Display system
AssigneeNCR Corporation
InventorsPhilip C. Crepeau, Masami S. Kaino
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A retail store having a computer, point-of-sale terminals, and product code readers at the point-of-sale terminals, includes an electronic price display system. The display system has plural display units, with one display unit at each of the locations in the store where items are held for sale. The computer controls both the prices which are displayed by the display units and the prices which are charged to customers at the point-of-sale terminals. The display units are connected in electrical series by a data transmission line, and price information is transmitted by the computer over the transmission line to the display system in the same order as the display units are connected.
Claims12
In a store:
- a plurality of stock locations;
- a plurality of display units, each one of said display units at one of said locations;
- data transmission line means connecting said plurality of display units in series;
- and
- computer means, for transmitting a series of signals to said serially connected display units, each of said signals associated with and conveying data to be displayed at one of said display units, said series of signals transmitted in the same order as said serially connected display units so that at the end of the transmission of said series of signals, each of said display units has received its associated signal.
A system particularly adaptable for use in a store having a plurality of locations, each of said locations associated with a type of item for sale, said system comprising:
- computer means for transmitting signals along a data transmission line, each of said signals conveying data pertaining to said type of item at one of said locations;
- and
- a plurality of display units connected in series along said data transmission line, each of said display units at one of said locations and including alphanumeric display means and storage means for storing one of said signals and controlling said alphanumeric display means in response to said one of said signals.
A system particularly adapted for use in a store having a plurality of locations, each of said locations associated with a type of item for sale, said system comprising:
- computer means for transmitting groups of data pulses along a data transmission line, each group conveying data pertaining to said type of item at one of said locations;
- and
- a plurality of display units connected in series along said data transmission line, each of said display units at one of said locations and including a shift register for storing one of said groups of data pulses and alphanumeric display means connected to said shift register and controlled by said one of said groups of data pulses stored in said shift register.
In a display system having a plurality of display units, with each of said display units associated with an item and having means for displaying data pertaining to said item:
- data transmission line means connecting said display units in series;
- and
- computer means for transmitting a series of signals along said transmission line means to said serially connected display units, each of said signals associated with one of said display units and conveying data to be displayed at said one of said display units, said series of signals transmitted in the same order as said serially connected display units so that after the transmission of said series of signals, each of said display units has received its associated signal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.