Electronic price label and method of graphically displaying relative information by an electronic price label
First Claim
1. An electronic price label comprising:
- a liquid crystal display including a first portion for displaying employee-directed business information and a second portion for displaying price information, wherein the first portion includes a plurality of segments arranged linearly as a relative scale for displaying the employee-directed business information; and
control circuitry for receiving the employee-directed business information, for determining a number of adjacent segments in the first portion to be activated based upon the employee-directed business information, and for activating the number of adjacent segments, wherein as the level of the employee-directed business information increases, the number of activated display segments increase.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An electronic price label which displays relative information, such as employee-directed business information. The electronic price label includes a liquid crystal display and control circuitry. The liquid crystal display includes a first portion for displaying employee-directed business information and a second portion for displaying price information. The first portion includes a plurality of segments arranged linearly as a relative scale for displaying the employee-directed business information. The control circuitry receives the employee-directed business information, determines a number of adjacent segments in the first portion to be activated based upon the employee-directed business information, and activates the number of adjacent segments.
36 Citations
17 Claims
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1. An electronic price label comprising:
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a liquid crystal display including a first portion for displaying employee-directed business information and a second portion for displaying price information, wherein the first portion includes a plurality of segments arranged linearly as a relative scale for displaying the employee-directed business information; and
control circuitry for receiving the employee-directed business information, for determining a number of adjacent segments in the first portion to be activated based upon the employee-directed business information, and for activating the number of adjacent segments, wherein as the level of the employee-directed business information increases, the number of activated display segments increase. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. An electronic price label comprising:
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a liquid crystal display including a first portion for displaying employee-directed business information and a second portion right of the first portion for displaying price or promotional information, wherein the first portion includes a plurality of segments arranged linearly as a relative scale for displaying the employee-directed business information;
a memory; and
control circuitry for receiving the employee-directed business information, for storing the employee-directed business information in the memory, for determining a number of adjacent segments in the first portion to be activated based upon the employee-directed business information, and for activating the determined number of adjacent segments, wherein as the level of the employee-directed business information increases, the number of activated display segments increase.
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10. A method of displaying employee-directed business information by an electronic price label comprising:
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(a) receiving a message containing the employee-directed business information from a computer by control circuitry within the electronic price label;
(b) storing the employee-directed business information in a memory within the electronic price label by the control circuitry;
(c) determining a number of adjacent linearly-arranged segments to be activated in a first portion of a liquid crystal display within the electronic price label for displaying employee-directed business information based upon the employee-directed business information; and
(d) activating the determined number of adjacent segments, wherein as the level of the employee-directed business information increases, the number of activated display segments increase. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12)
(e) receiving other information including price or promotional information in the message with the employee-directed business information by the control circuitry;
(f) storing the other information in the memory; and
(g) displaying the other information in a second portion of the liquid crystal display adjacent the first portion by the control circuitry.
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12. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein element (c) comprises:
(c-1) receiving a list of the number of segments from the computer.
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13. An electronic price label (EPL) system comprising:
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a host system including a storage device for storing price information of an item and business information related to the item, the host system including a transmitter for transmitting messages to an EPL associated with the item, the messages including the price information and the business information; and
the EPL including a receiver for receiving the messages and a display including a first portion comprising a plurality of segments arranged linearly as a relative scale for displaying the business information and a second portion for displaying the price information, wherein as the level of the business information increases, the number of activated display segments increase. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification