display contents, And a method for generating data for an electronic tag display screen of an ESL system.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for generating an electronic tag display screen of an ESL system, including: a server; a repeater; and an ESL system including an electronic tag, An apparatus comprising: component generating means for generating a component corresponding to one area of a screen of an electronic tag; And a display content setting means for setting display content displayed in the component.

At this time, the component is formed in a rectangular shape, and the component can be defined by the coordinates of the starting point, the lateral width and the longitudinal width, which is one corner of the component.

The method may further include an attribute setting unit that sets an attribute of the component, and the attribute of the component may be at least one of price information, product information, manufacturer information, and event information.

In addition, the display content may include display data and display size that define at least one of a symbol, a letter, a number, and an image.

A display unit connected to the control unit and displaying the component and the display contents; And input means for receiving a command of a user and transmitting the command to the control unit, wherein information on a coordinate of a start point, a width in a horizontal direction and a width in a vertical direction of the component is input to the component generation means through the input means, The attribute of the component may be selected through the input means and input to the attribute setting means, and the display data and the display size may be selected through the input means and input to the display content setting means.

In this case, the input means includes a mouse, and a pointer is displayed on the display unit corresponding to the movement of the mouse. When the pointer is dragged while the component is selected, the position of the component, The lateral width and the longitudinal width of the component may be changed.

Also, a plurality of the components may be displayed on the screen of the electronic tag, and each of the components may overlap at least a part of the components.

A method for generating data for an electronic tag display screen of an ESL system according to an embodiment of the present invention is a method for generating data for an electronic tag display screen of an ESL system including a server, a repeater, and an electronic tag, Creating a component corresponding to one area of the screen; Inputting a display content displayed in the component; And outputting the component data obtained by digitizing the component and the display contents.

Wherein the component is formed in a rectangular shape and the component is defined by a coordinate of a starting point which is an edge of the component, a width of the component in the width direction and a width of the component in the width direction, Display data that defines at least one of a character, a number, and an image, and a display size.

The method may further include setting an attribute of the component between a step of creating a component corresponding to one area of the screen of the electronic tag and a step of inputting a display content displayed in the component, Price information, product information, manufacturer information, and event information.

According to the present invention configured as described above, the capacity of the data for the electronic tag display screen can be reduced as compared with the prior art, and the data for the electronic tag display screen can be generated more easily.

1 is a diagram schematically illustrating an ESL system including an apparatus for generating an electronic tag display screen of an ESL system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a block diagram schematically illustrating an apparatus for generating an electronic tag display screen of an ESL system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a diagram schematically showing an example of an image to be displayed on a screen of a display unit or an electronic tag.
Fig. 4 is a diagram schematically showing another example of an image to be displayed on the screen of the display unit or the electronic tag.
Fig. 5 is a diagram for explaining a principle of changing a part of an image to be displayed on a display unit or on a screen of an electronic tag. Fig. 5A is a diagram before change, and Fig. 5B is a diagram schematically showing an image after change.
6 is a flowchart schematically illustrating a method of generating data for an electronic tag display screen of an ESL system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The advantages and features of the present invention and the techniques for achieving them will be apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. The present embodiments are provided so that the disclosure of the present invention is not only limited thereto, but also may enable others skilled in the art to fully understand the scope of the invention. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout the specification.

The terms used herein are intended to illustrate the embodiments and are not intended to limit the invention. In the present specification, the singular form includes plural forms unless otherwise specified in the specification. It is to be understood that the terms 'comprise', and / or 'comprising' as used herein may be used to refer to the presence or absence of one or more other components, steps, operations, and / Or additions.

For simplicity and clarity of illustration, the drawings illustrate the general manner of construction and the detailed description of known features and techniques may be omitted so as to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the discussion of the described embodiments of the invention. Additionally, elements of the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. For example, to facilitate understanding of embodiments of the present invention, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements. Like reference numerals in different drawings denote like elements, and like reference numbers may indicate similar elements, although not necessarily.

The terms "first", "second", "third", and "fourth" in the specification and claims are used to distinguish between similar components, if any, Or to describe the sequence of occurrences. It will be understood that the terminology used is such that the embodiments of the invention described herein are compatible under suitable circumstances to, for example, operate in a sequence other than those shown or described herein. Likewise, where the method is described as including a series of steps, the order of such steps presented herein is not necessarily the order in which such steps may be performed, any of the described steps may be omitted and / Any other step not described will be additive to the method.

Terms such as "left", "right", "front", "back", "upper", "bottom", "above", "below" And does not necessarily describe an unchanging relative position. It will be understood that the terminology used is intended to be interchangeable with the embodiments of the invention described herein, under suitable circumstances, for example, so as to be able to operate in a different direction than that shown or described herein. The term "connected" as used herein is defined as being directly or indirectly connected in an electrically or non-electrical manner. Objects described herein as "adjacent" may be in physical contact with one another, in close proximity to one another, or in the same general range or region as are appropriate for the context in which the phrase is used. The presence of the phrase "in one embodiment" herein means the same embodiment, although not necessarily.

Hereinafter, the configuration and operation effects of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating an ESL system 1000 including an apparatus 100 for generating an electronic tag display screen of an ESL system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, an ESL system 1000 may include a server 200, an electronic tag 400, and a repeater 300.

The server 200 may store items to be displayed on the electronic tag 400 including various product information such as a product name, a price, and various event information such as a temporary discount. These items may be stored by being transferred from a legacy system (not shown) such as a POS system to the server 200 or directly inputted to the server 200 through a separate input device or the like.

Meanwhile, the server 200 is constructed based on a wired communication network such as a TCP / IP network. On the other hand, the electronic tag 400 is generally connected to a communication network in a wireless manner.

Therefore, a means for relaying between the wired communication network and the wireless communication network is required, and a repeater 300, which is often referred to as a gateway or an access point (AP), can perform such a role.

In addition, various devices such as a handheld device (HHD) such as a PDA, a printer, and the like may be additionally provided to secure the convenience of use of the ESL system 1000, though it is not shown in the figure.

The electronic tag 400 may include communication means for processing communication, a processor for processing data, a memory for storing data, a display means for outputting the contents of the display as an image, and the like. Accordingly, the electronic tag 400 can receive the display screen data from the server 200, process the received data, and output it as an image, thereby providing the above-described various kinds of information to the customers.

The data for display screen means data obtained by digitizing the display content to be displayed by the electronic tag 400. The data for display screen is generated by the data generating apparatus 100 for an electronic tag display screen of the ESL system according to an embodiment of the present invention .

Hereinafter, an electronic tag display screen data generating apparatus 100 of an ESL system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 to 5. FIG.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically illustrating an apparatus 100 for generating an electronic tag display screen of an ESL system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing another example of an image to be output to the display screen 10 of the display unit 140 or the electronic tag 400. FIG.

2, an apparatus 100 for generating an electronic tag display screen of an ESL system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a control unit 110, an input unit 120, a storage unit 130, 140).

At this time, the control unit 110 may include a component generation unit 111, an attribute setting unit 112, and a display content setting unit 113.

Here, the component refers to the first component 20-1 to the fourth component 20-4 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, and may mean a virtual display unit formed in a rectangular shape. That is, the component is one area of the screen of the electronic tag 400, and the position and size of the component can be determined on the screen of the electronic tag 400 by the coordinates of the starting point, the width in the width direction, and the width in the width direction. At this time, the starting point can be determined as any one of the four corners of the component. In order to facilitate understanding, the upper left corner is indicated by the starting point (the first starting point SP1, the second starting point SP2), a third starting point (SP3), a fourth starting point (SP4), and the like). The component generation means 111 plays a role of generating such a component.

On the other hand, the display content to be displayed in the generated component can be set by the display content setting means 113. Here, the display content may include display data and display size that define at least one of a symbol, a letter, a number, and an image. That is, the display content of the first component 20-1 shown in Fig. 3 may be that the first display data 30-1 defining the character "fruit country strawberry" is displayed in a predetermined display size.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, a plurality of components 20-1, 20-2, 20-3, and 20-4 may be displayed on the screen of the electronic tag 400. In this case, The first display data 30-1 is a character, the second display data 30-1 is a number and a character, the third display data 30-1 is a number and a symbol, and the fourth display data 30-1 is a character .

Further, the display data is data defining a specific symbol, character, and images, while the display size can define a size in which each display data is displayed in the component.

On the other hand, the attributes of the information to be displayed on the respective components may be separately defined, and the controller 110 may further include attribute setting means 112 for setting the attributes of the components. Here, the attribute can be selected from among price information, product information, manufacturer information, and event information. For example, if the components are configured as illustrated in FIG. 4, the attribute of the first component 20-1 is the product information including the product name, and the attribute of the second component 20-2 includes the unit price The attribute of the third component 20-3 is the price information including the previous price, and the attribute of the fourth component 20-4 is the price information including the temporarily discounted price.

The attributes and display contents of the components, components, and components defined in this manner can be digitized and output from the control unit 110, and the digital data can be referred to as component data.

For example, the component data may be "x; y; width; height; type; data; font size; Lt; / RTI >

Here, the meaning of each symbol is as follows.

x: x coordinate of the starting point

y: y coordinate of the starting point

width: the horizontal width of the component

height: the vertical width of the component

type: the property of the component

data: Display data

font size: Display size

The location, size, display contents, attributes, and the like of the component can be defined by the component data. A data packet including the component data is transmitted to the electronic tag 400, and the electronic tag 400, It is possible to output a specific image to the screen according to the data.

Accordingly, compared to the conventional method using the display screen data for determining the graphic for the entire display screen of the electronic tag in a dot-matrix manner, it is possible to display various kinds of data in the electronic tag 400 It becomes possible to display a graphic.

The component generating means 111, the attribute setting means 112 and the display content setting means 113 are implemented by driving predetermined software in hardware equipped with a computing device such as a CPU and a storage device such as a memory It can mean virtual functions. That is, the CPU implementing the control unit 110 generates the component generation unit 111, the attribute setting unit 112, and the display content setting unit 113 by driving the software stored in the storage unit 130, Can be performed.

In addition, the electronic tag display screen data generating apparatus 100 of the ESL system according to the embodiment of the present invention may further include an input unit 120 and a display unit 140. [

The input unit 120 receives a command of a user to produce a screen to be displayed on the electronic tag 400 and transmits the command to the control unit 110. The input unit 120 receives input of a normal keyboard, Interface.

The display unit 140 may be implemented as a normal monitor connected to the control unit 110 by performing a function of visually outputting an image identical to an image to be displayed on the screen of the electronic tag 400 to the user.

Accordingly, the user can create and arrange components on the display screen 10 output to the display unit 140, and easily input display contents to be displayed on the respective components.

Meanwhile, when the input unit 120 is implemented by a mouse or the like, a pointer that changes its position corresponding to the movement of the mouse may be displayed on the display unit 140. [ In this case, when the pointer is dragged while a specific component is selected, the width or the position of the component can be changed.

5A and 5B are diagrams for explaining the principle of changing a part of the image outputted to the display unit 140 or the screen of the electronic tag 400. Fig. 5A is a diagram prior to change, Fig. 5B is a diagram to be.

5, when the pointer is positioned on the second component 20-2 located at the upper left of the display screen 10 and dragged downward, as shown in FIG. 5A, The position of the component 20-2 may be shifted to the left center portion of the display screen 10. [ The second component 20-2 may overlap other components.

In this way, various display screens 10 to be displayed on the electronic tag 400 can be easily produced and changed.

5A, if the display screen 10 of the electronic tag 400 is to be changed as shown in FIG. 5B while the display screen data as shown in FIG. 5A is already transmitted and stored in the electronic tag 400, Only the component data for the component 20-2 is additionally transmitted and the electronic tag 400 updates it to change the display screen 10. [

Thus, compared with the case where the display screen data defining the entire display screen 10 of the electronic tag 400 is transmitted, only the display screen data in which the data capacity is significantly reduced can be displayed on the display screen 10 Can be changed according to the user's intention. Therefore, the amount of power consumed by the electronic tag 400 for changing the display screen 10 can be reduced.

As described above, the electronic tag display screen data generating apparatus of the ELS system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a control unit 110, an input unit 120, and a display unit 140, which are connected to the server 200, And the like. The input unit 120 and the display unit 140 may be implemented as an input device and a display device provided in the server 200 itself It is possible.

6 is a flowchart schematically illustrating a method of generating data for an electronic tag display screen of an ESL system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

1 to 6, a method for generating an electronic tag display screen data of an ESL system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may include a component generation step, a display content input step, and a component data output step. At this time, an attribute setting step may be further included between the component creating step and the display content inputting step.

First, a component corresponding to one area of the screen of the electronic tag 400 is created (S110), and then, attributes of the generated component are set (S120). Next, one component can be completed by inputting display contents to be displayed on the generated component (S130).

At this time, the above-described steps S110 to S130 may be repeated to further complete the required number of components.

After the components are completed, the component data obtained by digitalizing each of the components can be output (S140).

The component data thus output is stored in the server 200 or the like and is packetized in the form of a data packet together with other data including an identification number and an instruction of the electronic tag 400 and is transmitted to the electronic tag 400 Lt; / RTI > The electronic tag 400 receiving the data packet changes the display screen 10 in accordance with the instruction specified at the time specified in the data packet (S160).

1000: ESL system
100: Data generating device for electronic tag display screen of ESL system
200: Server
300: repeater
400: electronic tag
110:
111: Component generation means
112: Attribute setting means
113: display content setting means
120: input means
130: Storage means
140:
SP1: First starting point
10: Display screen
20-1, 20-2, 20-3, and 20-4:
30-1, 30-2, 30-3, 30-4: Display data

Claims (10)

A data generating apparatus for an electronic tag display screen of an ESL system including a server, a relay, and an electronic tag,
Component generating means for generating a component corresponding to one area of the screen of the electronic tag; And
Display content setting means for setting a display content displayed in the component;
And a control unit
A data generation device for an electronic tag display screen of an ESL system.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the component is formed in a rectangular shape and the component is defined by a coordinate of a start point, a lateral width, and a longitudinal width, which is an edge of the component
A data generation device for an electronic tag display screen of an ESL system.
The method of claim 2,
Further comprising attribute setting means for setting an attribute of the component,
Wherein the attribute of the component is at least one of price information, product information, manufacturer information, and event information.
A data generation device for an electronic tag display screen of an ESL system.
The method of claim 2,
The display contents include,
Display data and display size that define at least one of a symbol, a character, a number, and an image.
A data generation device for an electronic tag display screen of an ESL system.
The method of claim 4,
A display unit, connected to the control unit, for displaying the component and the display contents; And
An input means for receiving a command of a user and transmitting the command to the control unit;
Further comprising:
Information on a starting point coordinate, a horizontal width, and a vertical width of the component is input to the component generation means through the input means,
The attribute of the component is selected through the input means and input to the attribute setting means,
Wherein the display data and the display size are selected through the input means and input to the display content setting means
A data generation device for an electronic tag display screen of an ESL system.
The method of claim 5,
Wherein the input means comprises a mouse,
Wherein the display unit displays a pointer whose position is changed in correspondence with the movement of the mouse,
Wherein at least one of a position of the component, a width of the component in the width direction, and a width of the component in the width direction is changed as the pointer is dragged while the component is selected
A data generation device for an electronic tag display screen of an ESL system.
The method of claim 6,
A plurality of the components may be displayed on a screen of the electronic tag,
Wherein each of the components can be at least partially overlapped with each other.
A data generation device for an electronic tag display screen of an ESL system.
A method for generating data for an electronic tag display screen of an ESL system including a server, a relay, and an electronic tag,
Generating a component corresponding to one area of the screen of the electronic tag;
Inputting a display content displayed in the component; And
Outputting component data obtained by digitizing the component and the display contents;
≪ RTI ID = 0.0 >
A method for generating data for an electronic tag display screen of an ESL system.
The method of claim 8,
Wherein the component is in a rectangular shape and wherein the component is defined by a coordinate of a starting point which is an edge of the component, a lateral width of the component and a longitudinal width of the component,
Wherein the display content includes display data and display size that define at least one of a symbol, a letter, a number, and an image.
A method for generating data for an electronic tag display screen of an ESL system.
The method of claim 9,
A step of generating a component corresponding to one area of the screen of the electronic tag and a step of inputting a display content displayed in the component
Further comprising the step of setting an attribute of the component,
Wherein the attribute of the component is at least one of price information, product information, manufacturer information, and event information.
A method for generating data for an electronic tag display screen of an ESL system.

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