Information system
First Claim
1. A system for displaying information, said system comprising:
- a master computer including storage means for storing an instruction signal and a verification signal, infrared signal transmitting means operatively connected to said storage means for transmitting an infrared signal, and infrared signal receiving means operatively connected to said storage means for receiving an infrared signal,a plurality of individual information units for the displaying of individual information, each information unit comprising a housing, displaying means included in said housing and exposed at said housing for displaying said individual information, digital memory means included in said housing and operatively connected to said displaying means, infrared signal detecting means for detecting an infrared signal transmitted from said infrared signal transmitting means of said master computer, said infrared signal detecting means being included in said housing and being operatively connected to said digital memory means, and infrared signal emitting means for emitting an infrared signal to said infrared signal receiving means of said master computer, said infrared signal emitting means being included in said housing and being operatively connected to said digital memory means,said digital memory means of each information unit controlling the displaying of said individual information of said displaying means thereof in response to the detection of said instruction signal transmitted from said infrared signal transmitting means of said master computer and received by said infrared signal detecting means, and controlling said infrared signal emitting means for emitting said verification signal to said infrared signal receiving means of said master computer, andsaid infrared signal receiving means of said master computer, upon receipt of said verification signal by said master computer, confirming proper detection of said instruction signal by said information unit.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An information system comprises a master station (2, 10) controlling information to be displayed on a number of information units (30, 40) arranged remotely from said master station. The master station broadcasts instructions by modulated infrared signals, and these signals are detected by a photodiode within each information unit (30, 40), said information unit also comprising a receiver and logic circuitry. The information unit (30, 40) further comprises an emitter diode in order that it is capable of acknowledging the receipt of instructions. Information is presented on LCD-type displays, e.g. digits, a graphic field, or other information fields, all being implemented in LCD-type displays. The display units are, in particular, applicable in shops or warehouses, e.g. supermarkets, where a display unit may be arranged adjacent each item of merchandise, serving the purpose of displaying e.g. the unit price on the information unit. The system according to the invention permits an automatic updating of prices and guarantees a reliable functioning through the facility of requesting verification signals to be transmitted from the individual information units.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A system for displaying information, said system comprising:
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a master computer including storage means for storing an instruction signal and a verification signal, infrared signal transmitting means operatively connected to said storage means for transmitting an infrared signal, and infrared signal receiving means operatively connected to said storage means for receiving an infrared signal, a plurality of individual information units for the displaying of individual information, each information unit comprising a housing, displaying means included in said housing and exposed at said housing for displaying said individual information, digital memory means included in said housing and operatively connected to said displaying means, infrared signal detecting means for detecting an infrared signal transmitted from said infrared signal transmitting means of said master computer, said infrared signal detecting means being included in said housing and being operatively connected to said digital memory means, and infrared signal emitting means for emitting an infrared signal to said infrared signal receiving means of said master computer, said infrared signal emitting means being included in said housing and being operatively connected to said digital memory means, said digital memory means of each information unit controlling the displaying of said individual information of said displaying means thereof in response to the detection of said instruction signal transmitted from said infrared signal transmitting means of said master computer and received by said infrared signal detecting means, and controlling said infrared signal emitting means for emitting said verification signal to said infrared signal receiving means of said master computer, and said infrared signal receiving means of said master computer, upon receipt of said verification signal by said master computer, confirming proper detection of said instruction signal by said information unit.
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2. A system for displaying information, said system comprising:
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a master computer including storage means for storing instruction signals and verification signals, infrared signal transmitting means operatively connected to said storage means for transmitting an infrared signal, and infrared signal receiving means operatively connected to said storage means for receiving an infrared signal, a plurality of individual information units for the displaying of individual information, each information unit comprising a housing, displaying means included in said housing and exposed at said housing for displaying said individual information, digital memory means included in said housing and operatively connected to said displaying means, infrared signal detecting means for detecting an infrared signal transmitted from said infrared signal transmitting means of said master computer, said infrared signal detecting means being included in said housing and being operatively connected to said digital memory means, and infrared signal emitting means for emitting an infrared signal to said infrared signal receiving means of said master computer, said infrared signal emitting means being included in said housing and being operatively connected to said digital memory means, said digital memory means of each information unit controlling the displaying of said individual information of said displaying means thereof in response to the detection of a specific instruction signal transmitted from said infrared signal transmitting means of said master computer and received by said infrared signal detecting means, and controlling said infrared signal emitting means for emitting a verification signal to said infrared signal receiving means of said master computer, and said master computer comparing said verification signal received by said receiving means thereof with said verification signals stored in said storage means for verifying the proper detection of said specific instruction signal by the intended information unit. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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8. A system for displaying information, said system comprising:
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a master computer including storage means for storing an instruction signal and a verification signal, infrared signal transmitting means operatively connected to said storage means for transmitting an infrared signal, and infrared signal receiving means operatively connected to said storage means for receiving an infrared signal, a plurality of individual information units for the displaying of individual information, each information unit comprising a housing, displaying means included in said housing and exposed at said housing for displaying said individual information, digital memory means included in said housing and operatively connected to said displaying means, timer means included in said housing and operatively connected to said digital memory means and said display means, and infrared signal emitting means for emitting an infrared signal to said infrared signal receiving means of said master computer, said infrared signal emitting means being included in said housing and being operatively connected to said digital memory means, said digital memory means of each information unit controlling the displaying of said displaying means thereof by turning off said display means for a predetermined period of time determined by said timer means in response to the detection of an instruction signal including an instruction to turn off said display means transmitted from said infrared signal transmitting means of said master computer and received by said infrared signal detecting means, and controlling said infrared signal emitting means for emitting a verification signal to said infrared signal receiving means of said master computer, and said infrared signal receiving means of said master computer, upon receipt of said verification signal by said master computer, confirming proper detection of said instruction signal by said information unit. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10)
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11. A system for displaying information, said system comprising:
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a master computer including storage means for storing an instruction signal and a verification signal, infrared signal transmitting means operatively connected to said storage means for transmitting an infrared signal, and infrared signal receiving means operatively connected to said storage means for receiving an infrared signal, a plurality of individual information units for the displaying of individual information, each information unit comprising a housing, displaying means included in said housing and exposed at said housing for displaying said individual information, digital memory means included in said housing and operatively connected to said displaying means, power supply means included in said housing and operatively connected to said digital memory means and said display means, infrared signal detecting means for detecting an infrared signal transmitted from said infrared signal transmitting means of said master computer, said infrared signal detecting means being included in said housing and being operatively connected to said digital memory means, and infrared signal emitting means for emitting an infrared signal to said infrared signal receiving means of said master computer, said infrared signal emitting means being included in said housing and being operatively connected to said digital memory means, said digital memory means of each information unit controlling the displaying of said displaying means thereof by placing said power supply means into a power-down mode in response to the detection of a first instruction signal transmitted from said infrared signal transmitting means of said master computer and received by said infrared signal detecting means, and controlling said infrared signal emitting means for emitting a first verification signal to said infrared signal receiving means of said master computer, and said infrared signal receiving means of said master computer, upon receipt of said verification signal by said master computer, confirming proper detection of said instruction signal by said information unit. - View Dependent Claims (12)
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22. A system for displaying information, said system comprising:
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a master computer including storage means for storing an instruction signal and a verification signal, infrared signal transmitting means operatively connected to said storage means for transmitting an infrared signal, and infrared signal receiving means operatively connected to said storage means for receiving an infrared signal, a plurality of individual information units for the displaying of individual information, each information unit comprising a housing, displaying means included in said housing and exposed at said housing for displaying said individual information, digital memory means included in said housing and operatively connected to said displaying means, infrared signal detecting means for detecting an infrared signal transmitted from said infrared signal transmitting means of said master computer, said infrared signal detecting means being included in said housing being operatively connected to said digital memory means, and infrared signal emitting means for emitting an infrared signal to said infrared signal receiving means of said master computer, said infrared signal emitting means included in said housing and being operatively connected to said digital memory means, said digital memory means of each information unit controlling the displaying of said individual information of said displaying means thereof in response to the detection of said instruction signal transmitted from said infrared signal transmitting means of said master computer and received by said infrared signal detecting means, and controlling said infrared signal emitting means for emitting a verification signal to said infrared signal receiving means of said master computer, said infrared signal receiving means of said master computer, upon receipt of said verification signal by said master computer, confirming proper detection of said instruction signal by said information unit, and a portable unit comprising a housing, infrared signal transmission means for transmitting an infrared signal, said infrared signal transmission means being included in said portable unit housing, manual activation means included in said portable unit housing and operatively connected to said infrared signal transmission means for activating said infrared signal transmission means for transmitting an infrared signal, and directional delimiting means for directional delimiting said infrared signal transmitting from said infrared transmission means to a predetermined angular region centered around a longitudinal axis of said portable unit in order that said infrared signal transmitted from said infrared signal transmission means be directed from said portable unit within said predetermined angular region so as to prevent the information units located outside said angular region from detecting said infrared signal emitted from said infrared signal transmission means of said portable unit. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24)
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25. An information unit of a system for displaying information, said system comprising:
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a master computer including storage means for storing an instruction signal and a verification signal, infrared signal transmitting means operatively connected to said storage means for transmitting an infrared signal, and infrared signal receiving means operatively connected to said storage means for receiving an infrared signal, and a plurality of individual information units for the displaying of individual information, said information unit comprising;
a housing, displaying means included in said housing and exposed at said housing for displaying said individual information, digital memory means included in said housing and operatively connected to said displaying means, infrared signal detecting means for detecting an infrared signal transmitted from said infrared signal transmitting means of said master computer, said infrared signal detecting means being included in said housing and being operatively connected to said digital memory means, and infrared signal emitting means for emitting an infrared signal to said infrared signal receiving means of said master computer, said infrared signal emitting means being included in said housing and being operatively connected to said digital memory means, andsaid digital memory means of each information unit controlling the displaying of said individual information of said displaying means thereof in response to the detection of said instruction signal transmitted from said infrared signal transmitting means of said master computer and received by said infrared signal detecting means, and controlling said infrared signal emitting means for emitting a verification signal to said infrared signal receiving means of said master computer, and said infrared signal receiving means of said master computer, upon receipt of said verification signal by said master computer, confirming proper detection of said instruction signal by said information unit. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27)
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28. A portable unit of a system for displaying information, said system comprising:
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a master computer including storage means for storing an instruction signal and a verification signal, infrared signal transmitting means operatively connected to said storage means for transmitting an infrared signal, and infrared signal receiving means operatively connected to said storage means for receiving an infrared signal, a plurality of individual information units for the displaying of individual information, each information unit comprising a housing, displaying means included in said housing and exposed at said housing for displaying said individual information, digital memory means included in said housing and operatively connected to said displaying means, infrared signal detecting means for detecting an infrared signal transmitted from said infrared signal transmitting means of said master computer, said infrared signal detecting means being included in said housing and being operatively connected to said digital memory means, and infrared signal emitting means for emitting an infrared signal to said infrared signal receiving means of said master computer, said infrared signal emitting means being included in said housing and being operatively connected to said digital memory means, said digital memory means of each information unit controlling the displaying of said individual information of said displaying means thereof in response to the detection of said instruction signal transmitted from said infrared signal transmitting means of said master computer and received by said infrared signal detecting means, and controlling said infrared signal emitting means for emitting a verification signal to said infrared signal receiving means of said master computer, and said infrared signal receiving means of said master computer, upon receipt of said verification signal by said master computer, confirming proper detection of said instruction signal by said information unit, said portable unit comprising;
a housing, infrared signal transmission means for transmitting an infrared signal, said infrared signal transmission means being included in said portable unit housing, manual activation means included in said portable unit housing and operatively connected to said infrared signal transmission means for activating said infrared signal transmission means for transmitting an infrared signal, and directional delimiting means for directional delimiting said infrared signal transmitting from said infrared transmittal means to a predetermined angular region centered around a longitudinal axis of said portable unit in order that said infrared signal transmitted from said infrared signal transmission means be directed from said portable unit within said predetermined angular region so as to prevent that information units located outside said angular region detects said infrared signal emitted from said infrared signal transmission means.
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Specification