Display tag, display tag system having display tag, and method for writing display tag information

• US 8,400,280 B2
• Filed: 12/09/2008
• Issued: 03/19/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/27/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Han, Kuk-hyun, Han, Jae-uk, Choi, Myoung-soon, Eom, Ju-il, Han, Sang-jun
• Primary Examiner(s): Bugg, George
• Assistant Examiner(s): Dorsey, Renee
• Application Number:
  US12/330,878
• Publication Number:
  US 20090295549A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,561 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 340/10.6
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0484 for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0707 the arrangement being capable of collecting energy from external energy sources, e.g. thermocouples, vibration, electromagnetic radiation G06K19/0702 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0723 the record carrier comprising an arrangement for non-contact communication, e.g. wireless communication circuits on transponder cards, non-contact smart cards or RFIDs
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07703 the interface being visual
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10346 the antenna being of the far field type, e.g. HF types or dipoles

Abstract

A display tag is provided. A display tag includes a sensing unit which captures an image displayed on a screen of an external tag writer, if a sensing unit is disposed opposite the screen; and a display unit which displays a captured image. Therefore, a user can visually recognize content related to tag information, and thus user convenience is enhanced.

Claims

1. A display tag comprising:

a sensing unit which captures an image displayed on a screen of an external tag writer, if the sensing unit is disposed opposite to the screen, wherein the sensing unit comprises a plurality of sensors which constitute a sensing area, and receives light rays of the image displayed on the screen of the external tag writer and outputs a signal corresponding to intensities of the light rays; and

a display unit which receives the signal from the sensing unit and displays the captured image, wherein the display unit comprises a plurality of pixels corresponding one-to-one to the plurality of sensors.

2. The display tag of claim 1, wherein the display tag comprises electronic paper (E-paper).

3. The display tag of claim 1, further comprising:

a switching unit which controls an on-off operation of the sensing unit.

4. The display tag of claim 1, further comprising:

a power generator which generates power using at least one of heat, vibration, light rays emitted from the external tag writer, and electromagnetic waves, and supplies power to the sensing unit and the display unit.

5. The display tag of claim 1, further comprising:

a tag information storage unit which stores tag information acquired from the external tag writer.

6. The display tag of claim 1, wherein a size of the sensing area and a size of the display unit are substantially the same.

7. The display tag of claim 1, further comprising:

a driving circuit unit which controls each of pixels of the display unit to be driven according to a signal output from the plurality of sensors,

wherein the sensing unit, the driving circuit unit, and the display unit are disposed in successive layers.

17. The display tag of claim 1, wherein the image is displayed on a first area of the screen of the external tag writer, and, if the sensing unit is adjacent to the first area of the screen, the sensing unit automatically captures the image displayed on the first area of the screen.

18. The display tag of claim 17, wherein, upon disposing the sensing unit adjacent to the first area of the screen, the sensing area completely covers the first area of the screen and the sensing unit captures an entire image displayed on the screen of the external tag writer simultaneously.

8. A display tag system comprising:

a tag writer which displays an image corresponding to tag information on a tag writing area; and

a display tag which captures the image displayed on the tag writing area, if a sensing unit of the display tag is disposed opposite to the tag writing area, wherein the display tag comprises;

the sensing unit which captures the image displayed on the tag writing area, wherein the sensing unit comprises a plurality of sensors which constitute a sensing area, and receives light rays of the image displayed on the screen of the external tag writer and outputs a signal corresponding to intensities of the light rays; and

a display unit which receives the signal from the sensing unit and displays the captured image, wherein the display unit comprises a plurality of pixels corresponding one-to-one to the plurality of sensors.

9. The display tag system of claim 8, wherein if the display tag is disposed opposite to the tag writing area while the image is displayed on the tag writing area, the tag writer writes tag information corresponding to the image on the display tag.

10. A display apparatus comprising:

a display unit which comprises a plurality of pixels; and

a sensing unit which comprises a plurality of sensors which constitute a sensing area, and the plurality of sensors capture an image displayed on a screen of an external display apparatus by receiving light rays of the image displayed on the screen of the external display apparatus and outputs a signal corresponding to the light rays, and provide the display unit with the captured image, if the sensing unit is disposed opposite to the screen.

11. The display apparatus of claim 10, wherein the display unit comprises:

electronic paper (E-paper) which displays an image corresponding to the captured image, and maintains the same display condition even if the power is turned off.

12. A method for writing tag information of a display tag system, the method comprising:

displaying at least one image corresponding to tag information which is capable of being provided by a tag writer;

if one of the at least one image is selected as a selected image, displaying the selected image on a tag writing area on a screen of the tag writer; and

if a display tag having a display unit is disposed opposite the tag writing area, receiving at least one of heat, vibration, light rays, and electromagnetic waves emitted from the external tag writer to generate power, automatically capturing, by the display tag, the selected image displayed on the tag writing area using the generated power, and displaying the captured image on the display unit, and writing, by the tag writer, tag information corresponding to the selected image on the display tag.

13. A display tag comprising:

a sensing unit which automatically captures an image emitted by an external tag writer, if the sensing unit is disposed adjacent to a screen of the external tag writer;

a display unit which displays the captured image; and

a power generator which generates power using at least one of heat, vibration, light rays emitted from the external tag writer, and electromagnetic waves, and supplies power to the sensing unit and the display unit,

wherein the power generator supplies the power to the sensing unit and the sensing unit operates based on the supplied power to automatically capture the image,

wherein the sensing unit comprises a plurality of sensors which constitute a sensing area, and

wherein the display unit comprises a plurality of pixels corresponding one-to-one to the plurality of sensors.

14. The display unit of claim 13, wherein the sensing unit does not automatically capture the image if the sensing unit is not disposed adjacent to the screen.

19. The display unit of claim 13, wherein, if the sensing unit is disposed adjacent to the screen, the power generator receives at least one of the heat, the vibration, the light rays, and the electromagnetic waves emitted from the external tag writer to generate power, and the sensing unit automatically captures the image displayed on the screen using the generated power, and the display unit displays the captured image.

20. The display unit of claim 13, wherein the sensing unit receives light rays of the image displayed on the screen of the external tag writer and outputs a signal corresponding to intensities of the light rays;

and

the display unit receives the signal from the sensing unit and displays the captured image.

15. A method for writing tag information of a display tag system, the method comprising:

displaying a plurality of images corresponding to tag information stored in an external tag writer;

if one of the plurality of images is selected as a selected image, displaying the selected image on a first area of a screen of the external tag writer;

if a display tag having a display unit is adjacent to the first area, receiving at least one of heat, vibration, light rays, and electromagnetic waves emitted from the external tag writer to generate power, automatically capturing, by the display tag, the selected image displayed on the first area using the generated power, and displaying the captured image on the display unit.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein if the display tag is not adjacent to the first area, the power is not generated and automatically capturing does not occur.