Electronic price tag

Abstract

The utility model provides an electronic price tag, and relates to the field of Internet of Things. The electronic price tag comprises a control circuit board, an electronic ink screen, at least one color changing device, an energy storage battery and a shell, the control circuit board is electrically connected with the electronic ink screen, the color changing device and the energy storage battery. The color changing device is arranged above the electronic ink screen and / or on the surface of the shell and is used for displaying colors or patterns indicated by the control circuit board; the electronic ink screen is used for displaying commodity information indicated by the control circuit board; the energy storage battery is arranged at the bottom, the upper part or the side edge of the control circuit board and is used for supplying power to the whole electronic price tag; the shell is used for supporting and protecting the control circuit board, the electronic ink screen, the at least one color changing device and the energy storage battery. According to the electronic price tag designed by the utility model, the color or pattern of the shell can be automatically changed, and the color or pattern on the surface of the electronic price tag can be efficiently changed compared with the mode that a colored shell is manually mounted on the electronic price tag.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to the technical field of Internet of Things, in particular to an electronic price tag. Background Art

[0002] Electronic price tags, also called electronic shelf labels (ESL), are electronic display devices with information sending and receiving functions. They are mainly used as electronic labels for displaying price information in supermarkets, convenience stores, pharmacies, etc. They are placed on shelves and can replace traditional paper price tags. Each electronic shelf label is connected to the computer database of the mall through a wired or wireless network, and the latest product information is displayed on the screen of the electronic shelf label.

[0003] At present, in order to attract customers' attention, the traditional practice is to cover different electronic price tags with different colored shells to enhance the visual appeal of the electronic price tags and increase product exposure. This approach requires the design of color kits that match price tags of different sizes, and when replacing the color shell of the electronic price tag, the kit needs to be installed and removed manually, resulting in very low efficiency. Utility Model Content

[0004] The utility model provides an electronic price tag.

[0005] According to the technology of the utility model, an electronic price tag includes a control circuit board, an electronic ink screen, at least one color-changing device, an energy storage battery and a housing;

[0006] Wherein, the control circuit board is electrically connected to the electronic ink screen, at least one color-changing device, and the energy storage battery respectively;

[0007] The color-changing device is installed above the electronic ink screen and / or on the surface of the housing to display the color or pattern indicated by the control circuit board;

[0008] The electronic ink screen is used to display the commodity information indicated by the control circuit board;

[0009] The energy storage battery is installed at the bottom, top or side of the control circuit board to supply power to the entire electronic price tag;

[0010] The shell is used to support and protect the control circuit board, the electronic ink screen, at least one color-changing device and the energy storage battery.

[0011] In an optional implementation, the electronic ink screen includes a display area, a driving chip and a first flexible circuit board;

[0012] Wherein, the first flexible circuit board is electrically connected to the control circuit board, and is used to receive and forward the first display instruction issued by the control circuit board;

[0013] The driving chip is used to drive the display area to display the product information according to the first display instruction forwarded by the first flexible circuit board.

[0014] In an optional implementation, the color-changing device includes a second flexible circuit board, a first color-changing display area, and a second color-changing display area surrounding the first color-changing display area;

[0015] Wherein, after the color-changing device is installed above the electronic ink screen, the first color-changing display area is located vertically directly above the display area of ​​the electronic ink screen, and the coverage area of ​​the first color-changing display area is greater than or equal to the coverage area of ​​the display area of ​​the electronic ink screen; the second color-changing display area is located vertically directly above other areas of the electronic ink screen except the display area, and the coverage area of ​​the second color-changing display area is less than or equal to the coverage area of ​​the other areas;

[0016] The second flexible circuit board is electrically connected to the control circuit board, and is used to receive a second display instruction sent by the control circuit board, so that the first color-changing display area and the second color-changing display area adjust the color or pattern state according to the second display instruction.

[0017] In an optional implementation, the color-changing device includes a second flexible circuit board, a hollow area, and a second color-changing display area surrounding the hollow area;

[0018] Wherein, after the color-changing device is installed above the electronic ink screen, the hollow area is located vertically directly above the display area of ​​the electronic ink screen, and the coverage area of ​​the hollow area is greater than or equal to the coverage area of ​​the display area of ​​the electronic ink screen; the second color-changing display area is located vertically directly above other areas of the electronic ink screen except the display area, and the coverage area of ​​the second color-changing display area is less than or equal to the coverage area of ​​the other areas;

[0019] The second flexible circuit board is electrically connected to the control circuit board and is used to receive a second display instruction sent by the control circuit board so that the second color-changing display area adjusts the color or pattern state according to the second display instruction.

[0020] In an optional implementation, the color-changing device includes a second flexible circuit board, a transparent component, and a second color-changing display area surrounding the transparent component;

[0021] Wherein, after the color-changing device is installed above the electronic ink screen, the transparent component is located vertically directly above the display area of ​​the electronic ink screen, and the coverage area of ​​the transparent component is greater than or equal to the coverage area of ​​the display area of ​​the electronic ink screen; the second color-changing display area is located vertically directly above other areas of the electronic ink screen except the display area, and the coverage area of ​​the second color-changing display area is less than or equal to the coverage area of ​​the other areas;

[0022] The second flexible circuit board is electrically connected to the control circuit board and is used to receive a second display instruction sent by the control circuit board so that the second color-changing display area adjusts the color or pattern state according to the second display instruction.

[0023] In an optional implementation, the first color-changing display area or the second color-changing display area includes:

[0024] A bistable or multistable display layer for presenting different color states or pattern states according to different applied electric fields;

[0025] A first transparent conductive layer, located above the bistable or multi-stable display layer, and used as an upper electrode for driving an electric field;

[0026] A second transparent conductive layer, located below the bistable or multi-stable display layer, and used for driving the lower electrode of the electric field;

[0027] A first transparent substrate, located above the first transparent conductive layer, and used for carrying and protecting the bistable or multi-stable display layer, the first transparent conductive layer, and the second transparent conductive layer;

[0028] The second transparent substrate is located below the second transparent conductive layer and is used for carrying and protecting the bistable or multi-stable display layer, the first transparent conductive layer and the second transparent conductive layer.

[0029] In an optional implementation, the energy storage battery is a secondary battery, and the electronic price tag further includes at least one solar film;

[0030] Wherein, the solar film is electrically connected to the control circuit board and is used to charge the energy storage battery through the control circuit board.

[0031] In an optional implementation, the installation position of the solar film in the electronic price tag includes at least one of the following:

[0032] Installed at the bottom of the second color-changing display area of ​​the color-changing device;

[0033] Installed on the upper part of the second color-changing display area of ​​the color-changing device;

[0034] Installed at the inner edge of the second color-changing display area of ​​the color-changing device;

[0035] Installed on the outer edge of the second color-changing display area of ​​the color-changing device.

[0036] In an optional implementation, the electronic price label further includes:

[0037] A primary battery is arranged at the bottom, top or side of the control circuit board, and is used to power the electronic price tag when the solar film cannot charge the energy storage battery and the power of the energy storage battery is lower than a preset threshold.

[0038] In an optional implementation, the control circuit board includes:

[0039] An energy management module, used to store the electric energy converted by the solar film into an energy storage battery, and transmit the electric energy of the energy storage battery to a microcontroller module electrically connected to the energy management module;

[0040] a microcontroller module, electrically connected to the first flexible circuit board of the electronic ink screen, for generating the first display instruction according to the commodity information to be displayed sent by the server, and sending the first display instruction to the first flexible circuit board of the electronic ink screen, so that the first flexible circuit board forwards the first display instruction to the driving chip;

[0041] The microcontroller module is also used to generate a second display instruction according to the color state or pattern state that the color-changing device needs to be in sent by the server, and send the second display instruction to the color-changing device controller electrically connected to the microcontroller, so that the color-changing device controller controls the color-changing device to display the specified color state or pattern state according to the second display instruction.

[0042] In an optional implementation, the control circuit board further includes:

[0043] The near-field coupling module is used to process the communication signal between the microcontroller module and the mobile terminal, receive and process the electric energy obtained by near-field coupling, and transmit the electric energy to the energy management module.

[0044] In an optional implementation, the control circuit board further includes:

[0045] The series-parallel control circuit module is used to control the electric energy converted by the solar films to be connected in series or in parallel when there are more than or equal to two solar films.

[0046] In an optional implementation, the electronic price label further includes a lens;

[0047] Wherein, the lens is connected to the shell, and after the color-changing device is installed above the electronic ink screen and / or on the inner surface of the shell, the control circuit board, the electronic ink screen, at least one color-changing device, and the energy storage battery are located between the lens and the shell.

[0048] According to the technology of the utility model, an electronic price tag control system includes at least one electronic price tag designed by the utility model, at least one communication base station, a cloud server and a control terminal, and the electronic price tag, at least one communication base station, the cloud server and the control terminal are communicatively connected;

[0049] The control terminal is used to generate a display instruction according to the display configuration information of each electronic price tag acquired by the user, and send the display instruction to the cloud server; wherein the display configuration information is the product information, the color state or pattern state of the electronic price tag, and the display time configured by the user after logging into the price tag management system at the control terminal; the display instruction includes a product information display instruction and a price tag color or pattern display instruction;

[0050] The cloud server forwards the received display instruction to the communication base station, so that the communication base station distributes the display instruction to the corresponding electronic price tag;

[0051] The microcontroller module in the electronic price tag controls the electronic ink screen in the electronic price tag to display the corresponding product information and controls the color-changing device in the electronic price tag to enter a specified color state or pattern state according to the product information display instruction and the price tag color or pattern display instruction.

[0052] According to the technology of the present utility model, a new electronic price tag is designed, and the electrochromic device is installed on the front surface of the electronic price tag and / or the surface of the shell (inner surface or outer surface). In this way, in addition to displaying the product information specified by the user, the electronic price tag can also control the color-changing device to make the surface of the electronic price tag present different colors or patterns. Compared with manually installing a colored shell on the electronic price tag, the change of the color or pattern of the outer surface of the electronic price tag can be efficiently achieved.

[0053] It should be understood that the contents described in this section are not intended to identify the key or important features of the embodiments of the present utility model, nor are they intended to limit the scope of the present utility model. Other features of the present utility model will become easily understood through the following description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0054] The accompanying drawings are used to better understand the present solution and do not constitute a limitation of the present utility model.

[0055] Figure 1 It is a structural schematic diagram of an electronic price tag according to an embodiment of the utility model;

[0056] Figure 2 It is a structural schematic diagram of an electronic ink screen according to an embodiment of the utility model;

[0057] Figure 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a color-changing device according to an embodiment of the utility model;

[0058] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the first / second color-changing display area according to an embodiment of the utility model;

[0059] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of an electronic price tag equipped with two solar films according to an embodiment of the utility model;

[0060] Figure 6 It is a structural schematic diagram of an electronic price tag control system according to an embodiment of the utility model. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0061] The following is a description of exemplary embodiments of the present invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, including various details of the embodiments of the present invention to facilitate understanding, which should be considered as merely exemplary. Therefore, it should be recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes and modifications may be made to the embodiments described herein without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. Similarly, for the sake of clarity and conciseness, the description of well-known functions and structures is omitted in the following description.

[0062] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of an electronic price tag according to an embodiment of the utility model. The electronic price tag of the utility model at least includes a control circuit board 1, an electronic ink screen 2, at least one color-changing device 3, an energy storage battery 4 and a shell 5.

[0063] The control circuit board 1 is electrically connected to the electronic ink screen 2, at least one color-changing device 3, and the energy storage battery 4. Optionally, the control circuit board 1 can be electrically connected to the electronic ink screen 2, the color-changing device 3, and the energy storage battery 4 by physical contact; it can be understood that physical contact is only an optional electrical connection method, and electrical connection can also be achieved by other methods, which are not specifically limited here.

[0064] In an embodiment of the utility model, the control circuit board 1 may include various control and communication components, which can receive the product information that needs to be displayed and the color state or pattern state that the electronic price tag needs to present specified by the user from the server, and then transmit corresponding display instructions to the electronic ink screen 2 and at least one color-changing device 3 respectively, so as to control the electronic ink screen to display the specified product information and control at least one color-changing device 3 to be in a specified color state or pattern state.

[0065] Furthermore, the color-changing device 3 refers to a reflective display device that presents different color states or pattern states under different voltages. Optionally, the device can be implemented based on technologies such as bistable liquid crystal, electronic ink, and electrochromic. In the electronic price tag, the color-changing device 3 is installed above the electronic ink screen 2 and / or on the surface of the shell 5 (for example, on the inner surface or outer surface of the shell 5) to display the color or pattern indicated by the control circuit board. Optionally, the color-changing device 3 can be installed in a flat manner above the electronic ink screen and / or on the surface of the shell. The color-changing device 3 can be made of a flexible material or a rigid material. It is understandable that the shell 5 can be a transparent supporting structure for supporting and protecting other components that make up the electronic price tag, that is, for supporting and protecting the control circuit board 1, the electronic ink screen 2, at least one color-changing device 3 and the energy storage battery 4. The color-changing device can be installed on the inner surface of the shell because the shell is made of transparent material. When the color-changing device is installed on the inner surface and displays a specified color or pattern, the same color or pattern will be displayed on the transparent shell. In addition, the shell can also protect the color-changing device installed on the inner surface.

[0066] Furthermore, the electronic ink screen 2 can be installed above the control circuit board 1 electrically connected thereto, so as to display the commodity information indicated by the control circuit board.

[0067] Furthermore, the energy storage battery 4 is installed at the bottom, top or side of the control circuit board 1, for example, the bottom, top or side of the control circuit board 1 can be installed by welding or snapping, so as to power the entire electronic price tag; it should be noted that the energy storage battery can also be installed at other locations inside the shell according to actual needs, as long as normal power supply can be guaranteed.

[0068] Further, the electronic price tag also includes a lens 6, wherein the lens 6 may be a transparent lens, and the lens 6 is connected to the housing 5. In specific implementation, since the frame of the housing may be a stepped design, the lens 6 can be snapped onto the front of the housing 5, thereby realizing the connection between the lens 6 and the housing 5; the function of the lens 6 is to protect the electronic ink screen 2, the color-changing device 3 and other components disposed in the housing 5 together with the housing 5, and prevent the electronic ink screen 2, the color-changing device 3 and other components from being maliciously touched. When the color-changing device 3 is installed above the electronic ink screen 2 and / or on the inner surface of the housing 5, the control circuit board 1, the electronic ink screen 2, at least one color-changing device 3, and the energy storage battery 4 are located between the transparent lens and the housing. Exemplarily, in the assembled electronic price tag, if the color-changing device is installed above the electronic ink screen, the electronic price tag is lens 6, color-changing device 3, electronic ink screen 2, control circuit board 1, energy storage battery 4, and housing 5 from front to back.

[0069] The utility model designs a new electronic price tag, and installs a color-changing device on the front side of the electronic price tag and / or the surface of the shell. In this way, in addition to displaying the product information specified by the user, the electronic price tag can also control the color-changing device to make the surface of the electronic price tag present different colors or patterns. Compared with manually installing a colored shell on the electronic price tag, the color or pattern of the outer surface of the electronic price tag can be changed efficiently.

[0070] Furthermore, in order to introduce the electronic price tag of the present invention in more detail, each component constituting the electronic price tag of the present invention is described in detail.

[0071] First, the electronic ink screen 2 is described. For example, see Figure 2 , which shows a schematic diagram of the structure of the electronic ink screen; wherein the electronic ink screen 2 includes a display area 2-1, a driving chip 2-2 and a first flexible circuit board 2-3. The first flexible circuit board 2-3 is electrically connected to the control circuit board, and is used to receive and forward a first display instruction issued by the control circuit board; the driving chip 2-2 is used to control the working timing and state of each pixel or segment code in the display area 2-1 according to the first display instruction forwarded by the first flexible circuit board 2-3, so as to drive the display area 2-1 to display the product information.

[0072] For further information, see Figure 3, which shows a schematic structural diagram of a color-changing device. The color-changing device 3 includes a second flexible circuit board 3-1, a first color-changing display area 3-2, and a second color-changing display area 3-3 surrounding the first color-changing display area. After the color-changing device is installed above the electronic ink screen, the first color-changing display area 3-2 is located vertically above the display area of ​​the electronic ink screen, that is, the first color-changing display area and the display area of ​​the electronic ink screen are aligned in the vertical direction, and the first color-changing display area is located directly above the display area of ​​the electronic ink screen without any horizontal offset; the coverage area of ​​the first color-changing display area is greater than or equal to the coverage area of ​​the display area of ​​the electronic ink screen; wherein, the coverage area of ​​the first color-changing display area may optionally be equal to the area of ​​the vertical projection of the first color-changing display area on the electronic ink screen, and the coverage area of ​​the display area may optionally be the area calculated according to the size of the display area; such a design can avoid the first electrochromic device from blocking the product information displayed on the electronic ink screen; the second color-changing display area 3-3 is located vertically above other areas of the electronic ink screen except the display area, that is, the second color-changing display area and other areas of the electronic ink screen are aligned in the vertical direction, and the second color-changing display area is located directly above other areas of the electronic ink screen without any horizontal offset. The coverage area of ​​the second color-changing display area is less than or equal to the coverage area of ​​the other areas; wherein, the coverage area of ​​the second color-changing display area may be optionally equal to the area of ​​the vertical projection of the second color-changing display area on the electronic ink screen, and the coverage area of ​​the other areas may be optionally the actual area of ​​the other areas. That is, the second color-changing display area 3-3 may fully cover other areas of the electronic ink screen except the display area, or may partially cover the other areas, which is not specifically limited here. In order to avoid the first color-changing display area 3-2 from blocking the product information displayed on the electronic ink screen, when the product information needs to be displayed, the first color-changing display area 3-2 may be controlled to be in a transparent state; when the product information is not displayed, the first color-changing display area 3-2 may display other colors or patterns; since the second color-changing display area 3-3 covers other areas except the ink screen display area, the front of the electronic price tag may present a user-specified color or pattern by changing the color state or pattern state of the second color-changing display area 3-3.

[0073] The second flexible circuit board 3-1 is electrically connected to the control circuit board, and is used to receive a second display instruction sent by the control circuit board, wherein the second display instruction may include a display instruction for controlling the first color-changing display area and a display instruction for controlling the second color-changing display area; the second color-changing display area adjusts the color or pattern state according to the second display instruction so that the front of the electronic price tag presents the color or pattern specified by the user; the first color-changing display area is in a transparent state according to the second display instruction.

[0074] In this embodiment, the structure of the color-changing device is designed according to actual needs. An optional implementation method is to hollow out the first color-changing display area, that is, the color-changing device includes a second flexible circuit board, a hollow area and a second color-changing display area surrounding the hollow area; wherein, after the color-changing device is installed above the electronic ink screen, the hollow area is located vertically directly above the display area of ​​the electronic ink screen, and the coverage area of ​​the hollow area is greater than or equal to the coverage area of ​​the display area of ​​the electronic ink screen; the coverage area of ​​the hollow area can optionally be the area of ​​the vertical projection of the hollow area on the electronic ink screen; the second color-changing display area is located vertically directly above other areas of the electronic ink screen except the display area, and the coverage area of ​​the second color-changing display area is less than or equal to the coverage area of ​​the other areas; the second flexible circuit board is electrically connected to the control circuit board for receiving a second display instruction sent by the control circuit board, so that the second color-changing display area adjusts the color or pattern state according to the second display instruction.

[0075] In another optional implementation scheme, a transparent component is used to replace the first color-changing display area in the color-changing device, that is, the color-changing device includes a second flexible circuit board, a transparent component and a second color-changing display area surrounding the transparent component; wherein, after the color-changing device is installed above the electronic ink screen, the transparent component is located vertically above the display area covering the electronic ink screen, and the coverage area of ​​the transparent component is greater than or equal to the coverage area of ​​the display area of ​​the electronic ink screen; the coverage area of ​​the transparent component can optionally be the area of ​​the vertical projection of the transparent component on the electronic ink screen; the second color-changing display area is located vertically above other areas of the electronic ink screen except the display area, and the coverage area of ​​the second color-changing display area is less than or equal to the coverage area of ​​the other areas; the second flexible circuit board is electrically connected to the control circuit board for receiving a second display instruction sent by the control circuit board, so that the second color-changing display area adjusts the color or pattern state according to the second display instruction.

[0076] It should be noted that when the color-changing device is installed on the inner or outer surface of the shell, since there is no obstruction problem, the color-changing device can adopt a structure in which a first color-changing display area and a second color-changing display area exist at the same time, as long as the first color-changing display area and the second color-changing display area display the same color.

[0077] In order to explain the color changing device 3 in detail, the first / second color changing display area of ​​the color changing device is introduced. Figure 4, which shows a schematic diagram of the structure of the first / second color-changing display area. The first / second color-changing display area includes five layers, from top to bottom, namely, a first transparent substrate 4-1, a first transparent conductive layer 4-2, a bistable or multi-stable display layer 4-3, a second transparent conductive layer 4-4, and a second transparent substrate 4-5.

[0078] Wherein, the first transparent conductive layer 4-2 is located above the bistable or multi-stable display layer 4-3 and is used as an upper electrode for driving the electric field;

[0079] A second transparent conductive layer 4-4, located below the bistable or multi-stable display layer 4-3, and used for driving the lower electrode of the electric field;

[0080] The bistable or multi-stable display layer 4-3 is used to present different color states or pattern states according to different applied electric fields; that is, by adjusting the electric field between the first transparent conductive layer 4-2 and the second transparent conductive layer 4-4, the bistable or multi-stable display layer 4-3 presents different color states or pattern states. Exemplarily, the bistable or multi-stable display layer 4-3 can have four optional color states, and the four color states are defined as A, B, C and D. By changing the electric field between the first transparent conductive layer 4-2 and the second transparent conductive layer 4-4, the switching and display of the four color states can be realized. For the four colors A, B, C, and D, they are respectively encoded as 00, 01, 10, and 11, corresponding to four different voltages in turn. The encoding is the digital ID of the four states. The electronic price tag control system can realize the transmission of instructions by retrieval and calling. At the same time, by continuously switching between multiple colored states, a flashing effect can be achieved, which is visually presented as a dynamic display of colors and patterns.

[0081] Optionally, the voltages corresponding to different color states can be found in Table 1.

[0082] Table 1

[0083] Color Status coding Voltage A 00 +15V B 01 +5V C 10 -5V D 11 -15V

[0084] It is understandable that if the user does not specify a color state, the color-changing device is in a transparent state by default, that is, the first / second color-changing area does not display a color or pattern. The user can subsequently control the electronic price tag to switch between a colored state and a transparent state as needed.

[0085] A first transparent substrate 4-1, located above the first transparent conductive layer 4-2, for carrying and protecting the bistable or multi-stable display layer, the first transparent conductive layer, and the second transparent conductive layer;

[0086] The second transparent substrate 4 - 5 is located below the second transparent conductive layer 4 - 4 and is used for carrying and protecting the bistable or multi-stable display layer, the first transparent conductive layer and the second transparent conductive layer.

[0087] Furthermore, other components of the electronic price tag are further described.

[0088] In an embodiment of the utility model, the energy storage battery is a secondary battery, wherein the secondary battery refers to a battery that can be continuously used by activating the active material by charging after the battery is discharged. That is, the energy storage battery is a rechargeable battery. In view of this situation, in order to ensure that the energy storage battery is charged, at least one solar film is also provided in the electronic price tag, and optionally, the solar film can be installed at the bottom or upper part of the color-changing device. Specifically, the solar film is installed above or at the bottom of the second color-changing display area of ​​the color-changing device. In implementation, the shape of the solar film can be customized according to the range of the second color-changing display area of ​​the color-changing device, so that the customized solar film can just partially cover the second color-changing display area after installation, or just at the bottom of the second color-changing display area. In addition, the solar film can also be installed on the outer edge of the second color-changing display area, that is, the solar film is externally connected to the color-changing device and is in the same plane as the color-changing device; in addition to this, the solar film can also be installed on the inner edge of the second color-changing display area of ​​the color-changing device, for example, the solar film is installed between the first color-changing display area and the second color-changing display area of ​​the color-changing device, as long as the installed solar film does not block the ink screen display area.

[0089] After the solar film is installed in any of the above installation methods, it can be electrically connected to the control circuit board, and then the energy storage battery is charged through the control circuit board. For example, the structural diagram of the electronic price tag with two solar films 7 is shown in Figure 5 .

[0090] It should be noted that, in the case where the solar film is installed at the bottom of the color-changing device, in order to ensure that the solar film can convert solar energy into electrical energy, when charging is required, the second color-changing device of the color-changing assembly needs to be switched from a colored state to a transparent state.

[0091] In an optional implementation, the energy storage battery may also be directly set as a primary battery, that is, a non-rechargeable battery.

[0092] In another optional implementation, the energy storage battery is set as a rechargeable secondary battery, and a primary battery is set as an alternative. The primary battery can be set at the bottom, top or side of the control circuit board, and is used to power the electronic price tag when the solar film cannot charge the energy storage battery and the power of the energy storage battery is lower than a preset threshold. In this way, it can be ensured that the electronic price tag will not stop working due to lack of power.

[0093] Furthermore, in order to better introduce the electronic price tag, the functional modules included in the control circuit board in the electronic price tag are explained.

[0094] First, the control circuit board includes a series-parallel control circuit module, which is used to connect the electric energy converted by the solar film sheets in series or in parallel when there are more than or equal to two solar film sheets. It should be noted that the preferred solution is parallel connection.

[0095] Furthermore, the control circuit board also includes an energy management module, a microcontroller module, a color-changing device controller, and a near-field coupling module.

[0096] The energy management module is electrically connected to the series-parallel control circuit module and the energy storage battery respectively. The energy management module can receive the electric energy converted by the solar film and transmitted by the series-parallel control circuit module, and store the electric energy converted by the solar film in the energy storage battery; specifically, the energy management module performs step-up or step-down conversion on the received electric energy according to the energy storage demand of the energy storage battery, and then transmits the electric energy to the energy storage battery. This is the process of charging the energy storage battery.

[0097] In addition, the energy management module is electrically connected to the microcontroller module and can also be used to manage the discharge process of the energy storage battery. When the color-changing device and the electronic ink screen are refreshing or need to consume electricity, the microcontroller module sends and receives instructions, and the required energy is provided by the energy management module. Specifically, the energy management module controls the output power of the energy storage battery and provides the required current and voltage to the microcontroller module. This is the discharge process of the energy storage battery.

[0098] In order to further illustrate the charging and discharging process, the scene in which the electronic price tag is located is used for illustration. When the electronic price tag is in standby mode, the power consumption of the entire system is very low. At this time, the energy management module controls the power output of the energy storage battery to provide the required power for the electronic price tag. Taking the actual use scenario of the electronic price tag in the shop as an example, when the shop is open, the shop is in a light environment. At this time, the solar film collects light energy and converts it into electrical energy. The energy storage battery is charged through the energy management module. The power consumption of the entire electronic price tag mainly comes from the screen swiping process of the color-changing device and the electronic ink screen, and the standby process of the electronic price tag. After the business is over, the shop turns off the light source in the shop. At this time, the solar film cannot charge the energy storage battery, and the power consumption of the electronic price tag mainly comes from the system standby process. The utility model uses solar cells as the source of energy. In order to achieve the energy self-sufficiency of the electronic price tag, the solar cell needs to collect enough energy when there is light and store it in the energy storage battery, that is, the stored energy needs to at least reach all the energy consumed by the electronic price tag during business hours and non-business hours within 24 hours. The solar film sheet adopted by the utility model is a solar cell suitable for indoor lighting, preferably a perovskite solar cell.

[0099] In the embodiment of the utility model, the microcontroller module in the control circuit board is electrically connected to the first flexible circuit board of the electronic ink screen, and is used to generate the first display instruction (i.e., the commodity information display instruction) according to the commodity information to be displayed sent by the server, and send the first display instruction to the first flexible circuit board of the electronic ink screen, so that the first flexible circuit board forwards the first display instruction to the driving chip;

[0100] The microcontroller module is also used to generate a second display instruction according to the color state or pattern state that the color-changing device needs to be in sent by the server, and send the second display instruction to the color-changing device controller electrically connected to the microcontroller, so that the color-changing device controller controls the color-changing device to display the specified color state or pattern state according to the second display instruction; wherein, in the case where there are multiple color-changing devices, the color states or pattern states displayed by different color-changing devices may be the same or different; the color-changing device controller is a component in the control circuit board, which is electrically connected to the microcontroller module and is also electrically connected to at least one color-changing device.

[0101] In the embodiment of the utility model, the control circuit board also includes a near-field coupling module for processing the communication signal between the microcontroller module and the mobile terminal, receiving and processing the electric energy obtained by the near-field coupling, and transmitting the electric energy to the energy management module; wherein the mobile terminal can be a terminal device such as a smart phone. The near-field coupling module is mainly used in some special scenarios, such as long periods of no light conditions or low light conditions. The corresponding scenarios are such as the electronic price tag being discarded in a corner or the shop taking a long vacation. When the electronic price tag is used again, some functions may fail due to insufficient energy storage in the energy storage battery. At this time, if it depends on indoor lighting charging, it will take a lot of time, such as several hours to dozens of hours. Therefore, in order to achieve fast charging, the electronic price tag can be approached by an external terminal with near-field coupling communication function, and a large amount of electricity can be received in a short time through near-field coupling, and the energy can be transmitted to the energy management module through the near-field coupling module. After that, the adapted electricity is transmitted to the energy storage battery through the conversion of electricity.

[0102] In the solution of the utility model, the electrochromic device is installed on the front side and / or the surface of the shell of the electronic price tag, which can automatically control the electronic price tag to display a specified color or pattern, and can significantly improve the efficiency of changing the color or pattern of the electronic price tag. Moreover, compared with the method of manually installing and removing the colored shell, it can significantly reduce the labor cost and time cost. There is no need to replace the external colored shell of the electronic price tag, which avoids the waste of materials and has a wide range of usage scenarios. In the solution of the present utility model, the solar film can be arranged in the electronic price tag at the same time as the color-changing device, visible from the front, or the solar film can be set at the bottom or top of the color-changing device. In this way, by setting the solar film, the energy storage battery can be automatically charged to avoid frequent battery replacement of the electronic price tag; this solution can display more complex images and richer colors, and can even realize dynamic changes in the color of the electronic price tag, enriching the display form of the price tag and creating more value for the store; in addition, since the electrochromic device mentioned in the utility model adopts bistable or multi-stable display technology, it only consumes power when the screen is refreshed, and no longer consumes power after the screen is refreshed, so the power consumption level is very low. In addition, the communication can adopt a private protocol solution to further reduce the power consumption of the electronic price tag.

[0103] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of an electronic price tag control system provided by the embodiment of the utility model. Figure 6 , an electronic price tag control system, comprising at least one of the above-mentioned electronic price tags, at least one communication base station, a cloud server and a control terminal, and the electronic price tag, at least one communication base station, the cloud server and the control terminal are communicatively connected;

[0104] The control terminal is used to generate a display instruction according to the display configuration information of each electronic price tag acquired by the user, and send the display instruction to the cloud server; wherein the display configuration information is the product information, the color state or pattern state of the electronic price tag, and the display time configured by the user after logging into the price tag management system at the control terminal; the display instruction includes a product information display instruction and a price tag color or pattern display instruction;

[0105] The cloud server forwards the received display instruction to the communication base station, so that the communication base station distributes the display instruction to the corresponding electronic price tag;

[0106] The microcontroller module in the electronic price tag receives and parses the product information display instructions and the price tag color or pattern display instructions, and then controls the electronic ink screen in the electronic price tag to display the corresponding product information and controls the color-changing device in the electronic price tag to enter a specified color state or pattern state.

[0107] In an embodiment of the utility model, each store may include at least one electronic price tag and at least one communication base station; when the cloud server sends a display instruction, it can send it to the communication base stations of multiple stores at the same time, so that the communication base stations in the stores can send the display instructions to the electronic price tags in the stores; wherein, the communication base stations and the electronic price tags can transmit data instructions through a wireless communication protocol.

[0108] On the basis of introducing the electronic price tag control system, the process of controlling the electronic price tag to display a specified color or pattern is as follows: This utility model takes the scene of electronic price tags used in supermarkets as an example for explanation. The supermarket manager logs in to the price tag management system through the operation interface, or the ERP system directly connects the data to the electronic price tag backend management system. Both methods can control the change of the display content or shell color of the electronic price tag. Select the target goods in the target store that needs to be operated on the management system, or the ERP system connects the target product data to the electronic price tag system, and specifies the product information that needs to be displayed on these price tags in batches or individually, and specifies the color and pattern of the price tag shell at the same time, or only changes the shell color or pattern. The time point and duration of the information switching or color change can be set, and the electronic price tag backend cloud server will execute the instruction to the base station. The base station sends the instruction to the electronic price tag in the store through the 2.4G private protocol or the standard wireless communication protocol, such as BLE, WIFI, zigbee, NBIOT, LTE, etc., and the specified price tags present the product information and the appearance theme of the price tag according to the instruction requirements.

[0109] It should be noted that the message transmitted by the server to the base station contains the following information: price tag ID, picture displayed on the price tag (optional), effective time point (optional) and effective duration (optional), color of the price tag shell (required).

[0110] In the solution of the utility model, the color or pattern of the electronic price tag shell can be automatically changed by resetting the electronic price tag, without the need for manual installation and disassembly of the colored shell.

[0111] The above specific implementations do not constitute a limitation on the protection scope of the present utility model. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications, combinations, sub-combinations and substitutions can be made according to design requirements and other factors. Any modification, equivalent substitution and improvement made within the spirit and principle of the present utility model shall be included in the protection scope of the present utility model.

Claims

1. An electronic price tag, characterized in that: It includes a control circuit board, an electronic ink screen, at least one color-changing device, an energy storage battery and a housing; Wherein, the control circuit board is electrically connected to the electronic ink screen, at least one color-changing device, and the energy storage battery respectively; The color-changing device is installed above the electronic ink screen and / or on the surface of the housing to display the color or pattern indicated by the control circuit board; The electronic ink screen is used to display the commodity information indicated by the control circuit board; The energy storage battery is installed at the bottom, top or side of the control circuit board to supply power to the entire electronic price tag; The shell is used to support and protect the control circuit board, the electronic ink screen, at least one color-changing device and the energy storage battery.

2. The electronic price tag according to claim 1, characterized in that: The electronic ink screen includes a display area, a driving chip and a first flexible circuit board; Wherein, the first flexible circuit board is electrically connected to the control circuit board, and is used to receive and forward the first display instruction issued by the control circuit board; The driving chip is used to drive the display area to display the product information according to the first display instruction forwarded by the first flexible circuit board.

3. The electronic price tag according to claim 2, characterized in that: The color-changing device includes a second flexible circuit board, a first color-changing display area, and a second color-changing display area surrounding the first color-changing display area; Wherein, after the color-changing device is installed above the electronic ink screen, the first color-changing display area is located vertically directly above the display area of ​​the electronic ink screen, and the coverage area of ​​the first color-changing display area is greater than or equal to the coverage area of ​​the display area of ​​the electronic ink screen; the second color-changing display area is located vertically directly above other areas of the electronic ink screen except the display area, and the coverage area of ​​the second color-changing display area is less than or equal to the coverage area of ​​the other areas; The second flexible circuit board is electrically connected to the control circuit board, and is used to receive a second display instruction sent by the control circuit board, so that the first color-changing display area and the second color-changing display area respectively adjust the color or pattern state according to the second display instruction.

4. The electronic price tag according to claim 2, characterized in that: The color-changing device includes a second flexible circuit board, a hollow area, and a second color-changing display area surrounding the hollow area; Wherein, after the color-changing device is installed above the electronic ink screen, the hollow area is located vertically directly above the display area of ​​the electronic ink screen, and the coverage area of ​​the hollow area is greater than or equal to the coverage area of ​​the display area of ​​the electronic ink screen; the second color-changing display area is located vertically directly above other areas of the electronic ink screen except the display area, and the coverage area of ​​the second color-changing display area is less than or equal to the coverage area of ​​the other areas; The second flexible circuit board is electrically connected to the control circuit board and is used to receive a second display instruction sent by the control circuit board so that the second color-changing display area adjusts the color or pattern state according to the second display instruction.

5. The electronic price tag according to claim 2, characterized in that: The color-changing device includes a second flexible circuit board, a transparent component, and a second color-changing display area surrounding the transparent component; Wherein, after the color-changing device is installed above the electronic ink screen, the transparent component is located vertically directly above the display area of ​​the electronic ink screen, and the coverage area of ​​the transparent component is greater than or equal to the coverage area of ​​the display area of ​​the electronic ink screen; the second color-changing display area is located vertically directly above other areas of the electronic ink screen except the display area, and the coverage area of ​​the second color-changing display area is less than or equal to the coverage area of ​​the other areas; The second flexible circuit board is electrically connected to the control circuit board and is used to receive a second display instruction sent by the control circuit board so that the second color-changing display area adjusts the color or pattern state according to the second display instruction.

6. The electronic price tag according to claim 3, characterized in that: The first color-changing display area or the second color-changing display area includes: A bistable or multistable display layer for presenting different color states or pattern states according to different applied electric fields; A first transparent conductive layer, located above the bistable or multi-stable display layer, and used as an upper electrode for driving an electric field; A second transparent conductive layer, located below the bistable or multi-stable display layer, and used for driving the lower electrode of the electric field; A first transparent substrate, located above the first transparent conductive layer, and used for carrying and protecting the bistable or multi-stable display layer, the first transparent conductive layer, and the second transparent conductive layer; The second transparent substrate is located below the second transparent conductive layer and is used for carrying and protecting the bistable or multi-stable display layer, the first transparent conductive layer and the second transparent conductive layer.

7. The electronic price tag according to claim 3, characterized in that: The energy storage battery is a secondary battery, and the electronic price tag also includes at least one solar film: Wherein, the solar film is electrically connected to the control circuit board and is used to charge the energy storage battery through the control circuit board.

8. The electronic price tag according to claim 7, characterized in that: The installation position of the solar film in the electronic price tag includes at least one of the following: Installed at the bottom of the second color-changing display area of ​​the color-changing device; Installed on the upper part of the second color-changing display area of ​​the color-changing device; Installed at the inner edge of the second color-changing display area of ​​the color-changing device; Installed on the outer edge of the second color-changing display area of ​​the color-changing device.

9. The electronic price tag according to claim 7, characterized in that: Also includes: A primary battery is arranged at the bottom, top or side of the control circuit board, and is used to power the electronic price tag when the solar film cannot charge the energy storage battery and the power of the energy storage battery is lower than a preset threshold.

10. The electronic price tag according to claim 7, characterized in that: The control circuit board comprises: An energy management module, used to store the electric energy converted by the solar film into an energy storage battery, and transmit the electric energy of the energy storage battery to a microcontroller module electrically connected to the energy management module; a microcontroller module, electrically connected to the first flexible circuit board of the electronic ink screen, for generating the first display instruction according to the commodity information to be displayed sent by the server, and sending the first display instruction to the first flexible circuit board of the electronic ink screen, so that the first flexible circuit board forwards the first display instruction to the driving chip; The microcontroller module is also used to generate a second display instruction according to the color state or pattern state that the color-changing device needs to be in sent by the server, and send the second display instruction to the color-changing device controller electrically connected to the microcontroller, so that the color-changing device controller controls the color-changing device to display the specified color state or pattern state according to the second display instruction.

11. The electronic price tag according to claim 10, characterized in that: The control circuit board also includes: The near-field coupling module is used to process the communication signal between the microcontroller module and the mobile terminal, receive and process the electric energy obtained by near-field coupling, and transmit the electric energy to the energy management module.

12. The electronic price tag according to claim 7, characterized in that: The control circuit board also includes: The series-parallel control circuit module is used to control the electric energy converted by the solar films to be connected in series or in parallel when there are more than or equal to two solar films.

13. The electronic price tag according to claim 1, characterized in that: Also includes lenses; Wherein, the lens is connected to the shell, and after the color-changing device is installed above the electronic ink screen and / or on the inner surface of the shell, the control circuit board, the electronic ink screen, at least one color-changing device, and the energy storage battery are located between the lens and the shell.

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