Patent Application
20160046424
This invention relates to a package for holding and displaying a product on a display peg, where a thru opening of the package is configured to be in electrical contact with the display peg.
Conventional displays, such as point-of-purchase displays having a base pegboard and display hardware, contain functional capability primarily limited to the placement of shelves, racks, and corresponding pegs upon which products are placed and displayed. Such conventional point-of-purchase displays offer little to no sales or inventory data feedback to the retailer or product manufacturer.
Interactive display systems for point-of-purchase scenarios have been developed to provide more functionality than conventional displays. These interactive display systems have all the functionality of traditional displays, but also include a power distribution system with printed or molded conductive ink traces on, in, or around the display unit, to provide additional functionality. One example of the additional functionality is automatic sensing of product on the peg to track stocked inventory. The feedback data from the automatic sensing capability can be used for inventory control, theft notification, misplaced product notification, and the like.
In a particular type of these interactive display systems, the peg board (also called the backer board) normally associated with a display has a printed conductive ink trace applied to the front or back of the peg board. When the fixture hooks (pegs), shelves, or other elements are plugged into the peg board, they come in contact with the proper power traces on the back or front side, allowing for the proper contact and distribution of a positive and negative contact, thereby creating a powered component. That is, the pegs and/or the shelves acquire current from the peg board. Packages hung on the pegs of the interactive display system include resistive elements that make electrical contact with each of the conductive terminals on the pegs. From the conductive loop, the interactive display system components are able to determine the identity of the product based on the resistance value of the package. The system can then alert the retailer to low or out-of-stock inventory on a peg, that the wrong product has been placed on the peg, and the like.
In order for such interactive display systems to function properly (e.g., provide consistent and accurate feedback), there must be complete and consistent electrical contact between the peg and the product package, otherwise the stock tracking on the peg will be interrupted or, worse yet, completely absent. The package should remain in electrical contact with the peg even when it is moved on the peg, such as being bumped by moving product on adjacent pegs or when it is slid backward on the peg by the addition of more packages thereon.
The present invention seeks to further improve the electrical contact between the product package and the peg on interactive display systems.
According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a package for holding and displaying a consumer product on a peg. The package has a front panel defining a thru opening to receive the peg. The thru opening has a first tab and a second tab. The first tab extends from a first edge of the thru opening and has a conductive bottom edge. The second tab extends from a second edge of the thru opening and has a conductive bottom edge spaced apart from the conductive bottom edge of the first tab. The conductive bottom edge of the first and second tabs are in electrical contact with the peg.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided an interactive product display system. The system includes an elongated display peg having a circular bottom surface, a generally flat top surface, and a pair of angled side surfaces connecting the bottom surface and the top surface, wherein the angled side surfaces are electrically conductive and the top and bottom surfaces are not electrically conductive; and a package having a front panel, defining a thru opening dimensioned to receive the elongated display peg, a first tab extending from a first edge of the thru opening, the first tab having a conductive bottom edge, a second tab extending from the second edge of the thru opening, the second tab having a conductive bottom edge spaced apart from the conductive bottom edge of the first tab, wherein the conductive bottom edge of the first and second tabs are in electrical contact with the respective angled side surfaces of the peg.
Embodiments of the invention will hereinafter be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
The invention is applicable to packages in general that are used for holding and displaying product on a peg of an interactive display system.
In order to ensure optimal electrical contact between the package 300 and the peg 302, the first tab 306 and the second tab 310 extend from the first edge 308 and the second edge 312, respectively, at an angle generally equal to the angle of the side surfaces 316. In one embodiment, the first and second tabs have an included angle of about 0 degrees to about 90 degrees, specifically about 15 degrees to about 75 degrees, and more specifically about 35 degrees to about 55 degrees.
The thru opening 304 can be defined in any suitable location on the package 300. For example (as shown in
It is the be understood that the packages of
In some cases, the extra material provided by the curved conductive bottom edge of the tabs can aid in electrical contact with the flat portions of the peg.
Again, this feature of the tabs may generally assist in ensuring suitable electrical connection between the conductive edges of the fingers and the conductive portions of the peg during movement of the package. While
As mentioned above, like the tabs, the thru-opening of the package can have any shape and design suitable for hanging the package on a peg.
The electrically conductive portions of the package and peg, for example the bottom edges and the angled side surfaces, respectively, are formed by the presence of an electrically conductive ink or film disposed in or on those portions. The peg itself may be formed from a polymeric material. A portion or the entire circumference of the peg may be coated with a dielectric or a nonconductive insulating material. The electrically conductive portions (i.e., a sensor) can be attached to or formed as a coating along one or more surfaces of the circumference of the peg. The peg may also be covered with a flexible sleeve. The flexible sleeve may be adhesive backed in order to remain affixed to the peg. The flexible sleeve can completely surround the peg core, or it can cover a top portion (e.g. the top surface and the angled side surfaces), or it can cover just the angled side surfaces. The flexible sleeve may cover the entire length of the peg or it may cover only a portion of the length. One or more electrically conductive wires may be embedded in the flexible sleeve. The flexible sleeve of the peg may then function as an electrically conductive terminal for contacting a package hung on the peg and the interactive display system.
The embedded electrical terminals of the flexible sleeve can be printed using conductive inks or conventional circuitry. In another embodiment, conductive ink traces can be in-molded into the electrically conductive portions of the peg. In-molding conductive ink is known in the art and generally involves placing a preformed circuit on a thermoformable structure. Whether in-molding or affixing a flexible sleeve, the conductive ink traces can be printed using a variety of processes used to deposit the various ink layers, including, without limitation, screen printing, gravure printing, flexographic printing, off-set printing, intaglio printing, letter press printing, pad printing, ink jet printing, bubble jet printing, and the like.
Similarly, the package may include one or more resistive elements. Like the electrical terminals of the peg, the resistive element may be formed using conductive inks. The resistive element may be formed, printed, or otherwise affixed onto the package on a portion of the package which contacts the peg when hung thereon, such as, for example, the first and second tabs of the package thru opening. The conductive ink traces of the resistive element complete an electrical connection between the terminals of the peg. The conductive ink can be solid on the tabs, or the conductive ink can form a hatched, serpentine, or other suitable pattern on the tab that reduces conductive ink usage compared to a solid pattern.
The resistive element of the thru opening can have a resistance of about 1 k ohm to about 200 k ohm, specifically about 15 k ohm to about 150 k ohm, and more specifically about 30 k ohm to about 100 k ohm. The gravitational force exerted on the package hanging from the peg generally provides a reliable connection along the angled side surfaces of the peg, given the novel configuration of the thru opening and the corresponding peg dimensions. The weight of the package and the product contents are effective in applying the force through the first and second tabs to the peg surface(s). In one embodiment, the weight of the package is about 5 grams (“g”) to 500 g, specifically about 15 g to about 150 g, and more specifically about 30 g to 95 g.
As mentioned previously, the peg and package described herein can together form part of an interactive product display system (an example of which is illustrated in
The interactive product display systems provide automatic sensing of product on the peg to track stocked inventory. The feedback data from the automatic sensing capability can be used for inventory control, theft notification, misplaced product notification, and the like. For example, each package can have a preselected resistivity, which represents a particular product in the package. When multiple packages of the same product are placed on the peg, the system can determine the number of packages on the peg by the amount of electrical current traveling between the terminals given a known voltage drop. Moreover, the interactive product display system may be capable of determining when a package is placed on the wrong peg. For example, if a package of product A and a package of product B were placed on the same peg, the system would recognize that one of the packages is on the wrong peg, because the electrical current traveling on the peg would not be what the system expects to detect.
While the above examples relate specifically to packages having resistive elements, the present disclosure may also apply to packages RC values or capacitive values. Moreover, the packages can include a radio frequency identifier (“RFID”). The RFIC may be passive RFID and it may be chipless RFID, as well. In some embodiments, the RFID may be electrically coupled to the resistive element of the package.
These valuable features of the interactive product display system, as well as others not specifically mentioned, are only useful as long as there is complete and consistent electrical contact between the package and the peg. The specific package and peg features described herein ensure such an electrical connection exists and present a significant improvement over conventional package/peg interaction. Due to their unique design, the packages of the present invention can remain in electrical contact with the peg even when the package is moved on the peg, such as being bumped by moving product on adjacent pegs, disrupted by a consumer, or slid forward/backward on the peg by a retailer adding or removing packages thereon.
The dimensions and values disclosed herein are not to be understood as being strictly limited to the exact numerical values recited. Instead, unless otherwise specified, each such dimension is intended to mean both the recited value and a functionally equivalent range surrounding that value. For example, a dimension disclosed as “40 mm” is intended to mean “about 40 mm.”
Every document cited herein, including any cross referenced or related patent or application, is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety unless expressly excluded or otherwise limited. The citation of any document is not an admission that it is prior art with respect to any invention disclosed or claimed herein or that it alone, or in any combination with any other reference or references, teaches, suggests or discloses any such invention. Further, to the extent that any meaning or definition of a term in this document conflicts with any meaning or definition of the same term in a document incorporated by reference, the meaning or definition assigned to that term in this document shall govern.
While particular embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described, it would be obvious to those skilled in the art that various other changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is therefore intended to cover in the appended claims all such changes and modifications that are within the scope of this invention.
