Method for locating electronic shelf labels

Abstract

A method for locating an electronic shelf label of an electronic shelf label system whose location is unknown, the shelf label being implemented in particular as an electronic shelf label display, wherein the system comprises a plurality of access points of known location, which are each located at different positions at a distance from a shelf, wherein the shelf comprises at least one shelf rail, and wherein one of the shelf rails comprises at least one electronic shelf label and an electronic supply device located at the shelf rail, the shelf label being designed to be contactlessly supplied with energy, the supply device being designed for contactlessly supplying energy to the at least one shelf label, wherein the method comprises the following method steps: determining the position of the electronic supply device relative to the access point of known location by using ultra-wideband radio communication between the access point and the supply device.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for positioning an electronic shelf label. Background Art

[0002] Such a method is known from the international patent application with the publication number WO 2015 / 172822 A1. In this method, in a group of electronic shelf labels as electronic shelf label displays, shelf label displays of unknown location are located with the aid of a group of shelf label displays of known location, wherein the shelf labels are referred to in technical terms as "Electronic Shelf Labels", ESL for short, and are radio-associated (by initial registration) with a unique access point. In this case, the shelf label displays of unknown location are located only by evaluating the generated, transmitted and also received positioning signals in the group of shelf label displays. In this case, the shelf label displays of known location form a reference system in which the shelf label displays of unknown location are sought.

[0003] The method described is very capable. However, the quality of the positioning result ultimately perceived by the system user is related to the framework conditions: namely, the position of the shelf label display whose location in space is known must not be changed. A situation deviating from the framework conditions can result, for example, when the entire shelf together with the shelf label display installed thereon is moved from one location to another (new) location on the premises of an enterprise, wherein the new location is still within the radio range of the access point with which the relevant (coordinated) shelf label display is radio-associated. If the new position of the relevant shelf label display is not subsequently corrected manually in the electronic ESL management system of the enterprise, the positioning result achievable with the aid of the shelf label display is essentially useless or misleading.

[0004] The present invention proposes an object of providing an improved method for positioning electronic shelf labels in an ESL system, wherein the above-mentioned problems are overcome. Summary of the invention

[0005] The object is achieved by a method according to the invention for locating an electronic shelf label of an electronic shelf label system whose location is unknown. The subject of the invention is therefore a method for locating an electronic shelf label of an electronic shelf label system whose location is unknown, wherein the electronic shelf label is implemented in particular as an electronic shelf label display, wherein the system has a plurality of access points of known location, which are each located at different positions at a certain distance from the shelf, wherein the shelf has at least one shelf rail, and wherein one of the shelf rails has at least one electronic shelf label and an electronic supply device located at the shelf rail, wherein the shelf label is designed to be contactlessly supplied with energy, and wherein the supply device is designed to contactlessly supply energy to at least one shelf label, wherein the method has the following method steps: determining the position of the electronic supply device relative to the access point of known location by using ultra-wideband radio communication between the access point and the supply device.

[0006] The measures according to the invention provide the following advantages: Unlike known measures, the determination of the location for one, but also for a plurality of shelf tags, is no longer dependent on the knowledge of the absolute positions of other shelf tags, which are used as static anchor points for the location determination. Instead, dynamic anchor points are now used, which are implemented by the supply devices. These dynamic anchor points can change their position in space over time, for example by shifting shelves or also by re-sorting shelf bottoms, to which shelf rails are fixed. Therefore, before the location of the shelf tag is determined, the location of the supply device is first determined, and based on this, i.e. with respect to the position of the supply device, the position of the shelf tag is determined or defined. In this case, the following applies in the end: the shelf tag whose position can be determined or defined is located at the shelf rail at which the respective relevant supply device is arranged or positioned. Therefore, as soon as the respective position of the supply device is determined, the position of the shelf tag supplied by means of the relevant supply device is actually automatically determined, since the shelf tag can only be positioned at the relevant shelf rail. Since a plurality of shelf rails are usually installed on the shelf side by side and / or above and below each other and the size (length) of the shelf rail (e.g. the company's server) and also the location at which the supply device is installed on the shelf rail are known, it is also possible to determine the orientation of the shelf rail and thus the orientation of the shelf rail in an automatic manner (e.g. with the aid of the mentioned server) by determining the positions of a plurality of supply devices installed on the shelf, thereby actually defining the position of the corresponding shelf label within the spatial area where the corresponding shelf rail is located.

[0007] Focusing on determining the location of individual supply devices has also proven to be very effective, since a single supply device can supply a relatively large number of shelf tags, for example up to 10, 20 or significantly more. As discussed above, this allows the location of a plurality of related shelf tags to be defined in the simplest manner, which significantly accelerates the physical location method compared to other methods that support individual communication between related shelf tags and access points.

[0008] Ultra-wideband radio communication is understood to be radio communication based on ultra-wideband technology (UWB). The most important feature is the use of a very large frequency range with a bandwidth of at least 500 MHz or at least 20% of the arithmetic mean of the lower and upper frequencies of the used frequency range.

[0009] Further particularly advantageous embodiments and developments of the invention emerge from the following description.

[0010] Such electronic shelf labels can provide various functionalities or fulfill functions. For example, the shelf label can be configured or correspondingly constructed for detecting environmental parameters, such as detecting temperature or humidity, or configured or correspondingly constructed as an input element for receiving user input interaction (e.g. detecting fingerprints or keystrokes), or also configured or correspondingly constructed as a display medium for presenting information to the user, i.e. as a shelf label display. In any case, the shelf label is constructed so that it can be attached to a physical shelf rail and supplied with energy there in the method and method described in detail later.

[0011] In this method, the position of an electronic supply device is determined based on the determination of the distance between the supply device and each of the access points involved using corresponding ultra-wideband radio communication. Here, "time of flight" measurements and, if necessary, "angle of arrival" determinations are used. This allows the location of the respective supply device to be determined very accurately by means of measures such as triangulation.

[0012] After the location of the supply device has been determined, at least one electronic shelf label installed at the shelf is identified during its energy supply.

[0013] The electronic device of the shelf label is activated by the energy supply so that the shelf label is ready for its functionality. Subsequently, while the shelf label is being supplied with energy, the shelf label is identified by querying its unique identifier. The query is also performed by the supply device. The identifier determined in this way is provided in the supply device for retrieval or forwarded in other communications (wired or radio-based) for further processing.

[0014] The contactless energy transmission is carried out in such a way that for this purpose at least one first conductor loop is used which is formed at the shelf rail and is connected to the supply device with its two loop terminals and is used for inductive coupling with a second conductor loop which corresponds to it (is located in the vicinity of it) at the location of the shelf tags. If the conductor loop extends along the entire length of the shelf rail, all shelf tags located along the shelf rail can be identified in this way and it can be determined that all these identified shelf tags are located in the vicinity of the position of the supply device and are located there in each case along the shelf rail. In this case, the shelf tags can be programmed so that they output their identifiers (once or more) at randomly selected times within a time window in order to ensure individual reception in the supply device. In such a contactless transmission, anti-collision methods, such as are known from RFID technology, can also be used in order to ensure individual reception in the supply device.

[0015] However, in order to determine the position of the shelf label along the shelf rail (more precisely / accurately), a plurality of first conductor loops are preferably used, which are positioned at different locations along the shelf rail. A spatial resolution along the shelf rail, i.e., along its longitudinal extension, can be achieved with the aid of the first conductor loops. The accuracy of the location determination is dependent on the number and length of the zones covered with the aid of the individual first conductor loops.

[0016] By means of the supply device, a locally limited, i.e. individual, energy supply is performed at the location of the respective first conductor loop if a shelf tag is positioned at the location of the respective first conductor loop. Since the supply device is informed of how many first conductor loops are fastened to its shelf rail and in what order and / or at what spacings (measured from its own position or measured from one conductor loop to the next) the first conductor loops occur along the shelf rail, the position of the respective shelf tag that can be activated or identified by the energy supply can be determined along the shelf rail.

[0017] The contactless energy supply to be performed by means of the supply device can be based on proprietary solutions or standardized technologies, such as RFID technology. However, it is particularly preferred that an NFC interface is used on the shelf tag side and on the supply device side for contactless energy supply, in particular also for identification. In this context, the first conductor loop formed at the shelf rail forms a component of the NFC interface of the supply device. The same also applies in the case of a plurality of such first conductor loops, wherein the supply device is preferably designed in this case for individually using the corresponding first conductor loops, for example in order to use the first conductor loops sequentially one after the other. The supply device is preferably designed here for selectively (or also sequentially) switching (multiplexing) between the first conductor loops, so that only one individual first conductor loop is always used. For example, this switching can be realized by means of a so-called "analog switch" known in the field of electronics.

[0018] Here, RFID stands for “Radio Frequency Identification.” This technology is described in detail in the ISO / IEC 18000 standard, for example.

[0019] Here, NFC stands for “Near Field Communication.” This technology is described in detail, for example, in the standards ISO / IEC 13157, -16353, -22536, -28361, etc.

[0020] Of course, in the case of the NFC interface in question, not only can the position of the electronic shelf label be determined, but also the image content to be reproduced can be defined by means of the shelf label (implemented as a shelf label display), i.e. transmitted to the electronics of the shelf label. This is preferably done during the time slices during which the shelf label is supplied with energy, i.e. its electronics are active, wherein corresponding commands and / or image content data are transmitted to the shelf label. In order to display static image information by means of the display unit also during the time slices without energy supply and during which the electronics of the shelf label are inactive, the shelf label display has an energy-saving display unit, in particular a display unit based on electronic ink or electronic paper technology or the like. The term essentially represents the principle of an electrophoretic display, in which, for example, positively charged white particles and negatively charged black particles are contained in a transparent viscous polymer. By briefly applying a voltage to electrodes, the black particles are placed in front of the white particles in the viewing direction, or vice versa, wherein the medium consisting of particles and polymer is arranged between the electrodes. This arrangement is then maintained for a relatively long time (e.g. several weeks) without any energy supply. If the display is segmented accordingly, for example, letters, numbers or images with relatively high resolution can be realized for displaying the information. However, such reflective screens can also be realized with the aid of other technologies, which are known, for example, under the terms "electrowetting" or "MEMS". For example, as described above, the screen can be designed for black and white display, grayscale display, black and white red or black and white yellow display. Future developments that realize full-color or multicolor display should also be included. Such screens are more generally reflective, i.e. passive, non-self-luminous screens, in which the information display - relatively static - is based on the fact that light generated by an external (artificial or natural) light source is incident on the screen and is reflected from there towards the observer.

[0021] The shelf label or its display unit is supplied with energy on the one hand and data on the other hand by means of the NFC interface. Thus, during the supply of energy via the NFC interface, data can also be transmitted via the NFC interface, which data are processed by the display unit in such a way that the image content of the screen of the display unit is changed. After the image content change is completed, corresponding status information can also be output by the display unit via the NFC interface, which status information represents a successful change of the image content. After the image content change is completed and, if necessary, also after the output of the status information, the energy supply can be terminated via the NFC interface, after which the image content of the screen remains unchanged until the next desired change.

[0022] The use of the proposed technology primarily allows the realization of shelf labels without their own energy supply, such as batteries or accumulators, both of which are relatively expensive. For the purpose of maintaining or renewing the batteries or accumulators, conventional shelf labels must also be designed so that the energy storage can be replaced. If necessary, in the physical shelf label only a capacitor is used for short-term, temporary smoothing or stabilization of the internal supply voltage. The shelf label is thus designed so that its electronics, in particular its electronic control, is only always active for communication or for updating the screen content when it is supplied by means of an external electronic supply. The housing can be completely and permanently encapsulated, since it is no longer necessary to replace the energy storage, so that the housing can only be opened for recycling (for example using special tools).

[0023] Thus, a shelf label can be realized which is reduced to the few absolutely necessary electronic components and thus also an extremely inexpensive shelf label. The extremely reduced shelf label has only basic functionality, such as a standardized NFC communication with a standardized energy supply device during the NFC communication. The object can be achieved with the aid of a simple NFC controller. The updating of the screen of the energy-saving display unit and the status reporting thereon are not done directly by the shelf label in the communication with the access point, as is the case in known systems, but rather by an intermediate supply device which, for its part, can be contacted with the access point via a suitable (and essentially freely selectable) radio communication method.

[0024] A time slot communication method can be used for radio communication with the access point, in particular a proprietary time slot communication method as known from WO 2015 / 124197, pages 2 to 4, the specific disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference ("incorporated by reference"). However, a communication protocol based on a standard or specification such as ZigBee, Bluetooth or WiFi can also be used for radio communication.

[0025] Accordingly, in addition to the radio module providing the UWB radio capability, at least one further radio module can be provided in the access point and also in the supply device, which further radio module provides one of the proposed radio technologies. Each individual radio module can have its own antenna configuration, which consists of a single antenna or a plurality of individual antennas and contains the associated electronics. This allows the UWB radio communication to be used only for location determination, while in parallel, the communication is freely provided via another radio module for controlling the shelf labels via the supply device.

[0026] In order to finally locate the supply device absolutely at the premises of an enterprise, such as a supermarket, the position-related results of the ultra-wideband radio communication are transmitted by wire or by radio from the supply device or from the access point involved to a data processing device for the location determination of the supply device(s). The position-related results can be the determined distances between the communication partners (supply device and access point) or also the signal transit times during the communication between the communication partners, from which the position of the respective supply device relative to the access point is then determined, from which the absolute position of the respective supply device can then be determined due to the knowledge of the precise position of the access point involved, which becomes more and more precise the more access points involved.

[0027] Furthermore, the identity of the shelf tag identified by the supply device during its energy supply is communicated to the data processing device and in the data processing device at least the location of the relevant shelf tag is defined relative to the previously determined location of the relevant supply device. Here, as mentioned, for example, the size (longitudinal extension) of the corresponding shelf rail can be taken into account, which ultimately defines the permissible limit of the distance between the identified shelf tag and the supply device supplying the shelf tag at the relevant shelf rail.

[0028] However, anchor points in the form of supply devices that are variable in their position, i.e. dynamic, can also be used for other purposes in the company's premises. Therefore, according to another aspect, the position of a movable object can be defined at least by ultra-wideband radio communication between it and at least one of the supply devices. The movable object can be, for example, a shopping cart, a shopping basket or a customer's smartphone or the like. All of the objects can be equipped with an ultra-wideband radio system. The measure can be used to determine whether a movable object, ultimately a user of the object, is staying in front of a shelf and in particular in front of which shelf it is located.

[0029] Here, the movement path of the object can be determined by repeatedly defining the position of the movable object. The measure can be used to make a prediction of the time point at which the user appears in front of a specific shelf or a specific shelf track or also to draw conclusions about the duration of the user's stay in front of the shelf or shelf track.

[0030] In this context, it has also proven to be advantageous to present information corresponding to the position of the object via a screen of the object or via a shelf label positioned near the object, i.e. via a display unit of the shelf label. This allows the user or customer to be provided with information in a location-specific or also behavior-specific manner. The functionality can be triggered, for example, by the object passing a distance threshold to a supply device or being within a zone for longer than a predefined time span, the zone being defined by the distance to a single shelf label display or to a plurality of such supply devices.

[0031] In summary, the invention realizes a two-stage positioning of electronic shelf labels, wherein the position of one or more supply devices is first determined in a first step, and in a second step the position of the shelf label is defined by the supply device within the scope of the energy supply. However, the two method steps can also occur in the opposite order. It is not important here whether the supply device always remains stationary at the same position, because its relative position with respect to the access point installed at a fixed position can always be determined or updated again and mainly relatively quickly by means of the ultra-wideband radio communication used. Thus, a plurality of supply devices in the company's premises realize dynamically changeable anchor points in their own positions for positioning the shelf labels respectively associated therewith (by which the energy is supplied).

[0032] In summary, the supply device implements a combined energy supply and communication supply for the shelf tags fixed to the relevant shelf track in the relevant shelf track. The supply device is therefore configured or constructed for local contactless energy transmission and also local contactless communication with the shelf tags fixed to the shelf track. Such a supply device can also be referred to as a shelf track control device or also a shelf track controller, because it controls all activities of the shelf tags installed at the relevant shelf track, including the display behavior or other functionalities mentioned at the beginning, the communication behavior and also the corresponding energy supply.

[0033] The electronics of the various devices of the system and also their interfaces etc. can be realized in a discrete as well as integrated manner by means of various passive and active electronic components. In this case, preferably a microprocessor or microcontroller with corresponding peripheral components is used, on which the software for providing the various functionalities is processed. So-called ASICs (application-specific integrated circuits) can also be used.

[0034] These and other aspects of the invention emerge from the drawings discussed below. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0035] The present invention is explained again in more detail below based on an embodiment with reference to the drawings, but the invention is not limited to the embodiment. In this case, the same components are provided with the same reference numerals in different drawings. In a schematic manner:

[0036] Figure 1 An electronic shelf label system according to the present invention is shown;

[0037] Figure 2 A block diagram showing a shelf label display;

[0038] Figure 3 A block diagram showing a "smart" rack track with a supply device;

[0039] Figure 4 A front view of the rack rail is shown;

[0040] Figure 5A-5B shows the time-varying arrangement of such rack rails;

[0041] Figure 6 A circuit board showing a "smart" shelf track;

[0042] Figure 7 Show according to Figure 6 Circuit boards integrated into shelf rails;

[0043] Figure 8 Shown is a "smart" rack rail with directly integrated conductor loops. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0044] exist Figure 1 , a portion of a shelf label system 1 in an enterprise location is shown, which comprises a plurality of identically designed, i.e. NFC-enabled, electronic shelf label displays 2, which are fixed to four "intelligent" shelf rails 3 arranged side by side (in rows along the width of a shelf 9), wherein the shelf rails 3 are essentially visible in a front view. Each shelf label 3 has an electronic supply device 4 for contactlessly supplying energy to the shelf label display 2 and for contactlessly communicating with the energy-supplied shelf label display 2, wherein this is achieved by means of NFC technology. A data processing device is also shown, which is implemented by means of a server 5, which is wired to an identically designed access point 6, wherein the access point 6 is located at different locations in the enterprise location and the server knows the locations.

[0045] The supply device 4 shown is in radio contact with, for example, the leftmost access point 6 via a first radio signal F1, to which it is logically associated. This allows the image content of the shelf label displays 2 throughout the entire company to be changed from the server 5 and, if necessary, also relevant status information can be queried from the shelf label displays 2 and transmitted to the server 5.

[0046] The shelf label displays 2 of other shelves of shelf 9 (not shown here) can also be logically associated in groups with other access points 6 shown, so that each access point 6 radio supplies a subset of the entirety of the shelf label displays 2 of the company's premises.

[0047] Each access point 6 has two radio modules 6A and 6B, wherein these two modules are indicated only schematically in the respective access point 6 in a manner separated from one another by a dividing line.

[0048] The first radio module 6A communicates by means of a first radio signal F1 and is used to define the image content. Here, the first radio module uses ultra-wideband radio technology (in technical terms, it is called UWB technology, where UWB stands for "ultra-wideband") and its electronics and also its antenna configuration (both of which are not shown in detail) are designed to implement the technology.

[0049] The second radio module 6B is designed as a supply transmitter and selectively supplies energy to the supply device 4 by sending a directional second radio signal F2. For this purpose, the second radio module 6B has, in addition to its electronics, a plurality of antennas, by means of which the direction of the energy transmission (ultimately the propagation of the second radio signal F2 sent at, for example, 5 Watt) can be set relatively accurately, so that the energy to be transmitted reaches the selected supply device 4 precisely. This energy transmission technology is known under the term "WiFi Power", and the electronics and antenna configuration of the second radio module 6B are designed accordingly.

[0050] The “WiFi Power” functionality, ie, second radio module 6B, can be integrated in access point 6 or implemented as a separate component / separate device which is coupled to first radio module 6A, for example, in terms of control technology.

[0051] Each shelf rail 3 is mounted at the front edge of an individual shelf bottom 8 on this shelf bottom 8. The four illustrated shelf bottoms 8 all belong to a shelf 9 which is only schematically indicated. Various products can be presented on the shelf bottoms 8, but these are not shown in the present case.

[0052] exist Figure 1 In the visualization of FIG. 1 , reference numerals 2 and 4 are drawn only for the uppermost rack rail configuration showing four rack rails 3 and are largely omitted for the three underlying configurations of rack rails 3 for the sake of simplicity of the illustration.

[0053] also, Figure 1 A shopping cart 7 is shown, which is moved to the left past a shelf 9. The shopping cart 7 has a mobile radio unit 21 designed for ultra-wideband radio communication. The radio unit 21 has, for example, battery-operated radio electronics and an antenna arrangement connected thereto (neither of which is shown) and establishes a UWB radio connection with a supply device 4 located in its range by means of a first radio signal F1, which can determine the distance to the radio unit 21 based on the first radio signal F1.

[0054] In normal operation, referred to as normal mode of the system 1 , all shelf label displays 2 are radio-associated with the leftmost access point 6 as described above and changes of the image content are controlled via said leftmost arranged access point 6 by means of a first radio signal F1 .

[0055] In contrast, the situation is different when searching for a shelf label display 2. In this case, which is referred to as the positioning mode of the system 1, a plurality of, in the present case all four, access points 6 are used and the distance between the respective supply device 4 and the respective access point 6 is determined by means of a communication with, for example, the uppermost left installed supply device 4 by means of a first radio signal F1, wherein each access point 6 now in turn exchanges the first radio signal with the supply device 4 by UWB radio communication. The distances thus determined are transmitted to a server via a wired network (LAN) and the server 5 determines the spatial position of the relevant supply device 4, knowing the absolute positions of the four access points 6.

[0056] Below, in Figure 2 A block diagram of a shelf label display 2 is discussed in .

[0057] according to Figure 2 The block diagram of FIG. 1 shows a first NFC interface 11 with its coupling coil 12, where NFC stands for “Near Field Communication”. When the coupling coil 12 is moved in close proximity to one of the conductor loops L1-L5, an inductive coupling with other NFC-capable devices, in the present case the supply device 4, specifically with the conductor loops L1 to L5 formed on the shelf rail 3, can be established with the aid of the coupling coil 12 (see Figure 3 ), which is the case when the shelf label display 2 is attached to the shelf rail 3. During the inductive coupling, a first supply voltage VCC1 for operating the entire shelf label display 2 relative to the first reference potential GND1 is generated by means of the first NFC interface 11, which activates the electronics of the shelf label display 2 so that contactless bidirectional communication of data D can also be performed via its first NFC interface 11. The electronics also include an NFC controller, which provides the entire NFC functionality, but is not shown in detail here, but is integrated into the first NFC interface 11.

[0058] The block diagram also shows a display unit 13 connected to the first NFC interface 11, which is divided into a screen control device implemented as an electronic paper display controller 14 and a screen connected thereto and thus controllable therewith, implemented as an electronic paper display screen 15. With the help of the controller 14, the received data D are interpreted, and the image content of the screen 15 is changed accordingly if necessary, or status information in the form of data D is also output to the supply device 4 via the NFC interface 11.

[0059] According to the following Figure 3 Discussion basis Figure 1 A block diagram of the shelf rail 3, in particular a block diagram of the supply device 4.

[0060] Figure 3 The supply device 4 shown in FIG. 1 is designed for its own contactless energy supply and also for the contactless energy supply of the shelf label display 2. For its own supply, the supply device has a supply receiver 23 suitable for receiving the second radio signal F2, which is equipped with an antenna arrangement 24 (which can have multiple antennas) and an electronic device, which is designed to receive the second radio signal F2 and store the energy transmitted by means of it in an internal electrical energy storage device 25 (rechargeable battery, storage battery) and generate a second supply voltage VCC2 relative to the second reference potential GND2.

[0061] During operation, the supply device 4 queries and monitors the charge state of the energy storage device 25, for example, by means of its control unit 20. As soon as the charge state falls below a certain level, the control unit 20 can request (re)charging by means of a first radio signal F1. The request is received by the access point 6, to which the supply device 4 is logically (radio-associated). Since the exact geographical location (three-dimensional coordinates) of each supply device 4 and its unique identifier are known in the system 1 (for example in the server 5), because this location was previously determined, for example, by means of a positioning mode, the relevant access point 6 sends a second radio signal F2 in a precisely directed manner toward the location of the respective supply device 4 requesting charging. The second radio signal F2 is received there and the energy transmitted by means of it is used to charge the internal energy storage device 25 there.

[0062] exist Figure 3 In the visualization, the circuit board 17 is also shown, for the sake of clarity. Figure 1 The circuit board 17 carries five conductor loops L1 to L5, wherein the conductor loops in the present case are formed with a plurality of loops or turns, which are indicated in each case by means of the symbol of an electrical coil. The circuit board 17 is integrated into the relatively flat structure of the shelf rail 3. The supply device 4 can be connected to the circuit board 17 by welding or via a cable or a plug, so that the conductor loops L1 to L5 are electrically contacted via their loop terminals C1 to C5.

[0063] Corresponding to the position of the corresponding conductor loops L1 to L5, the shelf label display 2 located there is also indicated. Here, the electrical connection of the loop terminals C1 to C5 to the supply device 4, but in particular to the electronics of its (second) NFC interface 18 is also specifically shown. In the presence of an inductive coupling with the first NFC interface 11 of the shelf label display 2, the second NFC interface 18 is designed for contactless transmission of electrical energy to the shelf label display 2 and for bidirectional contactless communication of data with the shelf label display 2 activated by the energy transmission. In this case, the conductor loops L1 to L5 are multiplexed by means of the NFC interface 18 specially designed for this purpose, so that only one of the conductor loops L1 to L5 is always used. For this purpose, the known electronics of an "analog switch" can be used.

[0064] The supply device 4 also has an access point communication interface 19, which is configured to communicate with Figure 1 The access point 6 shown in FIG. 1 performs radio-based communication. The access point communication interface has an antenna configuration 19A, which can also be constructed from a plurality of individual antennas, and an electronic device, by means of which a first radio signal F1 can be received or transmitted. In particular, the access point communication interface 19 is designed for ultra-wideband radio communication.

[0065] The control unit 20 is used to control the internal processes of the shelf label display 2 and the energy supply and the communication with the shelf label display 2, as well as the communication with the access point 6. The control unit is implemented by means of a microcontroller, which is connected to the second NFC interface 18 and the access point communication interface 19 and the supply receiver 23 via a bidirectional data bus.

[0066] exist Figure 4 , a more detailed view of the shelf rail 3 shown in the shelf 9 at the top left is shown. Only the left edge of the circuit board 17 carrying the conductor loops L1 to L5 is visibly shown in order not to overload the visualization. In the visualization, it is shown that only the first loop terminal C1 is connected to the supply device 4. However, the same applies to the remaining four loop terminals C1 to C5, whose direct connection to the supply device 4 has been omitted for reasons of clarity. It is also shown symbolically that each shelf label display 2 contains identifier data 16A to 16E which uniquely identify it and which are permanently and immutably stored in an internal memory.

[0067] After the position of the supply device 4 (for example, the one positioned at the upper left in the shelf 9) has been determined by means of measures as discussed above, the positioning of the five shelf label displays 2 fixed to the shelf rails 3 is explained at this point. In the positioning mode mentioned above, the supply device 4 now activates the five shelf label displays 2 sequentially. For this purpose, an inductive coupling is first established with the rightmost conductor loop L1 via the two NFC interfaces 11 and 18 to the shelf label display 2 positioned there, and energy is transmitted to the shelf label display in the process, so that the electronics of the shelf label display 2 are activated. Then, the first unambiguous identifier data 16A are retrieved with the help of the coupled NFC interfaces 11 and 18 and stored in the supply device 4. Then, the energy supply, ie the coupling, is terminated and the shelf label display 2 is deactivated. The process is now carried out step by step for each of the other conductor loops L2 to L5 until all unambiguous identifier data 16A to 16E are present in the supply device 4. The thus determined unambiguous identifier data 16A-16E are subsequently output via the access point communication interface 19 to the access point 6 responsible for the associated provisioning device 4, which in the present case is Figure 1 From there, the identifier data 16A to 16E are forwarded to the server 5, which has already determined the absolute position of the supply device 4 positioned at the top left, and which is also informed of the dimensions of the shelf rail 3 and also the position or footprint of the corresponding conductor loops L1 to L5 along the shelf rail 3. From this information, in particular from the association between the corresponding conductor loops L1 to L5 (e.g. the sequence of the conductor loops used) and the identifier data 16A to 16E obtained via the corresponding conductor loops L1 to L5, the server 5 now determines the corresponding shelf label display position 10A to 10E for each shelf label display 2 along the shelf rail 3, e.g. measured from a known reference position 16, e.g. from a known position of the supply device 4, or also from the right or left edge of the shelf rail 3.

[0068] If the orientation of the shelf rail 3 is spatially unambiguous for the server 5 , for example by determining some or all positions of the supply devices 4 of the shelf 9 and thus also knowing them, the server 5 can also determine the unambiguous position of each shelf label display 2 in space.

[0069] In the following, with the help of Figure 5A and 5B An application scenario of the method for positioning an electronic shelf label display 2 is described.

[0070] Here we assume that: Figure 5A The initial configuration of the rack 9 is shown in Figure 5B The final configuration of the rack 9 is shown in FIG. Figure 5A and 5B The shelves 9 shown are visualized from above and two shelf rails 3 are shown next to each other for each shelf 9. The structure shown at the top left, consisting of the shelf label display 2 and the supply device 4, is replicated on the two columns and four rows shown of the shelf 9, so that for the sake of clarity, the reference numerals are only assigned to the shelf rails 3 placed at the top left. In addition, Figure 5A and 5B Three access points 6 are visualized in FIG. 1 , which are arranged at the ceiling of the enterprise site at positions between shelves 9 that are exhibited in the enterprise site.

[0071] It should be noted that: Figure 5A The two lower right shelf positions are not occupied by shelf 9. Figure 5A The initial configuration is Figure 5B In the transition to the final configuration, according to arrows 22A and 22B, two of the shelves 9 are coordinated to the shelf positions vacated in the initial configuration.

[0072] Now, in order to locate the shelf label display 2, the positioning mode is activated and the position of the individual supply devices 4 is first determined as discussed by means of UWB radio communication. For supply devices 4 that have only slightly changed their location or have not changed at all, the method ends here, since it is assumed that the associated shelf rails 3 have not undergone any location changes.

[0073] For a supply device 4 which is now installed at a shelf 9 whose position has changed according to arrows 22A and 22B, and for which a change in position exceeding a threshold value is thus determined, in a second step the shelf label displays 2 installed there are identified during their individual energy supply and the identifier data 16A to 16E obtained thereby are transmitted to the server 5 for determining the respective position of each shelf label display 2. Thereafter, the system 1 assumes normal mode again.

[0074] Now, the supply device 4 located at its new location is simply registered by radio in the nearest access point 6, because it is indeed already known in the system and has been registered before and is available there as usual. Likewise, a new registration can be made in the nearest access point 6.

[0075] However, it should be mentioned at this point that the method does not necessarily need to be interrupted as discussed above for supply devices 4 whose positions have not changed. The method can also be processed as discussed above for the supply devices 4, i.e. applied to the entirety of the supply devices 4 and the shelf label displays 2 supplied by them, which ultimately results in a complete inventory registration of the shelf label displays 2. This can be meaningful if the entirety of the positions can be intentionally determined or tested whether the individual shelf label displays 2 have been removed from the shelf in question or the shelf rail 3 there (regardless of whether they are coordinated or not) or have been coordinated to another location or have been moved along the shelf rail 3, etc.

[0076] With the aid of the new position determined in this way, the digital three-dimensional map of the shelf label display 2 is adapted to the reality existing at the company location from now on by means of the server 5 , or an existing three-dimensional map is verified.

[0077] However, by means of the access point communication interface 19 designed for ultra-wideband radio communication, movable objects such as mobile objects can also be tracked or identified by means of the first radio signal F1. Figure 1 7 in front of the shelf 9 and is fixed there. After successful recognition of such a shopping cart in a predefined area of ​​the lowest shelf level, for example before the second shelf rail 3 from the left, special information about the products displayed there can be displayed by means of the supply device 4 built there via the shelf label display 2 fixed to the shelf rail 3.

[0078] According to another embodiment, the access point 6 can also be configured such that the first radio module 6 is used with its UWB technology only for determining the distance and in conjunction with other access points 6 for determining the position. The second radio module 6B can be configured and used for energy transmission as discussed. In addition, a third radio module (not shown) can also be implemented, which is configured for communicating display content, commands or status messages according to a proprietary time slot communication method or a standardized communication method (ZigBee, Bluetooth, etc.) as mentioned in the general description. Thus, instead of Figure 3 In addition to the two radio interfaces 19 , 23 shown in FIG, the electronic supply device 4 also has an additional radio interface for communication with a third radio module, namely the access point 6 .

[0079] The implementation of the circuit board 17 and the shelf rail 3 is also discussed below.

[0080] exist Figure 6In, this circuit board 17 is shown by way of example, and the circuit board has conductor tracks on both sides. For the sake of clarity, only three of the five conductor loops L1-L5 are shown. On the front side of the circuit board, conductor loops L1, L2 and L5 of large area are visible. On the rear side of the circuit board, conductor tracks LB2-LB5 of corresponding loop terminals C2 and C5 that are closely adjacent to each other are visible, and the conductor tracks extend along the longitudinal extension of the circuit board 17. Loop terminal C1 extends on the front side. Loop terminals C1-C5 are all connected to the supply device 4. There are through-hole contacts DK2 and DK5 from the front side to the rear side at the position where loop terminals C2 and C5 terminate in conductor loops L2 and L5, so that conductor loops L2 and L5 are electrically conductively connected with their loop terminals C2 and C5. The same content is applicable to conductor loops L3 and L4, its loop terminals C3 and C4, its conductor tracks LB3 and LB4 and two through-hole contacts DK3 and DK4 that are not visualized. For example, the supply device 4 indicated at the circuit board 17 can be attached to the rear side of the circuit board 17. The electronic components of the electronics of the supply device can also be soldered directly to the circuit board 17.

[0081] at last, Figure 7 The possibility of mechanically integrating a circuit board 17 into a shelf rail 3 is shown. Here, the circuit board 17 forms part of the wall of a receiving shaft for receiving a plurality of shelf label displays 2. The receiving shaft has a recess corresponding to the thickness of the circuit board 17 at the location where the circuit board 17 is to be attached, into which recess the circuit board 17 is inserted so that its front side runs essentially flat with the rest of the wall of the receiving shaft. At the front side of the shelf rail 3, an upper guide strip 26 is formed at its upper end and a lower guide strip 27 is formed at its lower end. The guide strips 26 and 27 can be bent up and down so that the shelf label displays 2 can be locked. In addition, the shelf label displays 2 can be moved unhindered along the shelf rail 3 and can be placed completely freely. It is only advantageous to mount the supply device 4 at the rear side of the circuit board 17 when the shelf label displays 2 are to be moved unhindered along the front side of the shelf rail 3 and this is possible in the present case. In this case, the recess of the receiving shaft must be adapted accordingly in order to also accommodate the electronic components of the supply device therein.

[0082] Figure 8The cross-section of the rack rail 3 with the conductor loop receptacle 28 behind it is shown, wherein the conductor loop receptacle 28 is made directly from the material of the rack rail 3, i.e. from plastic. The conductor loop receptacle 28 has a gap-shaped recess 29 into which the wire of the conductor loop L1 is inserted immovably. Two walls 30 are placed on both sides of the gap-shaped recess 29, which are dimensioned so that a snap-in mechanism is achieved by means of the walls, which fixes the wire in its predetermined position. For this purpose, a strip or strip-shaped material 31 (strip or material strip) is inserted into the gap-shaped recess 29, which material on the one hand presses the wire of the conductor loop L against the bottom of the recess 29 and on the other hand supports itself at the nose-shaped or hook-shaped end of the corresponding outer wall 30 or locks there.

[0083] Regardless of whether the conductor loop(s) L1 (to L5) is integrated into the shelf rail 3 or is fixed to the shelf rail 3, it has been found to be particularly advantageous to integrate the electronic supply device 4 into the shelf rail 3 or to fix it thereto. Thus, a shelf rail with an individual electronic energy supply can be realized. Here, the supply device 4 can also be formed directly on the circuit board 17 or connected thereto as a module or mechanically coupled to the shelf rail 3 as a module and connected to the conductor loop(s) L1 (to L5) of the shelf rail 3 in an electrically conductive manner. As a result, the shelf rail 3 can be put back into operation as a whole including its supply device 4 without any problems at another location.

[0084] exist Figure 7 and Figure 8 In the figures, a fixing mechanism for the shelf rail 3 is omitted, which allows the shelf rail 3 to be fixed to another structure, such as the shelf bottom 8, because the present invention is not related to the details and can be implemented in various ways and methods accessible to a person skilled in the art.

[0085] Finally, it is pointed out again that the drawings described in detail above are only embodiments that can be modified in various ways by a person skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention. For the sake of completeness, it is also pointed out that the use of the indefinite article "a" or "an" does not exclude that the features involved can also exist multiple times.

Claims

1. A method for locating an electronic shelf label (2) of unknown location of an electronic shelf label system (1), wherein the system (1) has: A plurality of access points (6) of known locations, each of which is located at different positions at a certain distance from a shelf (9), wherein the shelf (9) has at least one shelf track (3), and wherein One of the shelf rails (3) has at least one electronic shelf label (2) and an electronic supply device (4) positioned at the shelf rail (3), wherein the shelf label is configured to be contactlessly supplied with energy, and the supply device is configured to contactlessly supply energy to the at least one shelf label (2). The method comprises the following steps: determining the position of the electronic supply device (4) relative to the access point (6) whose location is known by using ultra-wideband radio communication between the access point (6) and the supply device (4), Subsequently, by identifying the shelf tags (2) during the energy supply to the shelf tags (2) by the electronic supply device (4), the position of the at least one shelf tag (2) relative to the electronic supply device (4) is determined taking into account the dimensions of the shelf rail.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the electronic shelf label (2) is implemented as an electronic shelf label display.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the determination of the position of the electronic supply device (4) is based on determining the distance between the supply device and each of the access points (6) involved by means of a corresponding ultra-wideband radio communication.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein during the supply of energy to the shelf tag (2), the shelf tag is identified by querying its univocal identifier (16A-16E).

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein at least one first conductor loop (L1-L5) formed on the shelf rail (3) is used for contactless energy transmission, the first conductor loop being connected to the supply device (4) with its two loop terminals (C1-C5) and used for inductive coupling with a second conductor loop (12) corresponding thereto at the location of the shelf tag (2).

6. The method according to claim 5, It is characterized in that In order to determine the position of a shelf tag (2) along the shelf track (3), a plurality of first conductor loops (L1-L5) located at different locations along the shelf track (3) are used.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the individual energy supply is carried out by means of the supply device (4) at the location of the corresponding first conductor loop (L1-L5) with the shelf label (2) positioned there.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein both on the shelf tag (2) side and on the supply device (4) side an NFC interface (11, 18) is used for contactless energy supply.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein an NFC interface (11, 18) is used for identification both on the shelf label (2) side and on the supply device (4) side.

10. The method according to claim 2, wherein the electronic shelf label (2) implemented as a shelf label display has an energy-saving display unit (13), whereby static image information can also be displayed by means of the display unit (13) during time periods without energy supply.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the energy-saving display unit (13) is based on electronic ink or electronic paper technology.

12. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the location-related results of the ultra-wideband radio communication are transmitted from the supply device (4) or from the access point (6) involved to a data processing device (5) by wire or by radio to determine the location of the supply device (4).

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the identity of the shelf tag (2) identified by the supply device (4) during the supply of energy to the shelf tag is transmitted to the data processing device (5), and in the data processing device (5) at least the location of the relevant shelf tag (2) is defined relative to the location of the relevant supply device (4).

14. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the position of the movable object (7) is defined at least by ultra-wideband radio communication between it and at least one of the supply devices (4).

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the movement trajectory of the movable object (7) is determined by repeatedly defining the position of the object (7).

16. The method according to claim 14, wherein the information corresponding to the location of the object (7) is presented via a screen of the object (7) or via a shelf tag (2) positioned near the object, wherein the shelf tag is implemented as a shelf tag display.

17. The method according to claim 15, wherein the information corresponding to the location of the object (7) is presented via a screen of the object (7) or via a shelf tag (2) positioned near the object, wherein the shelf tag is implemented as a shelf tag display.

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