Electronic Price Label System for Simultaneous Price Updates
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Solution Overview
Problem
Manual updating of prices on price tags is laborious and prone to errors, and existing electronic systems require time-consuming individual updates for each product, especially in retail environments with a large number of different products.
Innovation Solution
An electronic price label system that automatically calculates and updates prices based on predefined rules, using a base station to broadcast price changes to multiple labels simultaneously, with equations determining new prices based on current sales data and sales season parameters, and allowing for minimum and maximum price settings.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual updating of prices on price tags is performed, then price information can be changed, but the process is laborious and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical operations of updating price tags with an automated electronic system. The electronic price label system receives price information from a central server and automatically updates displayed prices without manual intervention, eliminating the laborious process of physically changing price tags while reducing the time required for price updates.
2Reliability
If individual electronic labels are updated separately, then price changes can be implemented, but the process is time-consuming for multiple products
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the update process by implementing a centralized server that can send price update commands to multiple electronic price labels simultaneously. This allows synchronized updating of prices across numerous products at once, maintaining accuracy through centralized control while dramatically increasing productivity compared to individual label updates.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements periodic broadcasting of price activation signals from the central server to electronic price labels. This periodic action allows the system to efficiently manage multiple price updates by grouping them into broadcast cycles, ensuring all labels receive updates in a coordinated manner that maintains accuracy while improving overall update speed.
3Ease of operation
If manual price updates are performed, then price changes can be made, but errors are likely to occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual operations with an automated electronic system that retrieves price information directly from a central server database. This eliminates human error in transcription and ensures that the price displayed on electronic labels accurately reflects the current price in the system, significantly improving reliability while maintaining operational simplicity through automated processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where electronic price labels communicate with the central server to confirm receipt and successful display of price information. This feedback loop ensures that price updates are accurately transmitted and displayed, allowing the system to detect and correct any transmission errors, thereby maintaining high reliability of price information.
Data Source
AI summary
An electronic price label system and a method for an electronic price label system include a product database in which products are listed. A new price of a product is sent to an electronic price label linked to the product. The received new price of a product is stored by the electronic price label. The electronic price label changes the displayed price to the received new price in response to receiving a price activation signal from the electronic price label system, e.g. from base station of the electronic price label system.