Abstract:
An electronic price tag is adapted for wireless adjustment, which consists of a display placard mounted to the goods at, for example, a point of manufacture for the goods; a plurality of price display fields on the placard; a receiver/decoder horn mounted to the placard for receiving signals from a remote location and decoding same to be inputted to the price display field. Additionally, the price tag of the present invention permits the retailer to maintain in confidence and secrecy price information pertaining to the specific goods, i.e. the goods are not routed through a supplier or other third parties that would obtain knowledge of the retailer&#39;s pricing strategy.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Filed of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to electronic price display systems and more particularly, to price tags which are electronically controlled from remote locations. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     It is desirable in the retail industry to be extremely efficient when identifying and ordering goods through the various steps to the actual display of the goods and notification to the purchasing public of the price of such goods. Retailers, in particular, strive to reduce the time necessary to inventory ordered and back-ordered goods, as well as the actual sales of goods and remaining stock. In the highly competitive retail environment, every hour expended to document, inventory and display goods depletes the profits realized from sales of the goods. Retailers are particularly sensitive to the necessity of cost-effectiveness, especially when sales of products are necessary in order to turn over or clear out stock. 
     Usually, a retailer will order goods or products, commonly known as SKU&#39;s (stock keeping units), to be shipped from a manufacturer or distributor. A single SKU equals one of the particular goods. The goods arrive at the retailer in bulk, enclosed with invoices, bills of lading, or other transit documents that the retailer must review, collate and cross-check to determine that the goods he will pay for have indeed been delivered. A manufacturer ships the goods without price tags. This is because the manufacturer does not know what the goods will ultimately be priced at and what the actual demand will be that will dictate the ultimate price to the purchasing public. 
     The retailer then affixes a label or price tag to the goods bearing indicia pertaining to the particular product and store, i.e. store name, bar code, SKU, model number, size, color, etc. The tag is usually manually affixed to the product in the store and then distributed or racked at the appropriate area of the store for sale. After a specified period of time has elapsed since the display of the goods, those goods not sold must be put on sale or marked down to attract consumers so that the stock can be moved out of the store. This requires adjusting the original price and writing thereon the sale price. This may occur more than once, perhaps even two or three times, before the SKU is actually sold. 
     On certain occasions, a distribution center for the retailer or similarly owned retailers will affix the price tag to the product before it is shipped to a specific store or stores. During this procedure, and the time lag for the goods tagged at the distribution center and received at the retailer, the retailers&#39; marketing (pricing) strategy is vulnerable to access by competitors. The potential for unauthorized access to the retailer&#39;s pricing strategy is increased due to the time lag, which could prevent the retailer from being first-in-time to offer a sale of highly competitive goods. 
     Procedures to indicate sales involve manually affixing sales tags over the original price on the price tag to notify consumers of the sale price. Many retailers still use a person to mark down a product for a sale. 
     In all the situations presented above, a tremendous amount of time is lost “tagging” the goods for sale and manually adjusting the price, in practically all instances downward, for the goods on sale. 
     Electronic display systems are known, some of which address certain of the disadvantages discussed above. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,139,149 to Crepeau et al discloses a computer controller connected to a series of hard wired display units. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,500,880 to Gomersall et al discloses a series of remote displays actuated by a computer but does not show individual price tags. Rather it shows pricing displays mounted on the edge of a shelf. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,727,368 to Larson et al discloses a series of remote lock boxes controlled by a central computer through radio frequencies and/or telephone lines. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,888,709 to Revesz et al discloses what appears to be a radio transmitted series of signals directed to remote displays located on shelves to control the pricing on the remote display. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,019,811 to Olson et al discloses a series of remote display units directed from a central system. The display units could not be used for individual price tags. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,121,563 to Connor et al discloses a display device useful for mounting cards or other items. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,572,653 to DeTemple et al discloses a hard wired grid controlled from a central source having a plurality of stations which then send infrared signals to display units or can be used to receive information from shopping carts and the like to indicate shoppers habits. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,715,622 to Giordano, Jr. discloses a shelf mounted display that receives radio frequency information by means of an antenna  24  and then displays the information on a display unit  22 . This system is also intended for mounting on shelves. 
     However, among the known devices and systems, there still remains the inefficient task of mounting the price or display tag for the goods to the item for sale. The inefficient requirement of having to indicate price reductions manually on a price tag is still not addressed by the inventions above. 
     The above devices and systems do not display the sale price directly on the product in an electronic display being remotely controlled. Therefore, removal of a product or products from a specific rack or shelf area indicating the sale price of goods will leave purchasers confused as to the actual sale price of the goods. 
     The above devices and systems also do not permit consumers to view an item on sale displaying the original price and repetitive markdowns, so that the consumer will be encouraged to purchase the goods on sale. 
     It is therefore desirable to have the SKU&#39;s arrive at the retail establishment already having a price tag mounted thereto to reduce substantially the time required to process incoming goods and display same to the purchasing public. This, of course, as mentioned above, impacts tremendously on the merchants profits. The ability of a retailer to be able to handle incoming goods which already have price tags attached, coupled with being able to immediately display the goods without any further effort by the retailer and then to electronically adjust the price of the goods from a remote location so that the consumer sees the successive price adjustments with the goods, is highly advantageous both for its cost-effectiveness and maintaining a good rapport with consumers. 
     SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
     To overcome the disadvantages of known price tag devices and systems in the retail environment, there is provided an electronic price tag adapted for wireless adjustment, which consists of a display panel mounted directly to the product at the point of manufacture or at any point in the chain of commerce up to the actual location of retail sales; a plurality of price display fields on the panel; a receiver/decoder horn mounted to the panel for receiving signals and decoding same to be inputted to the price display fields; and a battery pack to provide power for the elements. 
     Additionally, the electronic price tag of the present invention permits the retailer to maintain in confidence and secrecy price information pertaining to the specific goods, i.e. the goods do not have to be routed through a supplier or other third parties that would affix the price tags to the manufactured items and have knowledge of pricing strategy. The price tag of the present invention substantially reduces, if not eliminates, the undesirable aspect of providing competitors with a way to obtain information regarding the price of particular goods prior to putting the goods on sale. Therefore, a sale price or the lowest price for the goods can be displayed at the last possible moment. 
     An additional feature also calls for the elements of the price tag being constructed and arranged as a composite unit. 
     A further feature calls for providing a price tag with a self actuating adhesive region so that the placard can be immediately mounted to packaging for the goods at the point of manufacture. 
     A still further feature calls for the electronic elements of the price tag according to the present invention being constructed and arranged as a composite unit which is set into a placard or platform of the price tag. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a price tag which is mounted to the goods for sale at point of manufacture for the goods. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide an electronic price tag having a plurality of price display fields wirelessly adjustable from a remote location. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide electronic display fields on a price tag which is constructed and arranged as a composite unit immediately mountable to goods at a point of manufacture for the goods. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a price display tag mounted to the goods at the point of manufacture capable of displaying the price, in addition to display retail indicia, such as the retailer&#39;s name, product name, size, color, bar code, etc. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a price tag which substantially reduces the amount of time necessary to document and inventory goods received by the retailer from the manufacturer. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a price tag which substantially reduces the amount of time necessary to adjust the price tag to indicate price changes for the goods. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a price tag which develops customer loyalty by showing the successive price changes of the goods. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a price tag which is easy to manufacture. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a price tag which is usable in all retail environments with all types of goods. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a price tag which can be chemically fastened to packaging for goods at point of manufacture. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a price tag which responds to signals from radio frequencies, microwaves or other wavelengths which are actuated by computer software at a remote location. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a price tag which permits the retailer to monitor sales and adjust marketing strategy in response to said sales without having to manually adjust each tag. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a price tag and a system therefor which can transmit necessary pricing data to all relevant merchandise. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic price tag and system therefor which can be manipulated from the retailer&#39;s warehouse distribution center to signal the individual price tag at the remote retail locations and notify the individual retailers that such price manipulation has occurred. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic price tag which is cheap enough to be disposable, but which can also he reused by replacing a battery. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic price tag which can be programmed to lock in the lowest price for the product to comply with fair market sales. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic price tag which permits pricing of the product to be completed upon first receiving the product at the retail site. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic price tag that will be accepted by those retailers demanding SKU-s be “pre-priced” or “pre-tagged”. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic price tag which would prevent unauthorized switching of the prices for the product. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a price tag which has a replaceable power means such as a battery pack. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a price tag which is of a construction sufficient to withstand shipment with the goods over great distances. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a price tag which can be constructed of, for example, paper board, cardboard, or plastics. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a price tag which is easily removed from the goods after the goods have been purchased. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a price tag which is also adapted for being mounted to containers for goods at the point of manufacture for the goods. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a price tag which is easy and inexpensive to manufacture. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     For a more complete understanding of the present invention, reference may be had to the following detailed description of the invention taken in conjunction with the drawings herein, of which: 
     FIG. 1 is a front plan view of a first embodiment of an electric price tag according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a side view of the electronic price tag shown in FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 3 is a front plan view of a second embodiment of an electronic price tag according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 4 is a side plan view of the electronic price tag shown FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 5 is side view of a third embodiment of an electronic price tag according to the present invention; 
     FIG.  6 . is a block diagram of elements used in the electronic price tag of the present invention; 
     FIG. 7 is a system block diagram of the operation of the electronic price tag of the present invention; and 
     FIG. 8 is a flow chart of a method using the electronic price tag according to the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     FIGS. 1-5 disclose embodiments of an electronic price tag which is affixed to goods at point of manufacture. The price tag according to the present invention is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 generally as  10 A; in FIGS. 3 and 4 generally as  10 B, and in FIG. 5 generally as  10 C. 
     In FIGS. 1 and 2, the first embodiment of the price tag  10 A is shown. The price tag  10 A includes a panel or platform  12 A of non-conductive material. The material can be made of paper board, cardboard or polymers such as plastic, but does not have to be limited to these materials. It is preferred that the material is of a non-conductive nature so as not to interfere with the transmission and receipt of signals at the price tag  10 A. Some flexibility of the panel  10 A is preferred. 
     The panel  12 A includes a front or display surface  14 A, and a back surface  16 A. The front surface  14 A is conducive to receiving printed indicia thereon such as identifying indicia for the retailer&#39;s name  18 A, product particulars  20 A such as size and color, and a bar code  22 A; and a stock keeping unit (SKU) number  24 A. 
     An aperture  26 A extends completely through the panel  12 A to facilitate attaching the price tag  10 A to the product at the point of manufacture. 
     The panel  12 A can be of any size, shape or color to meet the needs of the product to be sold in the retail environment. 
     An electronic display region  28 A is disposed on the front surface  14 A of the panel  12 A. The electronic display region  28 A includes display fields  30 A,  32 A,  34 A ( 30 A- 34 A). The display fields are preferably liquid crystal displays (LCDs). The fields  30 A- 34 A are electronically connected for separable operation or in conjunction with each other. The display fields  30 A- 34 A are manipulated from a remote location to display a single price or succession of prices for the goods to which the price tag  12 A is attached. 
     A receiver-decoder horn  36 A is mounted to the front surface  14 A of the panel  12 A. The horn  36 A receives wireless signals generated from a remote location and decodes the signals to be displayed in the fields  30 A- 34 A of the display region  28 A. 
     A battery pack  38 A is mounted to the back surface  16 A of the panel  12 A to provide power for the horn  36 A and the display fields  30 A- 34 A of the display region  28 A. The battery employed with the pack can be of the type which is replaceable or it can be disposable along with the rest of the price tag  10 A. 
     The arrangement of the display region  28 A, the horn  36 A, and the battery pack  38 A with respect to the panel  12 A is such that these elements can be chemically fastened or press fit to the panel  12 A. 
     The aperture  26 A extending through the panel  12 A is designed to, for example, receive a plastic lanyard (not shown) to be attached to the goods at the point of manufacture. 
     FIGS. 3-4 disclose a second embodiment of the price tag  10 B of the present invention. Elements for the second embodiment shown in FIGS. 3-4 which are the same as those elements referred to in FIGS. 1 and 2, are referred to by the same reference numeral including the capital letter “B”. Elements in FIGS. 3-4 which corresponds to the same elements in FIGS. 1-2 operate the same unless otherwise indicated. 
     This embodiment can be chemically fastened to the products at point of manufacture, or the containers in which the products are shipped from point of manufacture. The battery pack  38 B is mounted to the back  16 B of the panel  12 B in the manner described with reference to the first embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2. However, in this embodiment, a sheet of adhesive  40  is provided to sandwich the battery pack  38 B between the adhesive sheet  40  and the panel  12 B. This is accomplished by having a front adhesive surface  42  of the adhesive sheet  40  pressed against the back  16 B of the panel  12 B to hold the battery pack  38 B securely to the back surface  16 B of the panel  12 B. 
     In a preferred embodiment, a back surface  44  of the adhesive sheet  40  is also provided with an adhesive to chemically fasten the price tag  10 B to the product at point of manufacture. 
     Another preferred embodiment includes the adhesive sheet  40  having an elongated channel  46  or groove sized and shaped to receive the battery pack  38 B therein. In this manner of construction, when the front surface  42  of the adhesive sheet  40  is adhered to the back  16 B of the panel  12 B, there is presented a uniform and streamlined appearance of the back surface  44  of the sheet  40 . 
     In FIG. 5, still another embodiment of the electronic price tag according to the present invention is shown generally at  10 C. In this manner of construction, elements which are the same as those shown with respect to the embodiment FIGS. 1-2 have the same reference number and include the letter “C”. All elements operate the same unless otherwise indicated. 
     In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the placard or panel for the price tag is shown generally at  12 C. An electronic display unit  50  consists of an LCD display region  28 C, a receiver-decoder horn  36 C and a battery pack  38 C. Electronics for the display unit  50  are shown generally at  52 . The display unit  50  is formed as an integral unit which is, for example, press fit into or sandwiched between a plurality of layers  54 ,  56  of the panel  12 C. Other methods to mount the display unit  50  to the panel  12 C can be employed. 
     Referring to FIGS. 6-7, a diagram  60  (FIG. 6) is shown for operation of the price tag  10 A- 10 C of the present invention. The block diagram  60  pertains to all of the embodiments shown with respect to FIGS. 1-5. All of the elements in the schematic shown in FIG. 6 form part of the electronic price tag  10 A- 10 C. By way of example only, reference numerals will be those used in association with the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-2. 
     At a remote location either in the retail store or at a distribution center for the retail store, manual input  62  shown in FIG. 7, is keyed into a central processing unit (CPU)  64  to store price data for later availability and manipulation. The digital data in the CPU  64  can then be processed by a signal processor into analog data for wireless transmission by a transmitter  66  to one of the embodiments of the electronic price tag  10 A- 10 C. The wireless transmission  68  can be implemented by radio waves, microwaves, etc. In the cluttered environment of a retail store and large warehouses, line of sight wireless transmissions do not provide the necessary reliability, although they can be used to a certain extent. 
     The wireless analog data in the signal  68  is received by the horn  36 A of the electronic price tag  10 A. The horn includes an exciter  70  which is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 the excited  70  includes an antenna and a filter which insures that only those wireless signals specific to the electronic price tag will be received. A standby element is provided which interconnects the exciter  70  with an I.D. identification firmware  74  having the SKU product number. The standby  72  remains passive until a signal  68  is received. The firmware  74  is essentially a microchip encoded with the product data (SKU number) specific to the product to which the electronic price tag  10 A is attached. The firmware  74  is preferably incorporated into the electronic price tag  10 A at the point of manufacture for the product. If a decoder  76  does not recognize the required code or SKU number for the product to activate the electronic price tag for price manipulation, the standby  72  does not actuate the tag electronics. If, on the other hand, the proper code is received, the wireless analog signal  68  is converted to digital data by a signal processor  78  for use with a central processing unit  80 . The CPU transmits digital data to drivers  82 ,  84 ,  86  which correspond to the display fields  30 A,  32 A,  34 A. The drivers select the display field to which the price information will be transmitted to stimulate the LCD fields so that the price selected is displayed in the fields. 
     As shown in FIG. 7, the electronic price tags  10 A- 10 C are controlled from a remote location  88 . The CPU  80  is used to select a particular one of the drivers  82 - 86  for a corresponding one of the displays  30 A- 34 A. 
     If subsequent to the date of entry of the original price, the price for the goods is reduced, the Display “a”  30 A can be maintained, and the second transmission of price data would immediately be displayed at Display “b” ( 32 A). 
     Finally, if the product after a period of time has been reduced to its final sale price, that price will be displayed in Display “c”  34 A. If the price in Display  34 C is the lowest price, the system can be programmed to automatically “lock-in” this price, and no further adjustments to the price will be permitted. 
     In FIG. 8, a flow chart is provided of a method according to the present invention. As discussed above, the cost-effectiveness of the method for the present invention derives from attaching electronic price tags to goods at their point of manufacture. 
     The first procedure in the method according to the present invention is forming  90  the tag to be attached to goods. The construction of the tag includes printing  92  retailer and product information on a surface of the electronic price tag. This information, including entering  94  information about the price, is done during the construction of the tag and may include the I.D. firmware  74  element as discussed above with respect to FIG.  6 . The tag is then attached  96  to the specific product or SKU, after which the SKU or a plurality of the SKU&#39;s are packaged  98  for shipment  100  to a main distribution center for a retailer, or directly to the retailer. 
     At the distribution center for the retail store or the retail store, the package is received  110 , where the package is staged  116  for unpackaging  118  prior to racking  120  of the SKU&#39;s. Immediately upon receiving  110  the package having the SKU or SKI&#39;s therein, the retailer has the option to enter the price  112  or adjust the price  114  of the SKU&#39;s from a remote location, such as a control office of the retailer. This may be necessary due to the unusually long period of time the packaging was in transit  100 , or perhaps supply/demand of the product has been affected, thereby warranting a price change. The price entry  112  and adjustment  114  can be implemented immediately upon receiving  110  the package, i.e. the retailer does not have to remove the products from the packaging. 
     After it has been determined that the price does not require adjustment or the necessary price adjustment has been made, the packages are staged  116  for unpacking  118 . During the staging  116  and unpacking  118  steps, and even after unpacking  118  of the products, the retailer can still manipulate the price as necessary. 
     Thereafter the products are racked  120 , i.e. physically moved to the display racks or shelves in the retail establishment whereupon the consumers will review the products for sale. 
     Each one of the products for sale has attached to it its own individual electronic price tag which, now in the display aisle, can have its particular price adjusted. This is beneficial in that the same type of product may arrive over a period of time, f or example, six months, and it may be desirable to move the earlier shipped inventory under a sales program earlier than the inventory which has arrived more recently. In that regard, the retailer can again, while the product is on the shelf, enter  122  the particular price for the product from the control room of the retail establishment and transmit  124  the price to that particular product for sale. The price is received  126  by the electronic price tag for a particular product and immediately thereafter displays  128  that price selected by the retailer and transmitted from the remote location in the retail establishment. 
     It is understood that the central distribution site for the retail store or the chain of stores can also implement this sort of transmission to manipulate the prices of the goods. 
     After the particular product has been on the shelf for an amount of time deemed unusually long by the retailer, the retailer merely has to go to the control room and adjust  130  the price of the particular product that needs to be adjusted downward. The adjusted price is transmitted  132  to a specific one of the electronic price tags where it is received  134  and displayed  136  on the electronic price tag attached to the product that is to be on sale. 
     The retailer and the central distribution site for the retailer if one is used, can monitor  138  sales activity of the particular product at the reduced price. If it is determined that the price is still not low enough, the procedure begins all over again with the price being adjusted  130  for transmission  132  to the product. This procedure continues until the product is sold  140 . 
     In certain industries, fair market pricing applies. In such a market, the manufacturer or controller of the product sale price under a contract with the retailer, will not permit the product to be sold beneath a certain price. If this is the case, the electronic price tag  10 A- 10 C can be encoded so that the price tag locks at a certain preset price, thereby assuring the retailer that he will not sell the product below the fair market price and breach his contract and the good will that has developed with the manufacturer of the goods. 
     As the prices are adjusted to sell the product, each earlier price under which the product was offered is still displayed. Any number of price display fields can be manufactured into the electronic price tag as needed by the retailer. 
     The electronic price tag can have a multiplicity of electronic price display fields  30 A- 34 A which consumers will see to determine the successive markdowns on the products. 
     The pricing data used with the price tag can be stored in the computer system for subsequent recall for later received goods of a similar nature. 
     In addition, pricing data can be stored and generated automatically at select periods of time throughout the week, month or whatever time period is designated by the retailer, so that there is an orderly procession of price reduction for goods that remain on the selling floor for an unusual period of time. 
     It will be understood that the embodiments described herein are merely exemplary and that a person skilled in the art may make many variations and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. All such modification and variations of the invention are intended to be covered in the appended claims.