Patent Publication Number: US-7900387-B2

Title: Price display apparatus

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2008-0101137 filed with the Korea Intellectual Property Office on Oct. 15, 2008, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present inventive concept relates to a price display apparatus, and more specifically, to a price display apparatus in which a holder is mounted in one side of a label for displaying a price and elastically operated by a separate dedicated key, thereby preventing the label from being stolen. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     In general, a large number of products are arranged on display stands of discount stores, department stores, and convenience stores. Price tags on which the prices of the products are written are attached to upper or lower ends of the display stands. 
     Further, each of the price tags has a barcode printed thereon, the barcode including the price and code information of the corresponding product. When the product at the position is changed or the price of the product is changed, a manager should replace the price tag individually. Therefore, the replacing operation is very annoying, and takes a lot of time. 
     In particular, when many kinds of products are arranged on display stands, the prices of the respective product should be managed individually. Whenever the prices of products are varied, a manager should replace the price tags one by one. Further, since the replacing operation is performed manually, errors may occur. 
     To solve such a problem, an electronic shelf label (ESL) has been recently developed, which can change the price information of a product in real time and can display additional information of the product including price per unit, sale price, regular price, product display position, currency, point information, display quantity and so on. 
     However, since the conventional ESL is disposed on an upper or lower end of a display stand through a simple structure or is attached to the display stand through a magnet attached to one side of the ESL, the ESL can be easily attached to and detached from the display stand. 
     Since the ESL can be easily attached to and detached from the display stand, the ESL may be lost and stolen. In this case, a financial loss may occur. 
     Further, a wireless communication chip for radio frequency (RF) communication is mounted in the conventional ESL. Therefore, when an attachment such as magnet or metal is used, the communication may be interrupted. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An advantage of the present invention is that it provides a price display apparatus in which a holder is mounted in one side of a label for displaying a price and elastically operated by a separate dedicated key, thereby preventing the label from being stolen 
     Additional aspect and advantages of the present general inventive concept will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the general inventive concept. 
     According to an aspect of the invention, a price display apparatus comprises a plate-shaped label having a price displaying unit; and a holder coupled to one side of the label and having a fixing portion protruding outward from the label. 
     The label may be an electronic shelf label (ELS) having a radio frequency (RF) chip through which wireless data communication can be performed. 
     The price displaying unit may be a liquid crystal display (LCD). 
     The holder may include a body portion of which a front portion is radially opened; an elasticity maintenance portion of which one end is inserted into the body portion; an elastic element which surrounds the elasticity maintenance portion and is mounted inside the body portion; and a fixing portion which is connected to a support portion extending from a rear side of the elasticity maintenance portion and of which an upper end is partially exposed to the outside of the label. 
     The body portion may include a plurality of divided pieces which are divided in such a manner that a hole is provided in the center thereof, and a cylindrical portion which extends from the divided pieces and has a lock protrusion formed therein. 
     The divided pieces may be divided into three or four equal parts. 
     The elasticity maintenance portion may have a key contact portion formed on the front end thereof and a lock portion provided behind the key contact portion. 
     The holder may be formed of a synthetic resin material having an elastic force. 
     According to another aspect of the invention, a price display apparatus comprises a plate-shaped label having a price displaying unit; a holder coupled to one side of the label and having a fixing portion protruding outward from the label; and a dedicated key inserted into a hole of the holder exposed to the one side of the label so as to elastically move the fixing portion. 
     The dedicated key may include a handle, a push stick formed at a front side of the handle, and a support portion formed between the push stick and the handle, the support portion having a polygonal step shape. 
     The price display apparatus may further comprise a label fixture having upper and lower rails through which the label is coupled to a front side thereof, and a hanging portion which is formed in a rear side thereof and through which the label fixture is disposed on a display stand. 
     The label fixture may have coupling grooves formed on the upper and lower rails. 
     The label may have a protrusion formed on the lower surface thereof. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       These and/or other aspects and advantages of the present general inventive concept will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which: 
         FIG. 1  is a plan view of a price display apparatus according to the present inventive concept; 
         FIGS. 2 and 3  are partial cross-sectional views of the price display apparatus according to the present inventive concept; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a dedicated key adopted in the price display apparatus according to the present inventive concept; and 
         FIG. 5  is a diagram showing a state before the price display apparatus according to the present inventive concept is mounted on a label fixture. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present general inventive concept, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below in order to explain the present general inventive concept by referring to the figures. 
       FIG. 1  is a plan view of a price display apparatus according to the present inventive concept.  FIGS. 2 and 3  are partial cross-sectional views of the price display apparatus according to the present inventive concept.  FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a dedicated key adopted in the price display apparatus according to the present inventive concept. 
     As shown in the drawings, the price display apparatus  100  includes a plate-shaped label  110  and a holder  120  coupled to one side of the label  110 . 
     The label  110  is formed of a plate-shaped synthetic resin material having a predetermined thickness and includes a price displaying unit  111  which is formed on one surface of the label  110  so as to display price information, a barcode, and product information. 
     The label  100  has a radio frequency (RF) chip (not shown) mounted therein. Further, the label  100  is an electronic shelf label (ESL) which uses price information transmitted and received through the RF chip so as to display a price which can be applied in real time through the price displaying unit  111  and to manage the price information of a corresponding product in real time. 
     Any device which can display a price in an electronic manner may be used as the price displaying unit  111 . For example, a liquid crystal display (LCD) may be used. 
     The holder  120  mounted in the label  110  includes a body portion  121  having a plurality of divided pieces  121   a , an elasticity maintenance portion  122  of which one end is inserted into the body portion  121 , and a fixing portion  124  connected to the elasticity maintenance portion  122  through a support portion  123 . 
     The holder  120  may be mounted at one side of the label  110  such that the front sides of the divided pieces  121   a  of the body portion  121  are exposed to the side surface of the label  110 , and the fixing portion  124  protrudes from any one of the top and bottom surfaces of the label  110 . 
     The body portion  121  of the holder  120  further includes a cylindrical portion  121   b  extending from the divided pieces  121   a . The divided pieces  121   a  may be divided into three or four equal parts so as to be radially opened. In a state in which the divided pieces  121   a  are not opened, a hole  121   c  into which a dedicated key  200  is to be inserted is provided in the center of the divided pieces  121   a.    
     When the dedicated key  200  is inserted into the hole  121   c , the divided pieces  121   a  are radially opened. The construction and operation of the dedicated key  200  will be described below. 
     An elastic element  125  such as a spring is mounted in the cylindrical portion  121   b  of the body portion  121 , and the elasticity maintenance portion  122  is inserted into the elastic element  124  so as to maintain an elastic force. The body portion  121  has a lock protrusion  121   d  provided at the front side thereof. 
     The elasticity maintenance portion  122  extends from an end of the support portion  123  connected to the fixing portion  124  so as to be inserted into the cylindrical portion  121   a . The elasticity maintenance portion  122  may include a key contact portion  122   a  which comes in contact with an insertion end of the dedicated key  200  and is formed at the front end thereof, and a lock portion  122   b  provided behind the key contact portion  122   a.    
     The support portion  123  is formed at the rear side of the elasticity maintenance portion  122  so as to extend to the outside of the cylindrical portion  121   b . The support portion  123  is repeatedly bent and straightened by an external force applied to the elasticity maintenance portion  122  and a repulsive force, respectively. The fixing portion  124  is provided at an end of the support portion  123  so as to partially protrude to the outside of the label  110 . Further, the fixing portion  124  is elastically moved through the support portion  123 . 
     The holder  120  mounted in the label  110  may be operated by the dedicated key  200  as shown in  FIG. 4 . The dedicated key  200  includes a handle  210  having a push stick  220  formed at the front side thereof, and a support portion  230  formed between the push stick  220  and the handle  210 . The support portion  230  has a polygonal step shape. 
     The construction of the dedicated key  200  and the operation of the holder  120  using the dedicated key  200  will be described in more detail. 
     The push stick  220  formed at the front side of the dedicated key  200  is inserted into the hole  121   c  of the divided pieces  121   a  exposed to one side of the label  110  so as to come in contact with the key contact portion  122   a  of the elasticity maintenance portion  122  inserted into the cylindrical portion  121   a.    
     An external force is applied through the handle of the dedicated key  200  so as to move the elasticity maintenance portion  122  to the rear side. At this time, the support portion  230  of the dedicated key  200  comes in contact with the inner circumferential surfaces of the divided pieces  121   a  so as to radially open the divided pieces  121   a  while sliding along the inner circumferential surfaces of the divided pieces  121   a . Then, the push stick  200  is moved into the cylindrical portion  121   b  while pushing the key contact portion  122   a.    
     When the elasticity maintenance portion  122  retreats inside the cylindrical portion  121   b , the support portion  123  connected to the elasticity maintenance portion  122  is bent downward. Then, as shown in  FIG. 3 , the fixing portion  124  having protruded to the outside of the label  110  is elastically moved into the label  110 . 
     In this state, when it is determined that the label  110  is disposed at a desired position, the external force applied to the dedicated key  200  coupled to the divided pieces  121   a  is released to separate the dedicated key  200  from the divided pieces  121   a.    
     When the dedicated key  200  is separated, the elasticity maintenance portion  122  is elastically moved toward the divided pieces  121   a  by the repulsive force of the elastic element  125 , and the support portion  123  is straightened. Then, the fixing portion  124  protrudes from the top surface of the label  110 . 
     At this time, as the lock portion  122   b  of the elasticity maintenance portion  122  is locked and fixed to the lock protrusion  121   d  within the cylindrical portion  121   b , the elasticity maintenance portion  122  is prevented from advancing. 
     Further, when the dedicated key  200  is removed, the elasticity maintenance portion  122  is moved toward the front side, and the divided pieces  121   a  return to the original position. Then, the key contact portion  122   a  is locked to the front side of the lock protrusion  121   d  formed in the cylindrical portion  121   b . Therefore, the operation of the holder  120  can be performed only through the dedicated key  200 . 
     Further, since the holder  120  is formed of synthetic resin having an elastic force, the RF communication of the RF chip mounted in the label  100  can be prevented from being interrupted. 
     Meanwhile, when the label  110  having the holder  120  mounted therein is fixed to a display stand, a separate fixture may be used. For example, a label fixture shown in  FIG. 5  may be used. 
       FIG. 5  is a diagram showing a state before the price display apparatus according to the present inventive concept is mounted on the label fixture. As shown in  FIG. 5 , the label  110  having the holder  120  mounted in one side thereof is coupled to the label fixture  300  disposed on a display stand  400 . 
     The label fixture  300  includes an upper rail  310 , a lower rail  320 , and a hanging portion  330  formed in the rear side thereof. 
     The label fixture  300  is disposed on the display stand  400  through the hanging portion  330 , and the label  110  is mounted between the upper and lower rails  310  and  320 . As described above, the label  110  is mounted through the dedicated key  200  such that the price displaying unit  111  faces the front side of the label fixture  300 . 
     The upper and lower rails  310  and  320  have coupling grooves  311  and  321  formed thereon, respectively. The label  110  may be mounted on the label fixture  300  by inserting the elastically-moved fixing portion  124  into the coupling groove  311 . 
     Meanwhile, a protrusion  126  may be formed on the lower surface of the label  110 . The protrusion  126  may be inserted into the coupling groove  321  such that the label  110  is reliably coupled. 
     According to the price display apparatus of the present inventive concept, as the holder which is operated by only the dedicated key is mounted in one side of the label having the price displaying unit provided thereon, the label can be easily attached to and detached from the label fixture, and cannot be attached and detached by other tools except for the dedicated key. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the label from being stolen and lost. 
     Although a few embodiments of the present general inventive concept have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the general inventive concept, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims and their equivalents.