Electronic shelf label and preparation method therefor

Abstract

The present application provides an electronic shelf label and a preparation method therefor. The electronic shelf label comprises: an electronic paper display having a first surface; and a flexible printed circuit board assembly comprising a flexible circuit board and a control circuit provided on a body of the flexible circuit board, the body being provided on the first surface of the electronic paper display, the flexible circuit board having a bending portion connected to the body, and the bending portion being electrically connected to the electronic paper display at the edge of the electronic paper display. The electronic shelf label of embodiments of the present application eliminates the need of a PCB, so that the structure of the electronic shelf label is simplified, the thickness and volume of the electronic shelf label are reduced, and one binding process for binding an FPC and the PCB in the preparation process of the electronic shelf label is eliminated, thereby simplifying the preparation process of the electronic shelf label, improving production efficiency, and reducing production costs.

Description

Electronic price tag and preparation method thereof

[0001] Related applications

[0002] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202410718289.4, filed on June 4, 2024, and incorporates by reference the entire disclosure of the aforementioned patent application as part of this application. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The present application relates to the technical field of electronic price tags, and in particular to an electronic price tag and a preparation method thereof. BACKGROUND

[0004] This section is intended to provide background information to facilitate a better understanding of embodiments of this application as set forth in the claims. The description herein does not constitute admission of prior art.

[0005] FIGS. 9 and 10 show the structure of functional components of a conventional electronic price tag (ESL), including a flexible printed circuit (FPC) 201, an electronic paper display (EPD) 202, and a printed circuit board (PCB) 203, the FPC 201 being bonded with the EPD 202, and the FPC 201 being bonded with the PCB 203.

[0006] As can be seen, the conventional electronic price tag involves two bonding processes, and each bonding requires a certain crimping temperature and crimping time, and the structure and process are relatively complex. In addition, since the board material of the PCB 203 has a relatively large hardness and thickness, and occupies a relatively large space, the volume of the electronic price tag is relatively large, and it is easy to be damaged due to stress. SUMMARY

[0007] The purpose of the present application is to provide an electronic price tag and a preparation method thereof to solve the problems or other similar problems pointed out in the background.

[0008] According to an aspect of an embodiment of the present application, an electronic price tag is provided, which includes an electronic paper screen having a first surface, and a flexible printed circuit board assembly including a flexible circuit board and a control circuit provided on a body of the flexible circuit board, the body being provided on the first surface of the electronic paper screen, the flexible circuit board having a bending portion connected with the body, the bending portion being electrically connected with the electronic paper screen at an edge of the electronic paper screen.

[0009] In some embodiments, the electronic paper screen has a first edge and a second edge connected, the first edge extends along a first direction, the second edge extends along a second direction, the body of the flexible circuit board is disposed adjacent to the first edge and the first edge on the first surface, and the body of the flexible circuit board occupies part of the area of the first surface in the first direction and the second direction.

[0010] In some embodiments, the bending portion is electrically connected with the electronic paper screen at the second edge of the electronic paper screen.

[0011] In some embodiments, the flexible circuit board further has an extension portion extending from the body to the outside of the first edge of the electronic paper screen, and the antenna is arranged on the extension portion.

[0012] In some embodiments, the extension portion is parallel to the first surface, or the extension portion is inclined at a preset angle relative to the first surface in a direction away from the electronic paper screen.

[0013] In some embodiments, the electronic price tag further comprises an LED lamp arranged on the body of the flexible circuit board and disposed adjacent to the antenna and the second edge of the electronic paper screen.

[0014] In some embodiments, the flexible circuit board further has an extension portion extending from the body to the outside of the electronic paper screen, and the extension portion is parallel to the first plane or is inclined relative to the first surface in a direction away from the electronic paper screen, and the antenna is arranged on the extension portion.

[0015] In some embodiments, the control circuit is a SIP integrated circuit.

[0016] In some embodiments, the electronic price tag further comprises a battery arranged on the first surface of the electronic paper screen and electrically connected with the flexible circuit board, and a price tag shell, an internal space of the price tag shell has a receiving cavity, the price tag shell is provided with a window and a receiving slot respectively located on opposite sides of the receiving cavity, the electronic paper screen provided with the flexible printed circuit board assembly is arranged in the receiving cavity, and a second surface of the electronic paper screen opposite to the first surface faces the window, and the battery is located in the receiving slot.

[0017] In some embodiments, the price tag shell comprises a front shell having the window, a rear shell having the receiving slot, the receiving cavity is formed between the front shell and the rear shell, and the front shell and the rear shell are detachably connected, and a rear cover arranged on a side of the rear shell opposite to the front shell and covering the receiving slot, and the rear cover and the rear shell are detachably connected.

[0018] In some embodiments, the control circuit comprises a main chip disposed on the body of the flexible circuit board, the main chip having a first storage space for storing a program to be burned and a second storage space for storing e-paper waveform information; and a burning interface disposed on the body of the flexible circuit board and in communication connection with the main chip.

[0019] According to another aspect of the embodiments of the present application, a method for manufacturing an electronic price tag is provided, for manufacturing the electronic price tag of the first aspect, the method comprising: manufacturing an e-paper screen bound with a flexible printed circuit board assembly, including: providing a flexible circuit board, wherein the flexible circuit board comprises a body and a bending portion; integrating a control circuit on the body of the flexible circuit board to obtain a flexible printed circuit board assembly; electrically connecting the bending portion of the flexible circuit board with an e-paper screen; fixing the body of the flexible circuit board to a first surface of the e-paper screen to obtain an e-paper screen bound with a flexible printed circuit board assembly; and assembling the e-paper screen bound with a flexible printed circuit board assembly with a to-be-assembled part of the electronic price tag to obtain the electronic price tag.

[0020] In some embodiments, the method for manufacturing the electronic price tag further comprises: brushing the e-paper screen bound with the flexible printed circuit board assembly to detect whether the e-paper screen normally displays different color interfaces and whether the e-paper screen normally displays the ID of the electronic price tag through one-time brushing.

[0021] In some embodiments, the method for manufacturing the electronic price tag further comprises: burning a to-be-burned program to the first storage space of the main chip of the control circuit via a burning interface of the control circuit; and burning e-paper waveform information to the second storage space of the main chip via the burning interface, the main chip transmitting the e-paper waveform information to a driving chip of the e-paper screen.

[0022] The embodiments of the present application directly integrate the control circuit of the electronic price tag on the FPC, which omits the use of the PCB, not only simplifies the structure of the electronic price tag and reduces the thickness and volume of the electronic price tag, but also omits the one-time binding process of binding the FPC with the PCB in the manufacturing process of the electronic price tag, thereby simplifying the manufacturing process of the electronic price tag, improving the production efficiency of the electronic price tag, and reducing the production cost. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0023] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present specification or the prior art, the drawings needed to be used in the description of the embodiments of the present application or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments described in the present application, and those skilled in the art can also obtain other drawings according to these drawings without creating any inventive labor. In the drawings:

[0024] Fig. 1 is a structural schematic diagram of the electronic paper screen and the flexible printed circuit board assembly of the electronic price tag of an embodiment of the present application after being bound;

[0025] Fig. 2 is a structural schematic diagram of the electronic paper screen and the flexible printed circuit board assembly of the electronic price tag of an embodiment of the present application before being bound;

[0026] Fig. 3 is a structural schematic diagram of the electronic paper screen and the flexible printed circuit board assembly of the electronic price tag of an embodiment of the present application after being bound and assembled with the front shell;

[0027] Fig. 4 is a structural schematic diagram of the electronic paper screen and the flexible printed circuit board assembly of the electronic price tag of an embodiment of the present application after being bound and assembled with the battery and the front shell;

[0028] Fig. 5 is a partial schematic diagram of the electronic paper screen and the flexible printed circuit board assembly of the electronic price tag of an embodiment of the present application at the binding position;

[0029] Fig. 6 is an exploded schematic diagram of the electronic price tag of an embodiment of the present application;

[0030] Fig. 7 is a flow chart of a preparation method of the electronic price tag of an embodiment of the present application;

[0031] Fig. 8 is a process flow chart of a preparation method of the electronic price tag of an embodiment of the present application;

[0032] Fig. 9 and Fig. 10 are structural schematic diagrams of the flexible circuit board of the electronic price tag of the prior art after being bound with the electronic price tag screen and the printed circuit board respectively;

[0033] Fig. 11 is a process flow chart of a preparation method of the electronic price tag of the prior art. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0034] In order to make the person skilled in the art better understand the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described clearly and completely below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present application, all other embodiments obtained by the person skilled in the art without creative labor should belong to the scope of protection of the present application.

[0035] The use of the adjectival or adverbial modifiers "upper" and "lower" in this text is only for the convenience of relative reference between multiple groups of terms, and does not describe any specific directional limitation of the modified terms.

[0036] The implementation of the embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0037] As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the embodiment of the first aspect of the present application provides an electronic shelf label (ESL) comprising an electronic paper screen 10 (Electronic Paper Displays, EPD) and a flexible printed circuit board assembly 20 (Flexible Printed Circuit Board Assembly, FPCA).

[0038] As shown in FIG. 2, the electronic paper screen 10 can be a plate structure, the electronic paper screen 10 has opposite first and second surfaces 11 and 12, the first surface 12 can be the front surface of the electronic paper screen 10 for displaying price information, and the second surface 12 can be the back surface of the electronic paper screen 10.

[0039] For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the electronic paper screen 10 can include a glass substrate 101, a TFT substrate 102, an electronic paper film 103 and a transparent protective film 104 stacked in order from bottom to top, then the first surface 11 of the electronic paper screen 10 can be the lower surface of the glass substrate 101, and the second surface 12 can be the upper surface of the transparent protective film 104. The electronic paper screen 10 can also include a driving chip 105 disposed on the TFT substrate 102. The structure of the electronic paper screen 10 itself is prior art, and the present application does not make a detailed introduction.

[0040] As shown in FIG. 2, the flexible printed circuit board assembly 20 (hereinafter referred to as FPCA) includes a flexible circuit board 21 (hereinafter referred to as FPC) and a control circuit 22 disposed on the body 211 of the FPC 21, that is, the control circuit 22 is directly integrated on the FPC 21 in the embodiment of the present application, and the printed circuit board (hereinafter referred to as PCB) of the prior art electronic shelf label is cancelled.

[0041] Compared with the PCB, the FPC 21 is thinner and less hard, and has flexibility, so as to help reduce the thickness and volume of the entire electronic shelf label.

[0042] In addition, in the preparation process of the prior electronic shelf label, two binding processes are required, one is to bind the FPC with the electronic paper screen, and the other is to bind the FPC with the PCB. However, the embodiment of the present application cancels the PCB, and only needs to bind the FPC 21 with the electronic paper screen 10, thereby simplifying the preparation process of the electronic shelf label, improving the production efficiency of the electronic shelf label, and reducing the production cost.

[0043] In addition, since there is no need to bind with the PCB, the area of the FPC 21 can be smaller, at least the area connected with the PCB is saved, thereby reducing the overall area of the FPCA 20 and the cost of the electronic shelf label.

[0044] As shown in FIG. 1, the body 211 of the FPC 21 is arranged on the first surface 11 of the electronic paper screen 10, and the body 211 of the FPC 21 and the electronic paper screen 10 can be arranged in a stacked manner and fixedly connected by means of adhesion.

[0045] Specifically, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, the body 211 of the FPC 21 is stacked on the lower surface of the glass substrate 101 of the electronic paper screen 10, and the upper surface of the body 211 of the FPC 21 can be directly in contact with and bonded to the lower surface of the glass substrate 101, and the lower surface of the body 211 of the FPC 21 can carry the control circuit 22 of the electronic price tag.

[0046] Compared with the PCB, the flexible FPC 21 can better conform to the electronic paper screen 10, and the two are not easily damaged due to mutual extrusion, thereby improving the use reliability of the electronic price tag.

[0047] As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 5, the FPC 21 has a bending portion 212 connected with the body 211, and the bending portion 212 is electrically connected with the electronic paper screen 10 at one edge 13 of the electronic paper screen 10.

[0048] Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 5, the bending portion 212 is a protruding portion protruding from one side edge 2111 of the body 211 of the FPC 21, which extends outward from the side edge 2111 of the body 211 of the FPC 21 and bends about 180°, and the protruding portion and the body 211 can be an integral structure, and the end 2121 of the protruding portion after bending can be electrically connected with the TFT substrate 102 of the electronic paper screen 10, thereby enabling the FPC A 20 to drive the electronic paper screen 10, on the other hand, the bending portion 212 formed after the protruding portion is bent can be positioned at the edge of the electronic paper screen 10, thereby enabling the relative position of the FPC 21 and the electronic paper screen 10 to be positioned.

[0049] As shown in FIG. 2, the bending portion 212 as a whole can be a strip-shaped structure, the length l of which is less than the length of the side edge 2111 of the FPC 21, and the extension width w thereof is small, only needs to extend to the edge of the TFT substrate, in other words, the extension end 2121 of the bending portion 212 is adjacent to the edge of the electronic paper screen 10.

[0050] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the electronic paper screen 10 has a first edge 14 and a second edge 15 connected with each other, the first edge 14 extends along a first direction D1, and the second edge 15 extends along a second direction D2.

[0051] For the convenience of description, the first edge 14 can be referred to as a long side, the second edge 15 can be referred to as a wide side, the first direction D1 can be referred to as a length direction, the second direction D2 can be referred to as a width direction, the size of the first surface 11 in the first direction D1 can be referred to as a length, and the size of the first surface 11 in the second direction D2 can be referred to as a width. It should be understood that the terms "long side" and "wide side" are only used to distinguish different edges and are not intended to limit the length of the edges. Similarly, the "length" can be selectively greater than, equal to, or less than the "width".

[0052] As shown in FIG. 1, the body 211 of the FPC 21 is disposed adjacent to the first edge 14 and the second edge 15 on the first surface 11, and the body 211 of the FPC 21 occupies a partial area of the first surface 11 in the first direction D1 and the second direction D2, in other words, the area of the body 211 of the FPC 21 is small, and the body 211 only occupies a partial length area of the first surface 11 in the first direction D1 and a partial width area of the first surface 11 in the second direction D2.

[0053] Specifically, in the examples of FIGS. 1 and 2, the length of the entire body 211 of the FPC 21 in the first direction D1 is less than the length of the first edge 14 of the electronic paper screen 10, the width of the entire body 211 of the FPC 21 in the second direction D2 is less than the length of the second edge 15 of the electronic paper screen 10, and the body 211 of the FPC 21 is not located at the middle position of the electronic paper screen 10 in the first direction D1 or the second direction D2, but is adjacent to the first edge 14 and the second edge 15 and away from the other edge 16 and the other edge 17 of the electronic paper screen 10.

[0054] In the examples of FIGS. 1 and 2, the length of the body 211 of the FPC 21 in the first direction D1 can be less than half of the length of the first edge 14 of the electronic paper screen 10.

[0055] In the examples of FIGS. 1 and 2, the bending portion 212 is electrically connected to the electronic paper screen 10 at the second edge 15 of the electronic paper screen 10.

[0056] In some embodiments, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the FPC 21 further has an extension 213 extending from the body 211 to the outside of the first edge 14 of the electronic paper screen 10 at the first edge 14 of the electronic paper screen 10, i.e., the extension 213 is located outside the first edge 14 of the electronic paper screen 10, the extension 213 can be an integral structure with the body 211 of the FPC 21, and the extension 213 is provided with the antenna 30 of the electronic price tag, i.e., the extension 213 is a structure for carrying the antenna 30.

[0057] In the embodiment, the extension 213 and the antenna 30 located on the extension 213 are located outside the first edge of the electronic paper screen 10, do not occupy the surface area of the electronic paper screen 10, and do not occupy the area of the body 211 of the FPC 21, thereby further reducing the area of the FPC A 20.

[0058] In a possible technical solution, as shown in FIG. 1, the extension 213 is parallel to the first surface 11 of the electronic paper screen 10, that is, the extension 213 is located on the same plane as the body 211 of the FPC 21, and the extension 213 and the antenna 30 are not inclined relative to the body 211 of the FPC 21. This structure is conducive to the automatic assembly of the electronic price tag.

[0059] In another possible technical solution, the extension 213 and the antenna 30 located on the extension 213 are inclined at a preset angle relative to the first surface 11 in a direction away from the electronic paper screen 10, that is, the extension 213 is not located on the same plane as the body 211 of the FPC 21. For example, the extension 213 is inclined at 90° relative to the first surface 11 in a direction away from the electronic paper screen 10, that is, the extension 213 is inclined at 90° relative to the body 211 of the FPC 21 in a direction away from the electronic paper screen 10, and the extension 213 is perpendicular to the body 211 of the FPC 21. This structure makes the antenna 30 not occupy the area in the planar direction inside the shell of the electronic price tag, so that the electronic price tag has more area in the planar direction to provide for the electronic paper screen 10, or in other words, the shell of the electronic price tag can accommodate a larger area of the electronic paper screen 10, thereby improving the screen-to-body ratio.

[0060] Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the electronic price tag further includes an LED lamp 40, which is arranged on the body 211 of the FPC 21 and adjacent to the antenna 30 and the second edge of the electronic paper screen 10, thereby optimizing the layout and further reducing the use area of the FPC 21.

[0061] In some embodiments, the control circuit 22 includes a main chip 221 and a burning interface 222, both of which are arranged on the body 211, and the main chip 221 is in communication connection with the burning interface 222. In the example of FIG. 1, the burning interface 222 is arranged adjacent to the edge of the body 211 away from the extension 213 and along the edge. The main chip 221 has a first storage space for storing a to-be-burned program and a second storage space for storing electronic paper waveform information. By arranging two different storage spaces to store the to-be-burned program and the electronic paper waveform information respectively, the to-be-burned program and the electronic paper waveform information can be burned through the burning interface 222, without the need to burn the electronic paper waveform information through a gold finger and burn the to-be-burned program through a burning interface on a PCB as in the prior art, thereby making the burning more convenient.

[0062] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the control circuit 22 is a SIP integrated circuit, so as to optimize the layout of the control circuit 22 on the FPC 21, make the structure of the whole FPCA 20 more compact, and further reduce the area of the FPCA 20. The SIP integrated circuit can be mounted on the FPC 21 by surface mounted technology (SMT).

[0063] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 3, FIG. 4, FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, the electronic price tag further comprises a battery 50 and a price tag shell 60, the battery 50 is used to power the electronic price tag, the battery 50 can be a button cell 50, and the price tag shell 60 serves as the shell of the electronic price tag, and the price tag shell 60 can be a metal shell or a plastic shell.

[0064] As shown in FIG. 4, the battery 50 is arranged on the first surface 11 of the electronic paper screen 10 and electrically connected with the FPC 21. The body 211 of the FPC 21 is provided with two metal springs 23, the two metal springs 23 are respectively electrically connected with the FPC 21, a part of the battery 50 is located outside the body 211 of the FPC 21 without being stacked with the body 211 of the FPC 21, another part of the battery 50 is stacked with a part of the body 211 of the FPC 21 away from the first edge 14 and the second edge 15, and directly contacts with the two metal springs 23, the two metal springs 23 are respectively electrically connected with the positive electrode and the negative electrode of the battery 50. This layout of the battery 50 and the FPC 21 can further reduce the overall thickness of the electronic price tag.

[0065] As shown in FIG. 6, the price tag shell 60 has a receiving cavity inside, the price tag shell 60 is provided with a window 61 and a receiving groove 62 respectively located on opposite sides of the receiving cavity, and the electronic paper screen 10 provided with the FPCA 20 is arranged in the receiving cavity, so that the price tag shell 60 can protect the FPCA 20 and the electronic paper screen 10, and the second surface 12 of the electronic paper screen 10 opposite to the first surface 11 faces the window 61, so that the information displayed by the electronic paper screen 10 can be shown to consumers through the window 61.

[0066] As shown in FIG. 6, the battery 50 can be mounted into the receiving groove 62 of the price tag shell 60, the receiving groove 62 has the same shape and substantially the same size as the battery 50, so that the receiving groove 62 can protect and position the battery 50 located therein, prevent the battery 50 from being deviated in position during use, and make the battery 50 be able to stably and reliably power the electronic price tag.

[0067] In the example of FIG. 6, the price tag housing 60 includes a front shell 63, a rear shell 64, and a rear cover 65. The window 61 is provided on the front shell 63, and the inside of the front shell 63 is substantially a square box structure, and the space inside the front shell 63 is the window 61.

[0068] As shown in FIG. 6, the receiving groove 62 is provided on the rear shell 64, and the receiving groove 62 extends through the entire rear shell 64 in the thickness direction of the electronic price tag, and the thickness of the rear shell 64 is substantially equal to the thickness of the battery 50, so as to further reduce the overall thickness and volume of the electronic price tag, and in addition, the provision of the receiving groove 62 also facilitates the replacement of the battery 50.

[0069] As shown in FIG. 6, the rear shell 64 and the front shell 63 form the aforementioned accommodating cavity, that is, the FPCA 20 and the electronic paper screen 10 are located between the rear shell 64 and the front shell 63, the second surface 12 of the electronic paper screen 10 faces the front shell 63, the first surface 11 of the electronic paper screen 10 faces the rear shell 64, the FPCA 20 is located between the electronic paper screen 10 and the rear shell 64, and the electronic paper screen 10 and the rear shell 64 respectively provide protection for the FPCA 20 from the front side and the rear side.

[0070] As shown in FIG. 6, the front shell 63 and the rear shell 64 are detachably connected, for example, the two are connected by a buckle or other existing clamping methods, and are convenient to disassemble. Since the use of the PCB is omitted, the front shell 63 and the rear shell 64 do not need to be provided with buckles to fix the PCB, thereby simplifying the structure and making assembly more convenient.

[0071] As shown in FIG. 6, the rear cover 65 is provided on the side of the rear shell 64 opposite to the front shell 63, and covers the receiving groove 62 to prevent the battery 50 from being exposed, and the rear cover 65 and the rear shell 64 are detachably connected, for example, by a buckle or other existing clamping methods, so as to be convenient to disassemble and facilitate the replacement of the battery 50.

[0072] In the example of FIG. 6, at least one disassembly groove 66 is provided on the radial outer side of the receiving groove 62, and the disassembly groove 66 communicates with the receiving groove 62, for example, the number of disassembly grooves 66 is two, and is respectively located on the opposite sides of the receiving groove 62, so when the battery 50 needs to be replaced, only the rear cover 65 needs to be removed from the rear shell 64, and then the battery 50 can be taken out from the receiving groove 62 by applying force to the battery 50 from the two disassembly grooves 66, without having to disassemble the rear shell 64 from the front shell 63.

[0073] In the examples of FIG. 3 and FIG. 6, the antenna 30 is parallel to the electronic paper screen 10, and a support block 631 corresponding to the antenna 30 is provided on the side wall of the front shell 63, and the width and length of the support block 631 and the antenna 30 are substantially equal, and when the FPCA 20 and the electronic paper screen 10 are installed between the rear shell 64 and the front shell 63, the antenna 30 is just located on the upper surface of the support block 631, so as to provide good support for the antenna 30 by the support block 631.

[0074] In another example, the antenna 30 is perpendicular to the electronic paper screen 10, in which case the support block 631 does not need to be arranged on the side wall of the front shell 63, and when the FPCA 20 and the electronic paper screen 10 are installed between the rear shell 64 and the front shell 63, the antenna 30 is just attached to the inner side of the side wall of the front shell 63 and the rear shell 64 to provide good support for the antenna 30 through the side wall of the front shell 63 and the rear shell 64. The inside of the support block 631 can be a hollow structure to reduce the weight of the front shell 63.

[0075] FIG. 11 shows a manufacturing process of a conventional electronic price tag, including an EPD production process and an ESL assembly process, the former of which is completed in a patch factory, and the latter of which is completed in an assembly factory.

[0076] As shown in FIG. 11, the EPD production process includes FPL lamination, C / FOG, EPD follow-up manufacturing process, electronic paper waveform burning, AOI detection, etc. Among them, FPL lamination refers to laminating FPL with TFT substrate; C / FOG includes COG and FOG, COG refers to mounting driving chip on TFT substrate, and FOG refers to mounting FPC 201 on TFT substrate (first binding); electronic paper waveform burning refers to burning electronic paper waveform to driving chip (first burning); AOI detection refers to detecting whether EPD can display different color interfaces (first screen flashing); and the qualified EPD is transported to the assembly factory after leaving the factory.

[0077] As shown in FIG. 11, the ESL assembly process includes PCB online, PCB burning (second burning), PCB glue pressing, PCB and EPD pressing (i.e. second binding), ESL function test, ESL whole machine assembly, ESL whole machine detection, and ESL whole machine packaging, etc. Among them, ESL function test refers to detecting whether the function of the PCB and EPD after binding is normal (second screen flashing), and ESL whole machine detection includes detecting whether the EPD normally displays the ID of the electronic price tag (third screen flashing).

[0078] Therefore, the existing electronic price tag preparation method involves two bindings, two burnings, and three screen flashing detection steps, which is complex.

[0079] Embodiments of the second aspect of the present application provide a preparation method of an electronic price tag, for preparing the electronic price tag of the first aspect embodiments, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the method includes the following steps:

[0080] S10: preparing an electronic paper screen with a bound FPCA 20; and

[0081] S40: Assemble the electronic paper screen with the FPCA 20 and the to-be-assembled part of the electronic price tag (i.e., ESL whole machine assembly), to obtain the electronic price tag.

[0082] The step S10 can include:

[0083] The FPC 21 is provided, wherein the FPC 21 includes a body 211 and a bending part 212.

[0084] The control circuit 22 is integrated on the body 211 of the FPC 21, to obtain the FPCA 20.

[0085] The bending part 212 of the FPC 21 is electrically connected with the electronic paper screen 10 at the edge of the electronic paper screen 10; and

[0086] The body 211 of the FPC 21 is fixed to the first surface 11 of the electronic paper screen 10, to obtain the electronic paper screen 10 with the FPCA 20.

[0087] In the embodiments of the present application, since the FPCA 20 is used, the use of the PCB is omitted, and the binding process of the FPC 21 and the PCB is omitted, so that only one binding process is required, the preparation process of the electronic price tag is shortened, and the preparation efficiency of the electronic price tag is improved.

[0088] Further, referring to FIG. 5, the step S10 can further include:

[0089] The electronic paper film 103 is attached to the upper surface of the TFT substrate 102 (i.e., FPL attachment);

[0090] The bending part 212 of the FPC 21 is carried on the TFT substrate 102 (i.e., FOG);

[0091] The driving chip (not shown in the figure) is carried on the TFT substrate 102 (i.e., COG);

[0092] The upper surface of the glass substrate 101 is attached to the lower surface of the TFT substrate 102; and

[0093] The body 211 of the FPC 21 is fixed to the lower surface of the glass substrate 101, for example, by means of pasting.

[0094] In step S10, after the body 211 of the FPC 21 is fixed to the lower surface of the glass substrate 101, a subsequent manufacturing process of the electronic paper screen can also be included, for example, the subsequent manufacturing process can include: attaching an optically transparent adhesive (not shown in the figure) to the electronic paper film 103; attaching the transparent protective film 104 on the electronic paper film 103 and the TFT substrate 102 to isolate water vapor; and uniformly coating the edge sealant on the four peripheral edges of the transparent protective film 104 to isolate water vapor. After the subsequent manufacturing process is completed, the complete electronic paper screen 10 with the FPCA 20 bound can be obtained.

[0095] In step S40, the components to be assembled of the electronic price tag can include the battery 50, the LED lamp 40, the price tag shell 60, and the like.

[0096] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 7, the method for manufacturing the electronic price tag can further include the following steps:

[0097] Step S20: Brushing the electronic paper screen with the FPCA 20 bound to detect whether the electronic paper screen normally displays different color interfaces and whether the electronic price tag ID is normally displayed through one brushing operation.

[0098] In the embodiment, since the use of the PCB is omitted, the second brushing operation in the prior art can be cancelled, and the third brushing operation can be combined with the first brushing operation into one brushing operation, that is, as shown in FIG. 6, after the electronic paper screen with the FPCA 20 bound is obtained, one brushing operation is performed, and through the one brushing operation, whether the electronic paper screen normally displays different color interfaces and whether the electronic price tag ID is normally displayed can be simultaneously detected, thereby further shortening the manufacturing process of the electronic price tag and improving the manufacturing efficiency of the electronic price tag.

[0099] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 7, the method for manufacturing the electronic price tag can further include step S30: a burning step, which includes:

[0100] The first burning step: burning the program to be burned to the first storage space of the main chip 221 of the control circuit 22 via the burning interface 222 of the control circuit; and

[0101] The second burning step: burning the electronic paper waveform information to the second storage space of the main chip 221 via the burning interface 222, and the main chip 221 transmits the electronic paper waveform information to the driving chip 105 of the electronic paper screen 10.

[0102] Optionally, the first burning step and the second burning step can be simultaneously executed, or the first burning step is executed before the second burning step, or the second burning step is executed before the first burning step.

[0103] In the embodiment, the PCB programming in the prior art is cancelled, so that after the electronic paper screen with the FPCA 20 is obtained, the programming interface 222 is used to program the to-be-programmed program and the electronic paper waveform information, thereby further shortening the preparation process of the electronic price tag and improving the preparation efficiency of the electronic price tag.

[0104] In some embodiments, the preparation method of the electronic price tag can further include one or more of the following steps:

[0105] The antenna is arranged outside the edge (for example, the first edge 14 shown in FIG. 1) of the electronic paper screen 10 in parallel to the first surface 11 of the electronic paper screen 10, or is arranged at the edge (for example, the first edge 14 shown in FIG. 1) of the electronic paper screen 10 in an inclined manner relative to the first surface 11, wherein the extension 213 of the FPC 21 forms the antenna;

[0106] The LED lamp 40 is arranged on the body 211 of the FPC 21, wherein the LED lamp 40 is arranged adjacent to the edge (for example, the second edge 14 shown in FIG. 1) of the electronic paper screen 10 where the antenna and the bending portion 212 are located;

[0107] The control circuit is integrated into a SIP integrated circuit.

[0108] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 8, the preparation method of the electronic price tag can further include the following steps:

[0109] The electronic price tag is subjected to whole-machine detection (i.e., ESL whole-machine detection); for example, the whole-machine detection can include detection of the NFC function and detection of the radio frequency function, but does not include detection of whether the EPD normally displays the ID of the electronic price tag;

[0110] The electronic price tag is subjected to whole-machine packaging (i.e., ESL whole-machine packaging).

[0111] In the preparation method of the electronic price tag provided in the embodiments of the present application, since the binding process of pressing the FPC and the PCB is omitted, the production process of the electronic paper screen and the assembly process of the electronic price tag can be integrated and completed continuously and automatically in the same factory, the transfer process of the electronic paper screen is omitted, screen damage is avoided, the production capacity of the electronic price tag is significantly improved compared with the prior art, the production efficiency of the electronic price tag is improved, and the production cost is reduced.

[0112] The above only describes the embodiments of the present specification and is not intended to limit the present specification. The present specification can have various changes and modifications for those skilled in the art. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. within the spirit and principle of the present specification shall be included in the scope of claims of the present specification.

Claims

1. An electronic price tag, wherein, The electronic price tag comprises: an electronic paper screen having a first surface; and a flexible printed circuit board assembly comprising a flexible circuit board and a control circuit provided on a body of the flexible circuit board, the body being provided on the first surface of the electronic paper screen, the flexible circuit board having a bending portion connected with the body, the bending portion being electrically connected with the electronic paper screen at an edge of the electronic paper screen.

2. The electronic price tag according to claim 1, wherein the electronic paper screen has a first edge and a second edge connected with each other, the first edge extending in a first direction, the second edge extending in a second direction, the body of the flexible circuit board being provided on the first surface adjacent to the first edge and the second edge, and the body of the flexible circuit board occupying a partial area of the first surface in the first direction and the second direction.

3. The electronic price tag according to claim 2, wherein the bending portion is electrically connected with the electronic paper screen at the second edge of the electronic paper screen.

4. The electronic price tag according to claim 2, wherein the flexible circuit board further has an extension portion extending from the body to an outside of the first edge of the electronic paper screen, an antenna being provided on the extension portion.

5. The electronic price tag according to claim 4, wherein the extension portion is parallel to the first surface; or the extension portion is inclined at a preset angle relative to the first surface in a direction away from the electronic paper screen.

6. The electronic price tag of claim 4, wherein, Further comprising: an LED lamp provided on the body of the flexible circuit board and arranged adjacent to the antenna and the second edge of the electronic paper screen.

7. The electronic price tag of claim 1, wherein, the flexible circuit board further has an extension portion extending from the body to an outside of the electronic paper screen, the extension portion being parallel to the first surface or being inclined relative to the first surface in a direction away from the electronic paper screen, an antenna being provided on the extension portion.

8. The electronic price tag according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein, the control circuit is a SIP integrated circuit.

9. The electronic price tag according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein, Further comprising: a battery provided on the first surface of the electronic paper screen and electrically connected with the flexible circuit board; a price tag housing, an internal portion of the price tag housing having a receiving cavity, the price tag housing being provided with a window and a receiving groove located on opposite sides of the receiving cavity respectively, the electronic paper screen provided with the flexible printed circuit board assembly being arranged in the receiving cavity, and a second surface of the electronic paper screen opposite to the first surface facing the window, the battery being located in the receiving groove.

10. The electronic price tag of claim 9, wherein, The price tag housing comprises: a front housing having the window; a rear housing having the receiving groove, the receiving cavity being formed between the front housing and the rear housing, the front housing and the rear housing being detachably connected; a rear cover provided on a side of the rear housing opposite to the front housing and covering the receiving groove, the rear cover and the rear housing being detachably connected.

11. The electronic price tag according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein, The control circuit comprises: a main chip provided on the body of the flexible circuit board, the main chip having a first storage space for storing a program to be burned and a second storage space for storing electronic paper waveform information; a burning interface provided on the body of the flexible circuit board and communicatively connected with the main chip.

12. A method of making an electronic price tag, wherein, The method for manufacturing the electronic price tag of any one of claims 1 to 11 comprises: Preparation of the electronic paper screen bound with the flexible printed circuit board assembly comprises: providing a flexible circuit board, wherein the flexible circuit board comprises a body and a bending part; integrating a control circuit on the body of the flexible circuit board to obtain a flexible printed circuit board assembly; electrically connecting the bending part of the flexible circuit board with the electronic paper screen; and fixing the body of the flexible circuit board to the first surface of the electronic paper screen to obtain the electronic paper screen bound with the flexible printed circuit board assembly; and assembling the electronic paper screen bound with the flexible printed circuit board assembly with the to-be-assembled part of the electronic price tag to obtain the electronic price tag.

13. The method of preparing an electronic price tag according to claim 12, wherein, Further comprising: screen brushing of the electronic paper screen bound with the flexible printed circuit board assembly is performed to detect whether the electronic paper screen normally displays different color interfaces and whether the electronic paper screen normally displays the ID of the electronic price tag through one-time screen brushing.

14. The method of preparing an electronic price tag according to claim 12, wherein, Further comprising: burning a to-be-burned program to a first storage space of a main chip of the control circuit via a burning interface of the control circuit; and burning electronic paper waveform information to a second storage space of the main chip via the burning interface, and the main chip transmits the electronic paper waveform information to a driving chip of the electronic paper screen. ​

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