Electronic price tag and appearance color control method of electronic price tag

Abstract

The application discloses an electronic price tag and an appearance color control method thereof, and relates to the technical field of Internet of Things. The electronic price tag comprises a plastic film coated with a specified color, a display module, a control module and a shell. The plastic film coated with the specified color is connected with the display module. The control module is electrically connected with the display module. The control module is used for determining a color-changing area in a display area of the display module, and controlling the color-changing area to display a target color, so that the target color displayed by the color-changing area and the specified color coated on the plastic film are mixed to obtain an appearance color required to be displayed by the electronic price tag. The shell is used for carrying and protecting the plastic film coated with the specified color, the display module and the control module. In the scheme, the specified color coated on the plastic film and the target color displayed by the display module are mixed, so that the effect of dynamically modifying the appearance color of the electronic price tag is achieved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of Internet of Things (IoT) technology, and in particular to an electronic shelf label and a method for controlling the appearance and color of the electronic shelf label. Background Technology

[0002] Electronic shelf labels (ESLs), also known as electronic price tags, are electronic display devices with information transmission and reception capabilities. They are primarily used in supermarkets, convenience stores, pharmacies, and other similar establishments to display price information. Placed on shelves, they can replace traditional paper price tags. Each ESL is connected to the store's computer database via wired or wireless network, displaying the latest product information on its screen.

[0003] Currently, customers have very clear and urgent expectations regarding the design of electronic shelf labels: they want the labels to support multiple colors. For example, after deployment in a particular location, the label should display a color that matches the style of that location; or, for promotional scenarios, the label should display different colors to indicate that a product is on sale. The traditional approach is to use different colored covers for different locations or scenarios. This requires designing color kits to match different label sizes, and changing the color cover requires manual installation and removal of the kits, resulting in very low efficiency and making it impossible to efficiently modify the displayed colors of the electronic shelf labels. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This invention provides an electronic price tag and a method for controlling the appearance and color of the electronic price tag.

[0005] According to one aspect of the present invention, an electronic shelf label is provided, comprising: a plastic film coated with a specified color, a display module, a control module, and a housing;

[0006] The plastic film coated with a specified color is connected to the display module by adhesive or snap-fit ​​method;

[0007] The control module is electrically connected to the display module;

[0008] The control module is used to: determine a color-changing area in the display area of ​​the display module; control the color-changing area to display a target color, so that the target color displayed in the color-changing area is mixed with the specified color coated on the plastic film to obtain the appearance color that the electronic price tag needs to display;

[0009] The housing is used to carry and protect the plastic film coated with the specified color, the display module, and the control module.

[0010] In some embodiments, the projection area of ​​the film region coated with a specified color in the plastic film on the display module coincides with the color-changing area.

[0011] In some embodiments, the specified color is applied to either or both sides of the plastic film.

[0012] In some embodiments, the display module is any one of an electronic ink display, a liquid crystal display, a cholesteric display, and a reflective liquid crystal display; the display mode of the display module includes dot matrix display and segment display.

[0013] In some embodiments, the electronic price tag also includes tinted lenses and photochromic films;

[0014] The inner boundary of the tinted lens is located outside the outer boundary of the film area coated with the specified color in the plastic film.

[0015] The color-changing film is electrically connected to the control module and changes its color state by receiving instructions from the control module; wherein the color state includes a transparent state and a black state.

[0016] In some embodiments, the color-changing film includes:

[0017] A color-changing film is used to display different color states according to different applied voltages, and the outer boundary of the color-changing film is connected to silver paste or conductive cotton.

[0018] An electrode layer is located below the color-changing film;

[0019] The substrate is located below the electrode layer.

[0020] In some embodiments, the color-changing film is connected to the display module via an integrated connection or a separate connection.

[0021] According to another aspect of the present invention, a method for controlling the appearance color of an electronic shelf label is provided, applied to a control module of the electronic shelf label, wherein the electronic shelf label further includes at least a plastic film coated with a specified color and a display module, the method comprising:

[0022] In response to the plastic film coated with a specified color being connected to the display module by an adhesive or snap-fit ​​method, a color-changing area is determined in the display area of ​​the display module;

[0023] The target color is displayed in the color-changing area, and the target color displayed in the color-changing area is mixed with the specified color coated on the plastic film to obtain the appearance color that the electronic price tag needs to display.

[0024] In some embodiments, the projection area of ​​the film region coated with a specified color in the plastic film on the display module coincides with the color-changing area.

[0025] In some embodiments, the specified color is applied to either or both sides of the plastic film.

[0026] The technical solution of this invention proposes a new electronic shelf label. A specified color is coated on a plastic film that needs to be adhered to the electronic shelf label display module. Then, by controlling a portion of the display module to display the target color, the appearance color of the electronic shelf label can be dynamically modified by mixing the target color and the specified color. Compared with manually installing a colored shell on the electronic shelf label, this method can efficiently change the appearance color of the electronic shelf label.

[0027] It should be understood that the description in this section is not intended to identify key or essential features of the embodiments of the present invention, nor is it intended to limit the scope of the invention. Other features of the invention will become readily apparent from the following description. Attached Figure Description

[0028] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, the accompanying drawings used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the accompanying drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0029] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of an electronic price tag according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the appearance color of an electronic price tag according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the appearance color of an electronic price tag provided according to an embodiment of the present invention, which is provided with a tinted lens and a photochromic film;

[0032] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the appearance color of an electronic price tag provided according to an embodiment of the present invention, which is provided with a tinted lens and a photochromic film;

[0033] Figure 5 This is a flowchart of an electronic price tag appearance color control method provided by an embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0034] To enable those skilled in the art to better understand the present invention, the technical solutions of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings of the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort should fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0035] Example 1

[0036] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of an electronic shelf label provided in an embodiment of the present invention. The electronic shelf label includes a plastic film 1 coated with a specified color, a display module 2, a control module 3, a power supply module 4, and a housing 5.

[0037] In this embodiment of the invention, the plastic film 1 coated with a specified color can be a PS film coated with a specified color, or it can be a film of other materials, without specific limitations. The specified color can be any one of blue, red, yellow, and green. It is understood that the specified colors listed above are merely examples. This invention mainly involves mixing the specified color with colors supported by the electronic shelf label to obtain the desired appearance color. Therefore, determining the specific type of specified color depends on the colors supported by the electronic shelf label. As the number of supported colors increases, the number of selectable specified colors also increases. In this invention, the size of the plastic film 1 coated with the specified color can be set according to actual needs. For example, in some embodiments, the size of the plastic film 1 coated with the specified color can be greater than or equal to the size of the display area of ​​the display module 2. For cases where the sizes are the same, the projection area of ​​the plastic film 1 coated with the specified color coincides with the display area of ​​the display module 2; the display area can be the area of ​​the display screen in the display module. In other embodiments, the size of the plastic film 1 coated with the specified color can also be any size smaller than the display area of ​​the display module 2. The specified color can be selectively applied to any one or both sides of the plastic film. The area of ​​the plastic film 1 coated with the specified color can be predetermined. For example, if the size of the plastic film 1 coated with the specified color is greater than or equal to the size of the display area of ​​the display module 2, the specified color can be applied to a portion of the plastic film. For example, the area of ​​the plastic film coated with the specified color can be the edge area of ​​the plastic film. If the size of the plastic film 1 coated with the specified color is smaller than any size of the display area of ​​the display module 2, the specified color can be applied to all or part of the plastic film.

[0038] Understandably, the style of the plastic film 1 coated with a specified color can be designed according to actual needs; for example, it can be designed as a film with a hollow center.

[0039] In this embodiment of the invention, a plastic film 1 coated with a specified color is connected to the display module 2 via an adhesive or snap-fit ​​method. Exemplary adhesive methods include physical adhesion and electrostatic adsorption; exemplary snap-fit ​​methods include snap-fit ​​connections and slot connections. It is understood that after the plastic film 1 coated with the specified color is connected to the display module 2 via an adhesive or snap-fit ​​method, the plastic film 1 can be considered a component of the display module 2, serving not only to change the appearance color of price tags but also to protect the display module 2.

[0040] In this embodiment of the invention, the display module 2 can be any one of an electronic ink display, a liquid crystal display, a cholesteric display, or a reflective liquid crystal display; the display mode of the display module 2 includes dot matrix display and segment display. The bottom layer of the display module 2 is a substrate material, the layer above the substrate material is a thin-film transistor array, the layer above the thin-film transistor array is a color-changing electronic paper film (FPL), the layer above the color-changing electronic paper film is a common voltage ITO layer (i.e., VCOM layer), and the layer above the common voltage ITO layer is an optically transparent adhesive layer. A plastic film coated with a specified color can be bonded to the display module on the layer above the optically transparent adhesive layer. In addition, the display module also includes a driver IC for driving the display content of the display module, and a flexible circuit board (i.e., FPC) for communication with the control board.

[0041] In this embodiment of the invention, the control module 3 is electrically connected to the display module 2 and the power supply module 4, respectively. The power supply module 4 is used to supply power to the control module 3 and the display module 2. The power supply module can be an energy storage battery or other power supply structure (such as a rail power supply), which is not specifically limited here. The control module 3 may be a printed circuit board carrying the control circuit of the display module 2, and includes a controller. The display module 2 is the display component for the main content of the electronic price tag, and mainly displays content by receiving display commands from the control module 3.

[0042] The present invention mainly controls the automatic display of the appearance color of the electronic price tag. Therefore, the control module 3 is used to: determine the color-changing area in the display area of ​​the display module; control the color-changing area to display the target color, so that the target color displayed in the color-changing area is mixed with the specified color coated on the plastic film to obtain the appearance color that the electronic price tag needs to display.

[0043] In this embodiment of the invention, after the plastic film 1 coated with a specified color is connected to the display module 2 by adhesive or snap-fit, the projection area of ​​the film area coated with the specified color in the plastic film 1 on the display module 2 coincides with the color-changing area. Thus, if the color-changing area is first determined in the display area of ​​the display module (for example, any part of the display area can be used as the color-changing area), the film area in the plastic film that needs to be coated with the specified color can be determined based on the color-changing area, and then the plastic film is coated with the specified color according to the determined film area. If the plastic film 1 coated with the specified color is generated first, the color-changing area can be determined based on the projection area of ​​the film area coated with the specified color in the plastic film 1 on the display module 2.

[0044] Based on the determined color-changing area, the system controls the display of the target color in the color-changing area, mixing the target color displayed in the color-changing area with the specified color coated on the plastic film. This includes: determining the current appearance color to be displayed on the electronic shelf label, for example, determining the current appearance color to be displayed on the electronic shelf label based on the appearance color change instruction sent by the server; determining the target color that the color-changing area needs to display when generating the current appearance color based on the mixing principle of the three primary colors of pigment and the specified color coated on the plastic film; for example, if the current appearance color to be displayed is purple and the specified color is blue, then according to the mixing principle of the three primary colors of pigment, the target color to be displayed in the color-changing area is red; and controlling the display of the target color in the color-changing area, mixing the target color displayed in the color-changing area with the specified color coated on the plastic film to obtain the appearance color that the electronic shelf label needs to display. The above is the principle of controlling the display color of the electronic shelf label.

[0045] For example, see Figure 2 The diagram illustrates the color display of an electronic shelf label. The dotted area 1 represents the display area of ​​the display module 2, and the green-covered area is the designated color-changing area. A plastic film 1 is adhered to the display module 2, precisely covering area 1, with the area coated with the specified color coinciding with the green-covered area. By controlling the color-changing area to display different colors, the color displayed in the color-changing area can be mixed with the specified color coated in the plastic film, enabling rapid color changes for the electronic shelf label.

[0046] In this embodiment of the invention, the electronic shelf label also includes a housing 5. Optionally, the housing 5 refers to the back cover of the electronic shelf label. The housing 5 is used to carry and protect the plastic film 1 coated with a specified color, the display module 2, the control module 3, and the power supply module 4.

[0047] In this embodiment of the invention, a specified color is applied to the plastic film that needs to be bonded to the electronic price tag display module. Then, by controlling a portion of the display module to display the target color, the appearance color of the electronic price tag is dynamically modified by mixing the target color and the specified color. Compared with manually installing a colored shell on the electronic price tag, this method can efficiently change the appearance color of the electronic price tag.

[0048] Furthermore, it also includes a tinted lens and a photochromic film; wherein, the tinted lens can be a tinted lens with a hollow center or a transparent center; the size of the hollow or transparent center area can be equal to the size of the display area of ​​the display module. In some embodiments, the tinted lens can be connected to the housing 5 by a snap-fit ​​connection, and the plastic film 1 coated with a specified color and the display module 2 can be disposed between the tinted lens and the housing 5. It is understood that the housing 5 in this invention is the back shell of the electronic shelf label, and the tinted lens can be understood as the front shell of the electronic shelf label. The inner boundary of the tinted lens can be located outside the outer boundary of the film area coated with the specified color in the plastic film. Therefore, after the tinted lens is installed in the electronic shelf label, the hollow or transparent center area can cover the display area, and the projection area of ​​the tinted lens on the display module can fully or partially cover the area outside the display area of ​​the display module; in addition, the hollow or transparent center area can also be larger than the display area. The colored lens can thus change the appearance color outside the display area of ​​the electronic price tag. The colored lens can be any one or more of black, white, red, yellow, orange, green, blue, and gray. It is understood that the colors mentioned above are just examples, and other colors may also be included, without specific limitations. The colored lens material includes, but is not limited to, acrylic, PC, and other materials. The size of the color-changing film can be the same as the colored lens; that is, the color-changing film can be a film with a hollow center or a transparent center, and the size of the hollow or transparent center area is the same as the display area of ​​the display module. The color-changing film is electrically connected to the control module. For example, the color-changing film can lead out control lines through flexible circuit boards, wires, etc., and be electrically connected to the control module through welding, crimping, particle explosion, etc. The color-changing film changes its color state by receiving instructions from the control module; the color state includes a transparent state and a black state.

[0049] Thus, the control module controls the photochromic film to be in a transparent state, so that the part outside the display area of ​​the electronic price tag displays the color of the colored lens, that is, the color of the colored lens is the appearance color of the price tag outside the display area; when the control module controls the photochromic film to be in a black state, the part outside the display area of ​​the electronic price tag displays black; at this time, the appearance color of the price tag outside the display area is black.

[0050] For example, see Figure 3 The diagram illustrates an electronic shelf label equipped with a tinted lens and a photochromic film. The gray area represents the display area of ​​the electronic shelf label's display module; the green area represents the color displayed by the tinted lens when the photochromic film is transparent. It can be understood that the photochromic film uses a segmented display method. For example, if half is transparent and half is black, the electronic shelf label's appearance is composed of two segments: one black and one the color of the tinted lens.

[0051] In this embodiment, the colored lens can be composed of two colors or multiple colors. For example, the colored lens can be composed of two colors, with the left half of the lens being one color and the right half being another color. If the photochromic film is controlled to be transparent, the electronic price tag's appearance color is also composed of two segments. For example, the colored lens is composed of a blue lens and an orange lens. An example of the electronic price tag's appearance color can be found in [reference needed]. Figure 4 As shown.

[0052] In this embodiment of the invention, the color-changing film includes: a color-changing film for displaying different color states according to different applied voltages, and the outer boundary of the color-changing film is connected to silver paste or conductive cotton; an uncoated plastic film located above the color-changing film for protecting it; an electrode layer located below the color-changing film; and a substrate located below the electrode layer; wherein the electrode layer and the substrate can be transparent or translucent. The color-changing film can conduct electricity by connecting the substrate and the common voltage ITO layer in the display module through silver paste or conductive cotton; the color-changing film is connected to the display module through an integrated connection method or a separate connection method.

[0053] Understandably, if an electronic shelf label includes a tinted lens, a photochromic film, and a plastic film coated with a specified color, the color area displayed on the electronic shelf label will include both the edge of the display area and the area outside the display area. This combination can expand the color display area and enhance the visual appeal of the electronic shelf label.

[0054] In another alternative implementation, if the tinted lens and photochromic film are incorporated into the electronic shelf label, the plastic film coated with the specified color can be replaced with a regular plastic film. That is, the structure of the electronic shelf label can include: a photochromic film, a tinted lens, a regular PS film, a display module, a control module, a power supply module, and a housing. This method does not occupy any display area to show the color of the electronic shelf label, leaving sufficient display area to show specific product information.

[0055] Example 2

[0056] Figure 5 This document provides a flowchart of a method for controlling the appearance color of an electronic shelf label according to an embodiment of the present invention. The method is applied to the control module of the electronic shelf label in the above embodiment, wherein the electronic shelf label further includes at least a plastic film coated with a specified color and a display module; see also... Figure 5 The method includes the following steps:

[0057] S501. In response to the plastic film coated with a specified color being connected to the display module by an adhesive or snap-fit ​​method, a color-changing area is determined in the display area of ​​the display module.

[0058] In this embodiment of the invention, the projection area of ​​the plastic film area coated with a specified color on the display module coincides with the color-changing area. Therefore, the color-changing area in the display area of ​​the display module can be determined based on the projection area of ​​the plastic film area coated with a specified color on the display module.

[0059] In this embodiment of the invention, a specified color is coated on any one or both sides of the plastic film; the specified color is any one of blue, red, yellow, and green. It is understood that the specified color described above is merely an example, and other colors may also be included, but are not specifically limited here.

[0060] S502. Control the color-changing area to display the target color, so that the target color displayed in the color-changing area is mixed with the specified color coated on the plastic film to obtain the appearance color that the electronic price tag needs to display and then display it.

[0061] Optionally, first determine the current appearance color to be displayed on the electronic shelf label. For example, determine the current appearance color to be displayed on the electronic shelf label based on the appearance color change instruction sent by the server. Based on the mixing principle of the three primary colors of pigment and the specified color coated on the plastic film, determine the target color that the color-changing area needs to display when the current appearance color is generated. For example, if the current appearance color to be displayed is purple and the specified color is blue, then according to the principle of the three primary colors of pigment, the target color to be displayed in the color-changing area is red. Further, control the display of the target color in the color-changing area so that the target color displayed in the color-changing area is mixed with the specified color coated on the plastic film to obtain the appearance color that the electronic shelf label needs to display, and then display it.

[0062] In this embodiment of the invention, a specified color is applied to the plastic film that needs to be bonded to the electronic price tag display module. Then, by controlling a portion of the display module to display the target color, the appearance color of the electronic price tag is dynamically modified by mixing the target color and the specified color. Compared with manually installing a colored shell on the electronic price tag, this method can efficiently change the appearance color of the electronic price tag.

[0063] Furthermore, the electronic price tag may also include a tinted lens and a photochromic film; wherein the tinted lens is a tinted lens with a hollow center or a transparent center; the size of the hollow or transparent center area is equal to the display area of ​​the display module. In some embodiments, the tinted lens can be connected to the housing by a snap-fit ​​mechanism, and the plastic film coated with a specified color and the display module can be disposed between the tinted lens and the housing; the inner boundary of the tinted lens may be located outside the outer boundary of the film area coated with the specified color in the plastic film. Therefore, after being installed in the electronic shelf label, the tinted lens can fully or partially cover the area outside the display area of ​​the display module, thus changing the appearance color of the area outside the display area of ​​the electronic shelf label. The tinted lens can be any one of black, white, red, yellow, orange, green, blue, or gray. It is understood that the colors of the tinted lens mentioned above are just examples, and other colors may also be included, without specific limitations here. The size of the color-changing film can be the same as that of the tinted lens; that is, the color-changing film can be a film with a hollow center or a transparent center, and the size of the hollow or transparent center area can be the same as the size of the display area of ​​the display module. The color-changing film is electrically connected to the control module and changes its color state by receiving instructions from the control module; the color state includes a transparent state and a black state.

[0064] Thus, the control process of the control module is as follows: the photochromic film is controlled to be in a transparent state, so that the part outside the electronic price tag display area displays the color of the colored lens, that is, the color of the colored lens is the appearance color of the price tag outside the display area; the control module controls the photochromic film to be in a black state, so that the part outside the electronic price tag display area displays black; at this time, the appearance color of the price tag outside the electronic price tag display area is black.

[0065] The specific embodiments described above do not constitute a limitation on the scope of protection of this invention. Those skilled in the art should understand that various modifications, combinations, sub-combinations, and substitutions can be made according to design requirements and other factors. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, and improvements made within the spirit and principles of this invention should be included within the scope of protection of this invention.

Claims

1. An electronic price tag, characterized in that, include: Plastic films, display modules, control modules, and housings coated with specified colors; The plastic film coated with a specified color is connected to the display module by adhesive or snap-fit ​​method; The control module is electrically connected to the display module; The control module is used to: determine a color-changing area in the display area of ​​the display module; control the color-changing area to display a target color, so that the target color displayed in the color-changing area is mixed with the specified color coated on the plastic film to obtain the appearance color that the electronic price tag needs to display; The housing is used to carry and protect the plastic film coated with the specified color, the display module, and the control module; The process of controlling the color-changing area to display the target color includes: determining the current appearance color to be displayed on the electronic price tag according to the appearance color change instruction sent by the server; and determining the target color that the color-changing area needs to display when the current appearance color is generated, based on the mixing principle of the three primary colors of pigment and the specified color coated in the plastic film.

2. The electronic price tag according to claim 1, characterized in that, The projection area of ​​the plastic film coated with the specified color on the display module coincides with the color-changing area.

3. The electronic price tag according to claim 1, characterized in that, The specified color is applied to one or both sides of the plastic film.

4. The electronic price tag according to claim 1, characterized in that, The display module is any one of electronic ink display, liquid crystal display, cholesteric display, and reflective liquid crystal display; the display mode of the display module includes dot matrix display and segment display.

5. The electronic price tag according to claim 1, characterized in that, It also includes tinted lenses and photochromic films; The inner boundary of the tinted lens is located outside the outer boundary of the film area coated with the specified color in the plastic film. The color-changing film is electrically connected to the control module and changes its color state by receiving instructions from the control module; wherein the color state includes a transparent state and a black state.

6. The electronic price tag according to claim 5, characterized in that, The color-changing film includes: A color-changing film is used to display different color states according to different applied voltages, and the outer boundary of the color-changing film is connected to silver paste or conductive cotton. An electrode layer is located below the color-changing film; The substrate is located below the electrode layer.

7. The electronic price tag according to claim 5, characterized in that, The color-changing film is connected to the display module via an integrated connection or a separate connection.

8. A method for controlling the appearance color of an electronic shelf label, characterized in that, A control module for use in electronic shelf labels, wherein the electronic shelf label further comprises at least a plastic film coated with a specified color and a display module, the method comprising: In response to the plastic film coated with a specified color being connected to the display module by an adhesive or snap-fit ​​method, a color-changing area is determined in the display area of ​​the display module; The target color is displayed in the color-changing area, and the target color displayed in the color-changing area is mixed with the specified color coated on the plastic film to obtain the appearance color that the electronic price tag needs to display. The process of controlling the color-changing area to display the target color includes: determining the current appearance color to be displayed on the electronic price tag according to the appearance color change instruction sent by the server; and determining the target color that the color-changing area needs to display when the current appearance color is generated, based on the mixing principle of the three primary colors of pigment and the specified color coated in the plastic film.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that, The projection area of ​​the plastic film coated with the specified color on the display module coincides with the color-changing area.

10. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that, The specified color is applied to one or both sides of the plastic film.

Images