Electronic shelf labels

Abstract

DEPCT68 This disclosure will reveal the electronic shelf labels, including: the external location on the PCB. The electronic shelf tag will add a passive NFC antenna that does not require electrical connection to the existing NFC antenna. And a passive NFC antenna will be connected to the existing NFC antenna. This disclosure will improve the The NFC signal strength and NFC field strength distribution are both located near the electronic shelf display screen. In cases where the size of the electronic shelf tag is limited and the NFC antenna is obstructed by the display, Battery, structural components, etc., which will improve NFC communication range, area. Perceived effectiveness, trigger response speed, and other performance aspects of the shelf sign.

Description

An electronic price tag Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of electronic price tags, and in particular to electronic price tags. Background Art

[0002] This section is intended to provide a background or context to the embodiments of the present application that are recited in the claims. No admission is made that the description herein is prior art by virtue of its inclusion in this section.

[0003] As various types of electronic price tags are widely used in supermarket retail, warehousing and logistics, smart signage and other fields, in order to expand the functions and interactive methods of electronic price tags, NFC communication functions have been widely integrated into electronic price tags. Existing electronic price tags only have one NFC antenna, which is usually integrated on the electronic price tag PCB (printed circuit board) and is electrically connected to the NFC circuit on the electronic price tag PCB, or as a separate antenna accessory electrically connected to the NFC circuit on the PCB. However, due to the size of the electronic price tag, the NFC antenna of the electronic price tag is often blocked by the screen, battery, structural parts, etc., resulting in poor NFC performance near the electronic price tag screen, that is, the NFC communication distance of the electronic price tag is shortened, the effective sensing area is reduced, the trigger response speed is slowed down, and the user experience is deteriorated.

[0004] Summary of the Invention

[0005] An embodiment of the present application further provides an electronic price tag, which includes: a passive NFC antenna that is not electrically connected to an existing NFC antenna and is added at a position outside the electronic price tag PCB; the passive NFC antenna is a relay coupling coil, and the passive NFC antenna is coupled to the existing NFC antenna.

[0006] In one embodiment, the location outside the electronic price tag PCB is on the electronic price tag lens, and the passive NFC antenna is a relay coupling coil surrounding the electronic price tag lens.

[0007] In one embodiment, the location outside the electronic price tag PCB is on the front shell of the electronic price tag, and the passive NFC antenna is a relay coupling coil surrounding the front shell of the electronic price tag.

[0008] In one embodiment, the location outside the electronic price tag PCB is the battery compartment cover of the electronic price tag, and the passive NFC antenna is a relay coupling coil surrounding the battery compartment cover.

[0009] In one embodiment, the location outside the electronic price tag PCB is the back shell of the electronic price tag, and the passive NFC antenna is a relay coupling coil surrounding the back shell of the electronic price tag.

[0010] In one embodiment, the location other than the electronic price tag PCB is on the middle frame shell of the electronic price tag, and the passive NFC antenna is a relay coupling coil surrounding the middle frame shell of the electronic price tag.

[0011] In one embodiment, the location outside the electronic price tag PCB is on the electronic price tag housing, and the passive NFC antenna is a relay coupling coil surrounding the electronic price tag housing.

[0012] In one embodiment, it further includes: an antenna matching device,

[0013] In one embodiment, the passive NFC antenna is attached to or embedded in a location outside the electronic price tag PCB.

[0014] In the embodiments of the present application, compared with the technical solution in the prior art in which the electronic price tag has only one NFC antenna, and due to the limited size of the electronic price tag itself, the screen, battery, and other metal accessories will block the NFC antenna of the electronic price tag, causing NFC signal attenuation on the front of and around the price tag screen, resulting in a decrease in NFC performance, the present application adds a passive NFC antenna at a position outside the electronic price tag PCB that has no electrical connection with the existing NFC antenna. The passive NFC antenna is coupled with the existing NFC antenna to improve the NFC signal strength and field strength distribution near the electronic price tag screen, thereby improving the price tag NFC communication distance, effective sensing area, trigger response speed and other performance. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present application or the technical solutions in the prior art, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for the embodiments or the description of the prior art. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative work. In the drawings:

[0016] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of an electronic price tag in an embodiment of the present application;

[0017] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a passive NFC relay coupling antenna on the lens or front shell of an electronic price tag according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0018] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a passive NFC relay coupling antenna on an electronic price tag housing or a middle frame housing in an embodiment of the present application;

[0019] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a passive NFC relay coupling antenna on the battery box housing or the rear housing in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present application more clear, the embodiments of the present application are further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Here, the illustrative embodiments of the present application and their descriptions are used to explain the present application, but are not intended to limit the present application.

[0021] Based on the problems existing in the prior art, the present application proposes an electronic price tag, as shown in Figures 1 to 4, which includes: adding a passive NFC antenna that has no electrical connection with the existing NFC antenna at a position outside the electronic price tag PCB (the position indicated by the arrow is the installation position of the passive NFC antenna), and the passive NFC antenna is coupled with the existing NFC antenna.

[0022] Specifically, a passive NFC antenna that has no electrical connection with the existing NFC antenna, circuit, etc. is added outside the price tag PCB. The alternating signal in the antenna can be coupled with the existing NFC antenna through the passive NFC antenna, which can improve the signal strength and field strength distribution of the NFC signal field near the electronic price tag screen, and enhance the price tag NFC communication distance, effective sensing area, trigger response speed and other performance.

[0023] Figure 1 shows three possible passive NFC antenna installation locations. The placement of the NFC passive relay coupling coil for an electronic price tag includes, but is not limited to, the three options listed above. Figure 1 shows a complete electronic price tag structure, consisting of the lens (shown toward the back in Figure 1) at the front and the midframe and battery compartment (shown toward the front in Figure 1) at the back.

[0024] Specifically, coupling refers to the process by which energy propagates from one medium (e.g., a metal wire, optical fiber) to another. In electronics, coupling refers to the transfer of energy from one circuit part to another.

[0025] In the embodiment of the present application, Figure 2 is a reference solution 1 of a price tag with an external passive NFC antenna. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the location outside the electronic price tag PCB is on the electronic price tag lens, and the passive NFC antenna is a relay coupling coil surrounding the electronic price tag lens.

[0026] Alternatively, as shown in FIG1 and FIG2 , the position outside the electronic price tag PCB is on the front shell of the electronic price tag, and the passive NFC antenna is a relay coupling coil surrounding the front shell of the electronic price tag.

[0027] Specifically, the front screen of an ESL typically comes in either a lens or a non-lens version. For ESLs with lenses, the passive NFC antenna can be located around the lens. For non-lens ESLs, there's an injection-molded structure similar to a lens frame, typically called a front housing, where the passive NFC antenna can be located.

[0028] In the embodiment of the present application, Figure 3 is a reference solution 2 of a price tag with an external passive NFC antenna. As shown in Figures 1 and 3, the location outside the electronic price tag PCB is on the middle frame shell of the electronic price tag, and the passive NFC antenna is a relay coupling coil surrounding the middle frame shell of the electronic price tag.

[0029] Alternatively, as shown in FIG1 and FIG3 , the position outside the electronic price tag PCB is on the electronic price tag shell, and the passive NFC antenna is a relay coupling coil surrounding the electronic price tag shell.

[0030] Specifically, the electronic price tag housing is the structural component where the passive NFC antenna coil is located, as indicated by the three arrows in Figure 1. It includes a battery box, a middle frame, a lens, etc., and their collection is called the electronic price tag housing.

[0031] The price tag middle frame refers to the housing structure where the passive NFC antenna coil is located, as indicated by the middle arrow in Figure 1.

[0032] In the embodiment of the present application, Figure 4 is a reference solution 3 of a price tag with an external passive NFC antenna. As shown in Figures 1 and 4, the location outside the electronic price tag PCB is the battery box cover (battery box shell) of the electronic price tag, and the passive NFC antenna is a relay coupling coil surrounding the battery box cover.

[0033] Alternatively, as shown in FIG1 and FIG4 , the position outside the electronic price tag PCB is the back shell of the electronic price tag, and the passive NFC antenna is a relay coupling coil surrounding the back shell of the electronic price tag.

[0034] Specifically, electronic price tags currently have two forms: battery-replaceable and battery-non-replaceable. 1. Battery-replaceable ones usually have a battery box structure; 2. Non-replaceable ones usually have a middle frame shell and a battery box that are integrated. That is, the only structural parts of the price tag visible to the human eye are the lens and the shell, which is often called the rear shell.

[0035] In an embodiment of the present application, the electronic price tag further includes: an antenna matching device (not marked in FIG1 ), which is connected in series or in parallel to the passive NFC antenna (i.e., the relay coupling coil) to improve characteristic parameters such as the Q value (quality factor), center frequency, and passband bandwidth of the passive NFC antenna.

[0036] Specifically, the antenna matching device is usually an inductor and a capacitor connected in series and parallel with the NFC antenna coil.

[0037] In the embodiment of the present application, the passive NFC antenna can be attached or embedded in a position outside the electronic price tag PCB.

[0038] To summarize, in the embodiments of the present application, compared with the technical solution in the prior art in which the electronic price tag has only one NFC antenna, and due to the limited size of the electronic price tag itself, the screen, battery, and other metal accessories will block the NFC antenna of the electronic price tag, causing NFC signal attenuation on the front of and around the price tag screen, resulting in a decrease in NFC performance, the present application adds a passive NFC antenna at a position outside the electronic price tag PCB that has no electrical connection with the existing NFC antenna. The passive NFC antenna is coupled with the existing NFC antenna, which can improve the NFC signal strength and field strength distribution near the electronic price tag screen, and enhance the price tag's NFC communication distance, effective sensing area, trigger response speed and other performance.

[0039] The specific embodiments described above further illustrate the purpose, technical solutions and beneficial effects of the present application. It should be understood that the above description is only a specific embodiment of the present application and is not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present application. Any modifications, equivalent replacements, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principles of the present application should be included in the scope of protection of the present application.

Claims

DEPCT68 1. Electronic shelf label, which includes: the outer PCB location of the shelf label. For electronics, a passive NFC antenna that is not electrically connected will be added to an existing NFC antenna. Where the passive NFC antenna is a relay-connected coil, and the passive NFC antenna is... Connect to the existing NFC antenna.

2. The electronic shelf label conforms to claim 1, where the external location of the PCB of The electronic shelf tag is located on the lens of the electronic shelf tag, and has a passive NFC antenna. It is a relay connecting coil that surrounds the lens of an electronic shelf sign.

3. The electronic shelf label conforms to claim 1, where the external location of the PCB of The electronic shelf tag is located on the front housing of the electronic shelf tag, and the NFC antenna is included. A passive relay is a coil that connects to a relay and surrounds the front housing of an electronic shelf bracket.

4. The electronic shelf label conforms to claim 1, where the external location of the PCB of The electronic shelf label is located on the battery box cover of the electronic shelf label, and the antenna. The passive NFC component is a relay-connecting coil that surrounds the battery box cover.

5. The electronic shelf label conforms to claim 1, where the external location of the PCB of The electronic shelf tag is located on the back housing of the electronic shelf tag, and the NFC antenna is also included. A passive relay is a coil that connects to a relay and surrounds the rear housing of an electronic shelf bracket.

6. The electronic shelf label conforms to claim 1, where the external location of the PCB of The electronic shelf label is located on the central frame of the electronic shelf label, and the antenna. A passive NFC component is a relay-connecting coil that surrounds the central housing of an electronic shelf tag.

7. The electronic shelf label conforms to claim 1, where the external location of the PCB of The electronic shelf tag is located on the electronic shelf tag housing, and the passive NFC antenna is... The coil connects the relay, which is surrounded by the electronic shelf housing.

8. The electronic shelf label conforms to claim 1, which is further comprised of the following components: Pair the antennas, which are connected in series or parallel to the passive NFC antenna, in order to... Improve the characteristic parameters of a passive NFC antenna.

9. The electronic shelf label complies with claim 1, where a passive NFC antenna is attached. Or it may be embedded or fixed to an external location on the PCB of the electronic shelf label.

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