System for transmitting audio advertising messages to shopping carts moving through spatially defined transmission zones arranged in a store
First Claim
1. A system for delivering audible advertising messages to shopping carts in a store as said shopping carts are moved through a plurality of spatially defined transmission zones arranged in the aisles of said store, said system comprising:
- (A) a plurality of local transmitters, each being selectively placed in said store and including(1) a transmitter housing having a compact construction and capable of being attached to and detached from a selected support structure in said store,(2) audio message storage and playback means disposed in said transmitter housing for storing and playing back at least one stored audio message, and(3) transmitting means disposed in said transmitter housing for transmitting over one said spatially defined transmission zone, a modulated carrier signal formed by modulating a carrier signal by said audio message provided from said audio storage and playback means, said spatially defined transmission zone having a selected geometry and predetermined dimensions so as to occupy an assigned region of space within one said store aisle, said transmitting means further including means for focusing said modulated carrier signal so as to provide said spatially defined transmission zone of selected geometry and predetermined dimensions; and
(B) a plurality of cart receivers, each said cart receiver being mounted to one said shopping cart and including(1) a cart receiver housing having a compact construction and means for mounting said cart receiver housing to one said shopping cart,(2) receiving means disposed in said cart receiver housing, for receiving over one said spatially defined transmission zone, said modulated carrier signal and deriving therefrom an electrical audio signal representative of said audio message, and(3) transducer means operably associated with said receiving means for transducing said electrical audio signal into an audible acoustical signal that is representative of said audio message.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system for delivering audio advertising messages to shopping carts moving through a plurality of spatially defined transmission zones arranged in the aisles of a store. In the illustrative embodiment, a plurality of transmitters of compact construction are each attached to a shelf within the store. Each shelf transmitter has a spatially defined transmission zone of selected geometry and predetermined dimensions so as to occupy an assigned region of space within one of the aisles in the store. When any one of these transmitters detects a shopping cart residing in its spatially defined transmission zone, the transmitter transmits over its spatially defined transmission zone, a modulated signal carrying an audio message provided by a playback mechanism within the transmitter. A receiver on the detected shopping cart demodulates the received modulated carrier signal and produces an audible signal of the audio message provided by the playback mechanism in the transmitter. As a result of the present invention, the same carrier frequency can be used by each shelf transmitter throughout the store, permitting the use of identical shelf transmitters, while the construction of the shopping cart receivers is made remarkably simple and inexpensive.
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Citations
11 Claims
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1. A system for delivering audible advertising messages to shopping carts in a store as said shopping carts are moved through a plurality of spatially defined transmission zones arranged in the aisles of said store, said system comprising:
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(A) a plurality of local transmitters, each being selectively placed in said store and including (1) a transmitter housing having a compact construction and capable of being attached to and detached from a selected support structure in said store, (2) audio message storage and playback means disposed in said transmitter housing for storing and playing back at least one stored audio message, and (3) transmitting means disposed in said transmitter housing for transmitting over one said spatially defined transmission zone, a modulated carrier signal formed by modulating a carrier signal by said audio message provided from said audio storage and playback means, said spatially defined transmission zone having a selected geometry and predetermined dimensions so as to occupy an assigned region of space within one said store aisle, said transmitting means further including means for focusing said modulated carrier signal so as to provide said spatially defined transmission zone of selected geometry and predetermined dimensions; and (B) a plurality of cart receivers, each said cart receiver being mounted to one said shopping cart and including (1) a cart receiver housing having a compact construction and means for mounting said cart receiver housing to one said shopping cart, (2) receiving means disposed in said cart receiver housing, for receiving over one said spatially defined transmission zone, said modulated carrier signal and deriving therefrom an electrical audio signal representative of said audio message, and (3) transducer means operably associated with said receiving means for transducing said electrical audio signal into an audible acoustical signal that is representative of said audio message. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A system for delivering audible advertising messages to shopping carts in a store as said shopping carts are moved through a plurality of spatially defined transmission zones arranged in the aisles of said store, said system comprising:
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(A) a plurality of local transmitters, each being selectively placed in said store and, including (1) a transmitter housing having a compact constructions and capable of being attached to said detached from a selected support structure in said store, (2) audio message storage and playback means disposed in said transmitter housing for storing and playing back at least one stored audio message, and (3) transmitting means disposed in said transmitter housing for transmitting over one said spatially defined transmission zone, a modulated carrier signal formed by modulating a carrier signal by said audio message provided from said audio storage and playback means, said spatially defined transmission zone having a selected geometry and predetermined dimensions so as to occupy an assigned region of space within one said store aisle; (B) a plurality of cart receivers, each said cart receiver being mounted to one said shopping cart and including (1) a cart receiver housing having a compact construction and means for mounting to one said shopping cart, (2) receiving means disposed in said cart receiver housing, for receiving over one said spatially defined transmission zone, said modulated carrier signal and deriving therefrom an electrical audio signal representative of said audio message, and (3) transducer means operably associated with said receiving means for transducing said electrical audio signal into an audible acoustical signal that is representative of said audio message storage; and (C) alarm means for producing an audible tone when said shopping cart is moved outside of a predefined permitted region.
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Specification