Boots – shoes – and leggings
Patent
1995-11-17
1998-03-17
Hayes, Gail O.
Boots, shoes, and leggings
36447812, 455 111, 34082537, 34082569, G06F15300
Patent
active
057296952
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a method and a device for acknowledgement of transmitted price information in connection with electronic information modules for price marking, and particularly to a method and a device executing an acknowledgement of information transmitted to an information module, when an information module of the kind possesses a limited coverage for its signal of acknowledgement due to a limited supply of power.
PRIOR ART
Today, systems, in which the price indicating items of information are stored in a central system computer, are introduced in greater department stores, which computer, in turn, provides the cash-point locations with price indicating items of information related to various articles. The cashier normally reads, usually by means of an optical reading device, a unique bar code, the so called EAN code, which is present on each article. Through this code the cash register thereby obtains the current price information of the article in question from the central system computer.
Further a shelf-edge marking is applied at the location of each article, which marking states the name of the article and normally also a cost-per-unit price, e.g. the price per kilogram. Earlier, each article was usually provided also with a sticker stating the price and possibly a temporary discount price. In order to reduce the cost of such a price marking, effort is made, particularly in larger department stores, to leave out the individual price marking of each article, in which case the price marking is achieved only by means of shelf-edge marking at the storing place of each type of article.
A further step in cost optimization includes electronic shelf-edge markings, which are controlled from the central system computer, thereby stating the price stored in the central system computer of the article in question. Through this, it will be ensured that the items of information of the price marking will correspond to the price charged to the customer at the cash-point, which obtains the price indicating items of information, just like the shelf-edge marking, from the central system computer. A type of such an electronic label system/signing system has been disclosed, e.g. in the Swedish patent SE 441 447 granted to S. Olsson and R. Ahlm in 1986 and assigned to the signer of the present application.
A problem in connection with a system comprising such electronic devices of presentation, or "displays", when the communication to these devices is carried out in a wireless manner, e.g. through transmission by means of light, is to efficiently receive an acknowledgement confirming that the shelf-edge unit in question has received the transmitted information correctly. Firstly, such a price-marking unit may be blocked by a separate object preventing the information from reaching the unit in question, and, secondly, with a limited supply of power, its problematic to obtain a sufficient coverage for its means of response for enabling the transmission of an unambiguous reply implying that information transmitted to the particular unit has been received correctly.
Common to such systems is that the transmission of information should be achieved wireless in order to obtain a flexible price-marking system. Thereby, the most applicable method of transmission is by means of light, suitably within the range of non-visible light, e.g. as IR light as used in prior art for various remote control devices to control electronic or electrical apparatuses, such as TV-sets etc.
Such a system is disclosed, e.g. in the European patent document EP-A2-0 443 447. Here, a bi-directional system is disclosed, which optically signals back to the transmitting device directly or by reflection and scattering or by deflection. In the disclosed system, the electronic label/shelf-edge module will consist of a relatively complicated unit, since the acknowledgement system requires additional complex electronics, while the system will require a considerable control power, fundamentally necessitating each unit to be prov
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Ahlm Roger
Odmark Ola
Hayes Gail O.
Poinvil Frantzy
Pricer Inc.
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