KR100390065B1 - System for displaying price information of products on display stand using electrical cable communication - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a display product price information display system using power line communication, one or more display product price information display terminal for displaying the price of the display product in real time; A controller connected to one or more of the terminals, receiving price information of predetermined display goods allocated to each terminal, converting the price information into an electrical signal that can be processed by the terminal, and transmitting the converted price; And a server connected to the controller through power line communication to transmit predetermined price information of the display goods to the controller.

According to the present invention, by displaying the price of the display goods using the power line communication, it is easy to install the price display terminal, reduce the manpower required for the display shelf inventory management, has the advantage of improving work efficiency and reducing management costs .

Description

System for displaying price information of products on display stand using electrical cable communication}

The present invention relates to a system for displaying various kinds of information of displayed goods, and more particularly, to a display goods price information display system using power line communication.

There are thousands and tens of thousands of products on the shelves of supermarkets, hypermarkets and retail stores, and each product shelf is usually marked with a label or price on a piece of paper with a magic or color pen. Managing product names and prices in this way is a tremendous amount of time, labor and money. Although some stores have installed price display terminals, most of them adopt the classic wired data communication method, so that the price display terminals have a separate communication cable or wireless communication for data communication in addition to the power supply line. Device is required. In general, the price of the price display terminal itself is expensive, but since it requires a lot of costs for installation and wiring work, there was a lot of difficulties in installing the terminal in a general store.

In addition, supermarkets, hypermarkets, and retail stores that stock and sell a large number of products in stock can check the total sales volume with bar codes and point-of-sale (POS) terminals at checkout counters to ensure that stocks of related products are below a certain inventory level. The process of automatically sending orders when they are exhausted is common, but when all inventory remains on individual shelves is exhausted, there is a lack of measures to deal with them automatically. In other words, it is necessary to find out whether the shelves are in stock and supply them immediately from the warehouse.However, it is difficult to take a lot of manpower to grasp the stock of the shelves in real time. There was a problem that interfered with the sale.

The technical problem to be solved by the present invention to solve the above problems is to install a terminal assigned a unique ID number to the location of the specified product code, if only commercial AC power is applied to the terminal to match the ID number of the terminal through the power line modem To provide a product price information display system using power line communication to display the price.

1 is a block diagram of a display product price information display system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a perspective view illustrating an example of a price information display unit according to FIG. 1.

3 is a perspective view illustrating another example of the price information display unit according to FIG. 1.

4 is a perspective view illustrating still another example of the price information display unit shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram illustrating a detailed operation of the inventory quantity detecting unit according to FIG. 1.

6A through 6B are diagrams illustrating a method for identifying a stock of goods on display by using the stock quantity determining unit of FIG. 5.

7 is a configuration diagram illustrating a method for setting a stock shortage determination level by adjusting the total reflection body and the reflection mirror.

8 is a flowchart illustrating a method for identifying inventory in real time using an automatic inventory reader.

According to the present invention, data communication is performed for a certain period between the server 10 and the controller 11 through the power line modems 101 and 111, and the controller 11 has a 4-digit C-ID number. When the server 10 addresses the C-ID, the MUX circuit 112 receives the data transmitted from the server through the power line modem 101 and transmits the data to the display terminal 12 connected to the controller 11. It is built. One controller 11 has a display terminal 12 that can display the prices of 6/12/24/48/96 different items simultaneously, and the display terminal 12 connected to the controller 11 is 96 It has less than unique addresses.

As shown in Fig. 1, the controller 11 includes a 3/4 digit unique ID number, a MUX 112, a microcontroller, a memory 113, a power supply 114, and a power line modem 111.

The display terminal 12 installed in the merchandise showcase has a price information display unit 121 for displaying the amount of money as shown in FIG. 2 and displays 4/5 digits in colors such as green and blue, and 7 segments having the same structure. The word "SALE" can be displayed in different colors such as red, and the discount rate can be displayed at the same time as XX%. The currency units such as $, FF and SF of each country are displayed on the film using a separate light source as a backlight. Can display country-specific monetary units. The seven segments of the display terminal 12 are not always lit, but are rapidly blinking. Those who see this do not recognize the blinking as an optical illusion and can only feel the change in brightness. By using this phenomenon, the display terminal 12 detects ambient illumination and controls the brightness of the terminal display character by changing the lighting period of the 7-segment driving pulse according to the detected illumination. That is, when the illuminance of attention is high, the lighting period of the drive pulse is lengthened to increase the brightness of the display character so that the visibility is not degraded. On the other hand, when the ambient illuminance is low, the lighting period of the driving pulse is shortened to weaken the brightness of the display character so as to prevent the glare of the customer.

Another embodiment of the price information display unit is shown in FIG. 3. Here, the display terminal 35 according to the present embodiment has a transparent plate 31 for displaying an article name and a unit at the upper end or the lower end, and an opaque plate 33 of black or a special color is formed behind the transparent plate. In the space between the transparent plate 31 and the opaque plate 33, there is a space for inserting the name of the article and papers 32 printed with the unit, and inserting letters directly into the transparent plate using a fluorescent magic pen / oil pen or the like. In the case of writing, the side lamp 34 of the glass window makes the product name and unit stand out.

4 is another embodiment of a price information display unit for displaying a product name, a unit, and the like, and includes a dot matrix monochrome, a full color dot matrix display, an LCD, an EL, and an LED. And a color display board 41 which receives image data such as instructions for use of products, advertisements, etc. from the server 10 and displays them graphically.

For the display item corresponding to the code number assigned by the server 10, if a price is input, it corresponds to the identification number xxx of each controller 12 and the corresponding address of the identification number xxx of the display device through the power line modems 101 and 111. The price is displayed on the display terminal 12, and the sales item designated by the server 10 is displayed in a separate color such as red, such as SALE xx% every few seconds, and the price is displayed again after a few seconds. Repeat what happens.

Since the server 10 and each controller 11 communicate with each other through the power line modems 101 and 111, the data communication is not necessary for wiring and the plug and play may be achieved by simply connecting power to the controller 11. Plug Play) can reduce installation costs, and can change items at any time as well as change prices in near real time.

In addition, it is preferable that the display terminal 12 includes a stock detector 122, a camera 123, a barcode reader 124, a server call button 125, and an MP3 input / output device 126. The inventory quantity determining unit 122 of the display product price information display terminal 12 grasps the display product inventory quantity in the display rack in real time and transmits the inventory quantity information to the server 10. Referring to Figure 5 will be described in detail the operation of the inventory quantity detection unit 122.

According to FIG. 5, the laser beam generated by the laser diode 51 is transformed into a parallel laser beam while passing through a collimating lens 52. The parallel laser beam passes through the cylindrical lens 53 and spreads widely while maintaining its parallelism. The laser beam emitted from the laser light source unit 59 is reflected by the total reflection body 55 provided outside the inventory quantity detecting unit 122 and returns to the same direction as the incident light. In this case, the total reflection body 55 uses a total reflection body film having a total reflection (Retro reflection) that reflects 180 ° from the incident angle on the display wall. The reflected laser beam is installed by tilting the translucent mirror at an inclination of 45 ° or is reflected by the light separator 54 constituted by using a 45 ° prism and received through the focus lens 56 to the light receiving unit 57. Here, the laser beam is displayed on the wall or the total reflection body 55 in red, and the optical path that is displayed and reflected in a straight line forms a two-dimensional surface, and is projected with an inclination angle at the upper end of the merchandise display rack and reflected from the total reflection body 55. Hae-Oo has an optical path, so it is possible to grasp whether a product is in stock in a three-dimensional space. The optical receiver 57 composed of an optical transistor or a CCD array converts the received laser beam into an electrical signal and passes through the AND gate 50 for inputting the changed signal and the laser diode driving pulse. To pass. The reason why the pulses of the laser diode driving pulses and the light receiving unit 57 are synchronized to output the pulses only when both signals are applied through the AND gate 50 is to prevent errors caused by diffuse reflection and disturbance of the product. will be. When the light receiver 57 is used as a single-line phototransistor as shown in the drawing, when all the light is reflected at several points on the basis of the amount of light reflected by the laser line, it is determined that there is no stock and signals to the server. By sending the data, it is possible to fill the inventory of the relevant goods in the goods showcase, so that the availability of the specific product is always identified.

The microprocessor 58 receives the output of the AND gate 50 to determine whether there is a stock shortage and transmits the determined result to the server 10 using power line communication. 6A to 6B, a description will be given of a method of determining whether the stock quantity determining unit 122 described above determines whether the display goods are exhausted on the shelves.

According to FIG. 6A, the laser beam emitted from the inventory quantity detecting unit 122 is reflected by the reflection mirror 61 and obtained as a total reflection body 55 installed at the bottom of the wall surface of the display stand. Since the inventory amount of the display goods 62 is small so that the reflective mirror 61 and the total reflection body 55 are not interspersed, the laser beam obtained by the total reflection body 55 is reflected in the direction in which it is incident, and again the inventory quantity detection unit ( 122). The obtained laser beam is determined to be out of stock by the microprocessor 58 as described in FIG.

5B illustrates a case where the display goods 63 are in stock. According to FIG. 5B, the laser beam emitted from the inventory quantity detection unit 122 is reflected by the reflecting mirror 61 and directed to the total reflection body 55 installed at the bottom of the wall of the display stand, but the inventory of the display goods 63 is in the middle. By the laser beam is blocked. The blocked laser beam is diffusely reflected by the display goods 63 and the amount of the laser beam returned to the inventory quantity detecting unit 122 is extremely small. In this case, the microprocessor 58 of the inventory quantity determining unit 122 determines that the inventory is not short.

Since the display products are various in shape, the reference height for determining whether the proper inventory is depleted depends on the type of the product. In addition, since the storage method is different depending on the store even for the same product, the ability to change the reference height to determine whether the inventory is exhausted. 7 is a configuration diagram illustrating an implementation of such a function.

According to FIG. 7, the reference height which determines whether inventory is exhausted according to the attachment position of the front reflector is made. The angles of the reflecting mirrors 71 to 72 are appropriately changed in order to direct the laser beam to the totally changed positions 73 to 74. For example, in the combination of the total reflection body 73 and the reflection mirror 71, the display goods 75 are judged to be out of stock. If the lack of inventory determination level is not appropriate for the manager to judge, the total reflection body 73 may be moved downward and the reflection mirror 71 may be adjusted so that the laser beam is directed toward the lower total reflection body. In the combination of the total reflection body 74 and the reflection mirror 72 whose position is changed, it is determined that there is stock even if the stock of the display goods is the same.

Meanwhile, the barcode recognition unit 124 of the display product price information display terminal 12 uses the barcode reader (not shown) that verifies the identity of the product managed on the server 10 and the actually displayed product. By transmitting the bar code information to the server 10 and contrasting with the goods managed in the price information display unit 121, it is possible to reduce the error due to the mismatch between the goods on the display and the goods displayed on the price information display unit 121. .

In addition, the camera 123 of the display product price information display terminal 12 performs a function of transmitting the image information of the displayed product to the server 10 by using power line communication. Image information of the goods transmitted to the server 10 is provided via the Internet can be viewed in real time from the display merchandise monitoring terminal 13 connected to the server (10).

The MP3 input / output device 126 downloads music and voice data from the server 10 using power line communication and stores the music and voice data in an internal memory (not shown). If the customer is close to the price information display terminal 12 within a predetermined distance, it detects this and performs the advertisement and guidance with the stored music or voice.

When the server 10 transmits data through a power line, an error is detected by a data transmission packet structure in order to prevent noise or unwanted signals from being transmitted, and to prevent data from being transmitted to an incorrect address, depending on a load condition of the power line. And restore. In addition, when the server 10 transmits the data to the display terminal, a header file is added in front of the data to transmit the data to the display terminal of the correct destination address. The header file has a MUX address and a display device address, respectively. Data is transmitted to the display terminal 12 via the multiplexer at the address specified by the header file. At this time, the error detection and restoration algorithm that may occur in the transmission process is applied to determine whether there is an error in the data generated during the transmission process. After the verification and verification, only the pure data from which data for error detection is removed is displayed on the price information display unit 121.

If the data on the server screen contains contents such as SALE XX% in addition to the price, the display cycle contents are also transmitted when the server displays the display period of price and SALE XX% of other colors every few seconds. The display period is displayed on the display terminal 12 at a time interval desired by the server 10 by a microcontroller (not shown) of the display terminal 12.

The communication between the server 10 and the display terminal 12 is performed in a 1: 1 manner, and the communication request of the other display terminal 15 is performed while the server 10 and the display terminal 12 are in 1: 1 communication. When a product code which is out of stock is detected and sends a signal-In this case, the controller 11 with the multiplexer 112 generates a standby priority signal, and when the 1: 1 communication is completed, The priority is determined according to the request order of the display terminal 15, and the server 10 and the display terminal 15 communicate with each other according to the order of the display terminal 15. After the contents are stored in the memory 113 of the controller 11, the transfer request is made to the server 10.

8 is a flowchart illustrating a method for identifying inventory in real time using an automatic inventory reader. Referring to FIG. 8, in step 700, a parallel laser beam is generated by using a combination of a laser diode and a collimating lens. The parallel laser beam passes through the cylindrical lens 53 and spreads widely while maintaining its parallelism. In operation 710, the laser beam passing through the cylindrical lens 53 is emitted toward the total reflection body 55 installed outside the inventory quantity detecting unit 122, and the emitted laser beam is reflected by the total reflection body 55. And returns to the same direction as the incident light. In step 720, the reflected laser beam is reflected by the light separator 54, which is installed by tilting the translucent mirror at an inclination of 45 ° or by using a 45 ° prism, is received by the light receiving unit 57 through the focus lens 56, and is light. The light receiving unit 57 composed of a transistor or a CCD array converts the received laser light into an electrical signal. In step 730, the microprocessor 58 determines whether the received electric signal exceeds a predetermined threshold and determines that the inventory is insufficient when the electric signal exceeds the threshold, that is, when the laser beam is properly received (step S730). 740) On the other hand, if the electric signal does not reach a predetermined threshold, that is, if the laser beam is not received properly, it is determined that the current inventory is not short (step 750). In operation 760, the microprocessor 58 transmits the determination result to the server 10 connected through power line communication. In step 770, the server 10 transmits the determination result to the terminal of the product inventory manager connected to the Internet so that they always maintain the inventory of the display rack at an appropriate level.

As described above, the display product price information display system using the power line communication according to the present invention facilitates the installation of the price display terminal and reduces the manpower required for the display shelf product inventory management, improves the work efficiency and reduces the management cost Has

Claims (11)

At least one display product price information display terminal displaying the price of the display goods in real time; A power line communication device for performing power line communication is provided to receive price information and an identification number of a display terminal on which the price is to be displayed through the power line communication, and is connected to one or more terminals to display the price information on the display terminal. A controller for converting the signal into a form of an electrical signal and transmitting the same to a display terminal corresponding to the received identification number; And A server connected to the controller through power line communication to transmit predetermined price information of the display goods to the controller; The display product price information display terminal A laser light source unit for generating a laser beam by using a combination of a laser diode and a collimating lens; An optical receiver configured to receive the laser beam reflected from the total reflection body reflecting the laser beam in the same direction as the incident direction of the laser beam and convert the laser beam into a corresponding electrical signal when there is no product stock between the paths of the laser beam; And Analyzing the converted electrical signal to determine whether there is a product inventory between the progress path of the laser beam and having a stock processor having a microprocessor for transmitting a determination result to the server using power line communication Display price information display system. delete According to claim 1, wherein the display price information display terminal terminal A paper or film inserted between the transparent and opaque plates spaced at predetermined intervals to display a product name, a price unit, and an advertisement, and lighting means installed at an edge of the transparent plate to illuminate the paper or films; Graphic display means for receiving and displaying image data, such as instructions for display products, advertisements, etc. from the server, a barcode recognition unit for reading barcodes of the goods actually displayed on the shelves and sending them to the server, and images of the displayed goods. Further comprising a camera for transmitting information to the server, By detecting the illumination around the terminal, the brightness of the terminal display character is controlled by changing the period of the terminal driving pulse according to the illumination, and when the purchaser approaches the terminal within a predetermined distance, the music and voice information data downloaded from the server is output. Displayed product price information display system, characterized in that. delete delete delete delete delete The method of claim 3, wherein the server And displaying image information received from the camera through the Internet, performing remote diagnosis on the display product price information display terminal and the controller, and providing the result via the Internet. delete Reflects the laser beam in the same direction as the incident direction of the laser beam when there is no product stock between the laser light source unit for generating the laser beam by a combination of a laser diode and a collimating lens and the path of the laser beam. A light receiving unit which receives the laser beam reflected from the total reflection body and converts the laser beam into a corresponding electrical signal, and analyzes the converted electric signal to determine whether there is a product stock between the paths of the laser beam and determine by the server At least one display goods price information display terminal having a stock checking unit having a microprocessor for transmitting a result to display a price of the display goods in real time; A power line communication device for performing power line communication is provided to receive price information and an identification number of a display terminal on which the price is to be displayed through the power line communication, and is connected to one or more terminals to display the price information on the display terminal. A controller for converting the signal into a form of an electrical signal and transmitting the same to a display terminal corresponding to the received identification number; And a method of real-time identifying the stock of goods displayed on the merchandise display rack through a system connected to the controller by power line communication and transmitting a predetermined price information of the display goods to the controller. Generating a laser beam by using a combination of a laser diode and a collimating lens; Emitting the laser beam to a total reflection body that reflects the light beam in the same direction as the incident direction; Receiving a reflected laser beam and converting it into an electrical signal when there is no product stock between the paths of the laser beam; And And analyzing the converted electrical signal to determine whether there is a product stock between the progress paths of the laser beams and transmitting the determination result to the server.