JPS605991B2 - electronic price display device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In the retail industry, manually inputting prices and other information of products for sale into point-of-sale terminals is one of the major operating expenses.

In order to reduce this cost, methods have been devised in which each product is given a product code that identifies the product, and a device that automatically reads the product codes attached to products. When the product code is read by the automatic cash dispenser, the computer automatically enters the price and other information for the product from its storage device into the sales floor terminal. Therefore, much time can be saved compared to manual input. However, there are still problems with this method.

Because the price of the sold item is given from the computer's storage, the price listed on the item is not used in the sale. Therefore, by eliminating the need to display prices on products, operating expenses can be further reduced. However, the majority of customers object to omitting the display of prices on products because they cannot compare the amount charged with the price of the product. In reality, it is very difficult to enter prices and other information into sales terminals, so even if a price is displayed on a product, if a customer has purchased a large number of products, the customer will be able to calculate the amount charged and the product price. It is impossible to finish comparing before paying. Additionally, retail stores often sell products whose price is displayed on a label attached to the product or in some other way, without updating the label or other information even if the price of the product changes. In such cases, the customer cannot compare the invoiced amount with the actual selling price.

The present invention ensures that the price of the product purchased by the customer matches the amount charged, and that the retail store
The purpose of the present invention is to eliminate the need to manually attach a price display label or the like to one product.

A modification used to achieve this purpose is an electronic price display device according to the present invention, in which the displayed product price is set by a computer that inputs the product price into a sales terminal. When the price changes, all you have to do is change the price stored in the computer's storage device.
The prices displayed on the sales floor are automatically updated. In principle, it is possible to connect multiple price display devices placed in each product section to a single computer in the store, but it would require a large number of wires to be connected, and it would be possible to change the display location of the products. In reality, it is impossible due to the difficulty of rewiring in that case.

The present invention overcomes this difficulty by incorporating a different address code into each price display device so that information regarding the price to be displayed is input from the computer only to the price display device called up by the computer. There is. Using this method, a large number of price display devices can be connected in parallel, or substantially parallel, outside one computer using a small number of conductive wires or other suitable transmission means. Since the address code is visible from the outside, the relationship between the product and the price display device that displays the price of that product can be stored in the computer's storage device.
The present invention will be explained in more detail with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, arrows indicate the direction in which information flows, and 4. The in-store computer 1 of the store stores the prices of the products in that store. When there are two or more retail stores, the in-store computer 1 is connected to a central computer 2. The central computer 2 is used for updating product prices and other information. In the absence of a central computer 2, the in-store computer 1 performs this role. When one product sells, there is usually one 4 product code reader 3 in the store.
One of them is the product code 4 displayed on the product.
Read and decipher.

The decoded information is transmitted to the sales floor terminal 5 of the product code, and sent from the terminal 5 to the in-store computer 1. The in-store computer that received the information transmits the price of the sold product to the sales floor terminal 5 that sent the information, and this price is added to the total price of all the products sold at the sales floor terminal 5. . The details of the above method can be changed depending on the circuits used and their connection methods without changing the basic method. One or more electronic price display devices 6 are used in conjunction with the in-store computer 1 as follows.

Each electronic price display device 6 is placed near the product whose price is to be displayed in each department, and is connected to the in-store computer 1. The address code of each electronic price display device 6 is associated with the product code stored in the storage device of the in-store computer 1, and the information electrically encoded from the in-store computer 1 to the price display device 6 is As a result, the price of the product nearby is displayed on the price display device 6. Lead wires or other conductors, electromagnetic transceivers, acoustic transducers, or combinations thereof are used as means for connecting the price display device 6 to the in-store convenience display 1. Any type of interface may be used for connection to the in-store convenience store 1. In this specification, an embodiment will be described in which each electronic price display device 6 is connected to a bus bar 7 attached to a product display shelf, and is connected to the in-store computer 1 via the bus bar 7. The above-mentioned relationship between the address code of each electronic price display device 6 and the product code stored in the storage device of the in-store computer 1 is based on the address code visible from the outside of the price display device 6 and the high quality code on the product. It is created by reading the information visually and inputting the information into the in-store computer 1.

However, this method must be repeated if the product arrangement is changed. The method described herein is to use a remote code taker 8 and an electronic price display 6 on which an address code suitable for reading by the code taker 8 is displayed. The remote code reader 8 is connected to the in-store computer 1 and first reads the address code of the electronic price display device 6, then reads the product code displayed on the price display device 6, and transmits this information to the in-store computer. It is sent to storage device No. 1 and stored therein. These remote cord takers, which utilize photocells, are also useful for inventory checking. Once the product code and the address code of the price display are associated in the store computer's storage, the current price of the product and related information is electrically encoded from the computer to the price display. sent as.

Since the information source for the product price displayed on the price display device 6' and the information source for the product price input into the sales floor terminal 5 are the same, the price displayed on the price display device 6' and the price charged to the customer are different. will definitely match. FIG. 2 shows the electronic price display device 6. In the figure, 9 is the price of the product, 10 is the unit price, 11 is the unit of price, 12 is a code indicating that the price has been reduced, and 13 is the price of the product. The code indicates that the product is the cheapest among similar products, and 14 is the product code of the product.
All of these are displayed electrically.

Since the product code 14 displayed on the price display device 6 is visible, it can be confirmed whether the relationship between the price display device and the product is correctly stored in the storage device of the in-store computer, and the display shelf can be easily stored. It's easy to know which items to put on when it's empty. The constructions of the above-mentioned electrically displayed products from price 9 to product code 14 utilize electromechanical or electrochemical methods, or are incandescent lamps, liquid crystals, gas discharge tubes, and light emitting diodes. It is purely electrical or electronic like. In FIG. 2, 15 is the address code of the price display device, which can be read from the outside and is displayed on the front so that it can be read by a remote code reader 8.
16 is a fastening shell that fixes the price display device 6 to the bus bar 7.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, 21 is a light emitting diode used for illuminating the display panel of the display device. In order to operate the electronic price display device 6 continuously, it is sufficient to use only two external conductors (if a power source for operating the display device and an electromagnetic wave transceiver or acoustic transducer are used).
In order to improve reliability and economy, it is preferable to use four external conductors.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken at 3...3 in FIG. 17 is the other three common conductors, 18 is the power supply voltage line, 19 is the line through which electrically encoded information is sent from the store computer 1, and 20 is the wire for the store computer 1 click set pulse, analog lead, The analog read pulse is used to determine the number of price display devices that respond to their address code, as will be described below.

Analog read pulses are useful for locating lost or malfunctioning price display devices and for over-utilization. External conductor 17
, 18, 19, 20 and the price display device 6 are connected by four contact conductors 22, 23, 24, which come out from the back side of the housing of the device 6 and are in electrical contact with these conductors, respectively.
It is done by 25. The electronic price display device 6 is housed in the cliff body of an appropriate size and shape, and the weight body is fixed to the bus bar 7 by a fastener 16 and placed near the product whose price is to be displayed. 1 is a schematic circuit diagram of one embodiment of an electronic price display device according to the present invention. In this figure, the connections between each active element and the common conducting wire 17 and the power supply voltage line 18 are easily understood. It is omitted to avoid complexity.The arrows in the figure indicate the direction in which the signal is transmitted.
The set pulse supplied from the store computer 1 is sent on one of the external conductors 20 and then passed through one of the contact conductors 25 and separated by a function separator 26 to reset the shift register 27; And flip flop 28
and 29 are reset to the logical value "0" state.

Next, an analog read pulse is sent from the in-store computer. Flip flop 29 reset,
In other words, it is confirmed that the logic value is "0". If flip-flop 29 is in a logical ``1'' state, current flows through resistor 30 to transistor 3.
Flows to 1. Most of this current flows through the light emitting diode 21,
It also flows through the resistor 32, the functional separator 26L, and the external conductor 20.
If the in-store computer 1 measures this flowing current, it can ascertain the number of price display devices whose flip-flops 29 are in the logic "1" state. This number is zero when a reset pulse is sent to all price display devices. Next, an electrically encoded pulse train is sent from the in-store computer 1 via an external conductor 19.

This pulse train consists of pulses with logical values "0" and "1", and the number N of the pulses is equal to the number of bits of the shift register 27. At the same time that the in-store computer I sends these N pulses, it also sends N clock pulses via the external conductor 20. This clocked pulse is sent to transmission gates 33 and 34 by function separator 26, but is blocked by transmission gate 33, passes through transmission gate 34, and passes through shift register 27.
and is logically inverted before being sent to "AND" gate 35. The first pulse of the pulse train sent by external conductor 19 must have a logic value of "1". N
When these clock pulses are sent, this logical value "1" is shifted one step at a time in the shift register 27. At the end of N clock pulses, the AND gate 35 receives a logic value from both the shift register 27 and the transmission gate 34.
1" is sent, and the output of "AND" gate 35 causes flip-flop 28 to go into a logic "11" state.
At this time, the subsequent N-1 contents are also shifted one stage at a time, so the N-1 parallel outputs of the shift register 27 are sent to the N-1 "NOR" gates 3 forming the comparison circuit.
7 from parallel read-only memory 36, respectively.
−1 output. When the two logic values entering the "/a" gate 37 are equal, the "NOR" gate sends a logic "1" output to the "AND" gate 38. Parallel read where address code is stored. Only'Memory 3
If the N-1 outputs of the shift register 27 and the N-1 outputs of the shift register 27 are all equal, it means that the price display device with this address code has been designated from outside.In this case, the "AND" gate All N-1 inputs of 38 are logic "1" and the output is also logic "1", inverting flip-flop 29 to a logic "1" state. Next, in-store computer 1 sends a pulse train through external conductor 19 that electrically encodes the price of the item to be displayed and information related thereto.

At the same time, a clock pulse is sent through the external conductor 20.
This timing pulse is blocked at transmission gate 34, which passes through if the price display device is externally addressed by its address code, and is blocked otherwise. At this point, the information stored in the shift register 27 remains unchanged. External conductor 1
9 completes the transmission of the pulse train in which the price of the said product and information related thereto are encoded, an analog read pulse is sent from the in-store computer 1 through the external conductor 20, and a responsive price display is sent. The number of devices is verified to be 1, and a reset pulse is then sent to reset shift register 27 and flip-flops 28 and 29 to a logic "0" state.

An alphanumeric converter 40, which converts binary numbers to letters and numbers, converts the output of the shift register 39 into a form suitable for input to a display panel 41 illuminated by light emitting diodes.

The display panel 41 displays the product price, unit price, and other items related to the product. The shift register 39 is for storing information sent from the in-store computer 1. The output of the shift register 39 is shown as a parallel output using four lines with arrows in FIG. You can also use a shift register with serial output.

The shift register 27 also has a read-only memory 3.
It is easy to see that a serial output shift register can be used by changing 6 to a serial type and configuring a comparison circuit that sequentially compares these outputs. The circuits shown in blocks in FIG. 4, with the exception of the functional separator 26, may be of standard construction used in digital circuits. One circuit for achieving the purpose of a functional separator is shown in FIG. A positive pulse applied to input terminal 42 passes through diode 43 and resistor 44 and activates transistors 45 and 46. Reference numeral 48 is the output terminal of the clocked pulse, and resistor 47 is a resistor that provides positive feedback to improve the rise time and fall time of the clocked pulse output from the output terminal 48.

50 is an output terminal for an analog read pulse, and this pulse is a negative pulse applied through a diode 49.

Negative IJ that is more negative than the analog read pulse
Set pulse is Zener diode 51, resistor 52
The signal is sent out from the output terminal 54 by operating the transistor 53 via.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a system diagram in which an electronic price display device is incorporated into a computer-based system that provides information on product prices at multiple sales floors. Figure 2 is a front view of the electronic price display device connected to the bus bar. Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the bus bar to which the electronic price display device is connected; Fig. 4 is a schematic circuit diagram of the electronic price display device; Fig. 5 is a circuit diagram of the functional separator shown in Fig. 4; be. Explanation of codes, 1..., In-store computer, 2...
...1 Central computer, 3... Product code discussion device, 4... Product code, 5... Sales floor terminal, 6... Electronic price display device, 7・・・・・・Bus bar, 8...Remote cord cable, 9...Product price,
10... Unit price, 11... Unit of price, 12, 13... Code related to price, 14...
Product code, 15... Address code, 16... Fastening odor, 17, 18, 19, 20... External conductor, 21... Light emitting diode, 22, 23, 24, 25... Contact conductor, 26 ...Function separator, 27, 39...
...Shift register, 28,29...Flip-flop, 30,32...Resistor, 31...Transistor, 33,34...Transmission gate, 35,38...
..."AND" gate, 36...Parallel read-only memory, 37... ... "/a" gate, 40...
... Alphanumeric converter, 41 ... Display panel, 42 ... Input terminal, 43, 49 ... Diode, 44, 47, 52 ... Resistor, 45, 46,
53... Transistor, 48... Timing pulse output terminal, 50... Analog read pulse output terminal, 51... Zener diode "5
4...Reset pulse output terminal. FIG. lFIG. 4FIG. 2 FIG. 3 FIG5

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of external conductive wires 17, consisting of the following constituent elements:
an electronic price display device 6 fastened to a bus bar 7 through which wires 18, 19, and 20 pass; a casing;
The same number of contact conductors 22, 23, 24, 25 as the external conductors 17, 18, 19, 20 are in electrical contact with the busbars 7, 18, 19, 20, respectively; a fastener 16 for identifying the electronic price display device 6; an address code 15 displayed on the front surface of the casing so as to be readable from the outside; the address code 15 being stored; storage device 36;
a first shift register 27 receiving a first pulse train sent by one of the external conductors 19; a second shift register 27 receiving a second pulse train sent by one of the external conductors 19; Shift register 39; another one of the external conductors
a reset pulse sent by the book 20; a first clocked pulse coincident with said first pulse train; and said second pulse train.
a first flip-flop 28 and a second flip-flop receiving a reset pulse from said functional separator 26;
Flop 29; supplied with the inverted logic value signal from the first flip-flop 28 which received the reset pulse, transfers the first clock pulse from the function separator 26 to the first shift register 27; The stored contents of the first pulse train are transferred to 1 in this shift register 27.
A first transmission gate 34 shifted by stages; a signal from the first transmission gate 34 that has finished transmitting the first clocked pulse and a signal from the first shift register 27
A signal is supplied to the first flip-flop 28 in response to a signal from the first pulse of the pulse train of the second flip-flop 28.
'AND' gate 35 for inverting 8; receives a plurality of logical value signals from the first shift register 27 according to the pulse train excluding the first pulse of the first pulse train and converts it to a plurality of logic value signals from the storage device 36; A comparator circuit 37 consisting of a plurality of gates that compares the logic value signals with the first flip signal and outputs an output signal when the logic values match;
A comparison circuit 3 consisting of a flop 28 and the plurality of gates.
a matching circuit 38 which supplies a signal to said second flip-flop 29 and inverts said second flip-flop 29 when receiving an output signal from said second flip-flop 29; , a second clocked pulse is transmitted from the function separator 26 to the second shift register 39, and the stored contents of the second pulse train are shifted one stage at a time in the shift register 39. Transmission gate 3
3; an alpha-numeric converter 40 to which the logic value output of the second pulse train is supplied from the second shift register 39; A display panel 41 that is located on the front surface of the housing and can be seen from the outside, on which information included in the pulse train is displayed.