WO2011154753A1

WO2011154753A1 - Equipment with goods protection for the point-of-sale display of interactive devices

Info

Publication number: WO2011154753A1
Application number: PCT/HU2011/000046
Authority: WO
Inventors: Sándor AMBRUS
Original assignee: Ambrus Sandor
Priority date: 2010-06-07
Filing date: 2011-05-11
Publication date: 2011-12-15
Also published as: HU1000141V0; HU3838U

Abstract

The subject of the invention relates to equipment with goods protection for the point-of- sale display of interactive devices, which comprises a carrying unit for displaying the device, an information forwarding gate allocated to the carrying unit and suitable for connecting the device, a medium broadcast unit and a goods protection bearing unit allocated to the carrying unit, where the goods protection bearing unit has a bearing part-unit attached to the carrying unit and a sensor part-unit connected to the device and co-acting with the bearing part-unit, the information forwarding gate is connected to the medium broadcast unit via a signal transfer cable, and the goods protection bearing unit is connected to the goods protection monitoring part-unit via a start signal transfer cable. The characteristic feature of the invention is that the information forwarding gate (10) has a data traffic line (11), where the data traffic line (11) is at least temporarily connected to the internal control part-unit (la) of the device (1) and/or to the identification data storage compartment (lb) of the device (1) via a data transfer cable (20) on the one part, and the data traffic line (11) of the information forwarding gate (10) is connected to the data traffic control part-unit (41) with the help of a data transfer channel (30) on the other part, the data traffic control part-unit (41) is connected to the goods protection monitoring part-unit (42) via an instruction line (43), and the data traffic control part-unit (41) and/or the goods protection monitoring part-unit (42) is connected to a data storage unit (50) with the help of an information channel (80).

Description

Equipment with goods protection for the point-of-sale display of interactive devices

The subject of the invention relates to equipment with goods protection for the point-of- sale display of interactive devices, which comprises a carrying unit for displaying the device, an information forwarding gate allocated to the carrying unit and suitable for connecting the device, a medium broadcast unit and a goods protection bearing unit allocated to the carrying unit, where the goods protection bearing unit has a bearing part- unit attached to the carrying unit and a sensor part-unit connected to the device and co- acting with the bearing part-unit, the information forwarding gate is connected to the medium broadcast unit via a signal transfer cable, and the goods protection bearing unit is connected to the goods protection monitoring part-unit via a start signal transfer cable.

Due to the development of the electronics industry and computer technology portable devices with an increasing number of service characteristics of improving quality, for example with better sound quality and definition, - such as MP3 and MP4 media players, mobile telephones, digital cameras - have been put into circulation, the technical parameters and characteristics of which customers would like to test before purchasing the product. For this reason the point-of-sale testing of such interactive devices offered for sale must be made possible by providing customers with all possible useful information about the currently tested device while they are holding the device in their hands, so that the misappropriation of the devices displayed for testing is prevented at the same time.

A display unit combined with such goods protection equipment is described, for example, in publication document no. US 2006/0097875, where the sensors protecting the individual products and the holders carrying the sensors are combined with electronic elements, which sense it when the given product is touched and lifted up by a person and display information about the technical characteristics and use of the given product on a media player situated near the product. The undoubted advantage of the equipment is that it enables the point-of-sale display and testing of several interactive products, while there is no risk of the displayed product being misappropriated. However, its disadvantage is that - with regard to the increasingly wider selection and the increasingly more frequent change of the product range - when the products are changed, the contents relating to the products and displayed on the displaying device need to be replaced and changed on site, and the information relating to the given product, e.g. type number, manufacturer, price, etc. must also be stated here, allocating it to the given product here. This activity requires time, attention and appropriate skills, which, in many cases, are not available at the points of sale. Incorrectly allocated product descriptions may lead to misunderstandings, which may result in the failure of purchase or, if the price is wrongly stated, it may even cause damage to the seller.

By creating the equipment according to the invention our aim was to eliminate the deficiencies of the known versions and to construct equipment suitable for product presentation and goods protection at the same time, which is easy to handle even with remote access, with the help of which the identification of a given device to be displayed can be realised automatically, and the information relating to the device identified in this way can be matched with the device and placed on the medium broadcast unit designated for this purpose without any significant participation of the point-of-sale staff.

The idea of the equipment according to the invention was based on the fact that today all interactive devices put into circulation, such as different media players, telecommunication and information technology equipment, are equipped with internal identifiers, which can be read from the given device with a suitably chosen solution, and in this way the type of the given device and its technical characteristics also become identifiable.

In accordance with this basic idea, the construction according to the invention was based on the recognition that if a goods protection system also suitable for product display known in itself is equipped with a novel data traffic monitoring and controlling device, which is connected to the device and to an appropriately constructed and monitored container unit, and the data traffic monitoring and controlling device itself is also controlled in a specific way via the goods protection equipment, then the device connected to the given point of display can be identified, charged, and appropriate information can be allocated to it practically automatically, and so the task can be solved. In accordance with the set aim, the equipment with goods protection according to the invention for the point-of-sale display of interactive devices - which comprises a carrying unit for displaying the device, an information forwarding gate allocated to the carrying unit and suitable for connecting the device, a medium broadcast unit and a goods protection bearing unit allocated to the carrying unit, where the goods protection bearing unit has a bearing part-unit attached to the carrying unit and a sensor part-unit connected to the device and co-acting with the bearing part-unit, the information forwarding gate is connected to the medium broadcast unit via a signal transfer cable, and the goods protection bearing unit is connected to the goods protection monitoring part-unit via a start signal transfer cable - is constructed in such a way that the information forwarding gate has a data traffic line, where the data traffic line is at least temporarily connected to the internal control part-unit of the device and/or to the identification data storage compartment of the device via a data transfer cable on the one part, and the data traffic line of the information forwarding gate is connected to the data traffic control part-unit with the help of a data transfer channel on the other part, the data traffic control part-unit is connected to the goods protection monitoring part-unit via an instruction line, and the data traffic control part-unit and/or the goods protection monitoring part-unit is connected to a data storage unit with the help of an information channel.

A further feature of the equipment according to the invention may be that a signal flow interrupting part-unit is inserted between the device and the information forwarding gate.

In the case of another version of the equipment the signal flow interrupting part-unit is inserted in the data transfer cable.

In the case of another different version of the invention the signal flow interrupting part- unit has a first interrupting member and a second interrupting member, which co-acts with the first interrupting member and can be separated from it and then linked to it again, where either one of the first interrupting member and the second interrupting member is attached to the device, while the other one of the first interrupting member and the second interrupting member is fixed to the carrying unit. In a given case the first interrupting member of the signal flow interrupting part-unit is joined with the sensor part-unit of the goods protection bearing unit, and the sensor part-unit is attached to the device, while the second interrupting member of the signal flow interrupting part-unit is placed in the bearing part-unit of the goods protection bearing unit, and the bearing part-unit is fixed to the carrying unit displaying the device.

In the case of a further different realisation of the equipment the medium broadcast unit contains a sound broadcast part-unit and/or an image display part-unit.

In the case of an even further construction of the invention the data traffic control part- unit and the goods protection monitoring part-unit are placed in one single central control unit, and the central control unit is connected to the data storage unit via the information channel.

In the case of another different version of the equipment the data storage unit is situated at a great distance from the carrying unit, and the information channel is suitable for the realisation of long-distance data traffic, e.g. it is a wireless RF device. Furthermore, the data storage unit is placed in a computer technology device.

The equipment according to the invention has numerous favourable characteristics. The most important one of these is that the equipment with the novel data traffic control part- unit makes the process of the preparation of the individual devices before display automatic reducing by this the time required for it, excluding the possibility of administrative errors, increasing the supply of wide-ranging and up-to-date information to potential customers, improving by this the interested persons' feeling of comfort, which may contribute to the realisation of purchase transactions.

Another advantage is that by using the novel data traffic control part-unit even already installed goods protection systems can be supplemented, as a result of which goods display equipment offering a much wider scope of services can be realised at a relatively low cost.

It must also be regarded as an advantage that the equipment with an appropriately constructed signal flow interrupting part-unit also makes it possible to update the internal contents, e.g. program, of a given device, e.g. MP4 player, in such a way that the given device can be tested and customers can listen to its sound through the medium broadcast unit at the same time.

It is also an advantage that due to the data traffic control part-unit and due to its connection to the elements of the equipment it becomes possible to allocate materials and contents to the given device and to the display position and update such contents without using or burdening the point-of-sale staff, which reduces such use of the sales staff on the one part so they can concentrate on the sale and on providing the persons interested with further information. On the other part it excludes even the possibility of allocating wrong data or information to a given device because of an administrative error or human mistake, which prevents the occurrence of inconveniences deriving from providing false misinformation to the persons interested.

Another favourable characteristic feature of the equipment unlike any known equipment is that in the case of a given displayed device - depending on the settings of the data traffic control part-unit and the computer technology device monitoring it - always the latest internal contents are put in the internal control part-unit of the device, and always the latest relevant information is displayed on the medium broadcast part-unit too, which facilitates fast and up-dated information supply to the persons interested.

An additional advantage is that the equipment with a data traffic control part-unit is suitable for charging up the energy sources of battery-operated devices in an efficient way, as a result of which energy can be saved, and the lifetime of the batteries can also be increased. With the help of the suitable constructed data traffic control part-unit the charged-up status of the devices can be monitored too, and the charging of the battery can be started upon the occurrence of certain conditions.

It can be regarded as an economic advantage that the data traffic control part-unit linked with goods protection and integrated in its set of devices, together with its related data transfer elements, being combined equipment, results in lower investment and operation costs for the points of sale. The automatic contents update and device identification can significantly reduce the live working time of the staff in this field, which, in a given case, may result in labour force saving. Below the equipment according to the invention is described in detail in connection with a construction example, on the basis of a drawing. In the drawing figure 1 is the schematic view of a possible construction of the equipment according to the invention, figure 2 is the lateral view of a version of the goods protection bearing unit belonging to the equipment according to the invention, partly in section.

Figure 1 shows a version of the equipment according to the invention, where the medium broadcast unit 3 and the goods protection bearing unit 70 are fitted on the same carrying unit 2. The medium broadcast unit 3 - as in the ordinary way - includes the sound broadcast part-unit 3a and the image display part-unit 3b. On the one part, the task of the medium broadcast part-unit 3 is to convey the technical data of the selected device 1 and other information relating to the device 1 to the interested persons during its operation. On the other part its task is to broadcast other general-purpose information and advertisements during periods when no interested persons are using the equipment, that is when none of the devices 1 placed on the carrying unit 2 of the equipment is lifted up by anyone. The sound broadcast part-unit 3a and image display part-unit 3b of the medium broadcast unit 3 are connected to the devices 1 placed on the carrying unit 2 with the help of the signal transfer cable 4.

The goods protection bearing unit 70 placed on the carrying unit 2, also in the ordinary way, consists of a sensor part-unit 71 and a bearing part-unit 72, where the sensor part-unit 71 is attached to the device, while the bearing part-unit 72 is fixed to the carrying unit 2.

It can be seen in figure 1 that the device 1 contains the internal control part-unit la and the identification data storage compartment lb. The identification data storage compartment lb contains the individual code relating to the given device 1, on the basis of which the type of the given device and its technical characteristics can be determined clearly with the help of a suitably created set of data. The internal control part-unit la and/or the identification data storage compartment lb of the device 1 are connected to the data traffic line 1 1 of the information forwarding gate 10 inserted in the carrying unit 2, via a data transfer cable 20. The data traffic line 1 1 of the information forwarding gate 10 is connected to the data traffic control part-unit 41 of the central control unit 40 with the help of the data transfer channel 30.

In the case of this version of the equipment the signal flow interrupting part-unit 60 is integrated in the goods protection bearing unit 70, and it has a first interrupting member 61 and a second interrupting member 62. Here the first interrupting member 61 is situated in the sensor part-unit 71 , while the second interrupting member 62 is situated in the bearing part-unit 72. Here the signal flow interrupting part-unit 60 is inserted in the data transfer cable 20 running between the device 1 and the information forwarding gate 10, and so the signal flow interrupting part-unit 60 divides the data transfer cable 20 into two parts in such a way that temporary signal transmission connection is provided by the first interrupting member 61 and the second interrupting member 62 of the signal flow interrupting part-unit 60. The signal transmission connection is realised between the two parts of the data transfer cable 20 in a period, when the device 1 , together with the sensor part-unit 71 , is resting on the bearing part-unit 72 of the goods protection bearing unit 70. In this case wire connection suitable for data transfer between the device 1 and the data traffic control part-unit 41 of the central control unit 40 is realised via the route: the part of the data transfer cable 20 between the device 1 and the first interrupting member 61 of the signal flow interrupting part-unit 60 - the part of the data transfer cable 20 between the second interrupting member 62 of the signal flow interrupting part-unit 60 and the data traffic line 1 1 of the information forwarding gate 10 - the data transfer channel 30 between the data traffic line 1 1 of the information forwarding gate 10 and the central control unit 40.

The task of the signal flow interrupting part-unit 60 is to enable actual connection between the device 1 and the data traffic control part-unit 41 only during the period when the device 1 is resting on the bearing part-unit 72 of the goods protection bearing unit 70 of the carrying unit 2.

Figure 1 also shows that the sensor part-unit 71 of the goods protection bearing unit 70 is connected to the goods protection monitoring part-unit 42 of the central control unit 40 via the start signal transfer cable 73. The data traffic control part-unit 41 and the goods protection monitoring part-unit 42 are connected to each other with the help of the instruction line 43. The aim of the instruction line 43 connection established between the data traffic control part-unit 41 and the goods protection monitoring part-unit 42 is to enable the goods protection monitoring part-unit 42 to monitor and, if necessary, influence the data traffic between the data traffic control part-unit 41 and the data traffic line 1 1 of the information forwarding gate 10 as desired.

The central control unit 40 integrated from the data traffic control part-unit 41 and the goods protection monitoring part-unit 42 is connected to the computer technology device 5 also including the data storage unit 50 via the information channel 80. The information channel 80 can be a high-speed wire connection, but wireless, e.g. RF connection is also possible. The main point is to enable safe and fast data transfer between the central control unit 40 and the computer technology device 5 located at a greater distance, in a given case hundreds of kilometres from each other. For example internet connection can also be used for this purpose.

The computer technology device · 5 is responsible for the adequate storage of the information blocks in the data storage unit 50 as well as the technical data relating to a given device 1 , the programs operating in the internal control part-unit 1 a of a given device 1 and other internal contents, for making it possible to identify and select them and forward them to the internal control part-unit la of a given device 1 via the route: data storage unit 50 - information channel 80 - central control unit 40 - data traffic control part-unit 41 - data transfer channel 30 - information forwarding gate 10 - data transfer cable 20, or to the medium broadcast unit 3 via the route: data storage unit 50 - information channel 80 - central control unit 40 - data traffic control part-unit 41 - data transfer channel 30 - information forwarding gate 10 - signal transfer cable 4.

Figure 2 shows only a part of the equipment according to the invention in the environment of the goods protection bearing unit 70. It can be seen here that the data transfer cable 20 connecting the device 1 to the data traffic line 1 1 of the information forwarding gate 10 does is not interrupted. In this case data transfer via the data transfer cable 20 and the data transfer channel can only be permitted or prohibited by the instruction line 43 leading from the goods protection monitoring part-unit 42 of the central control unit 40 to the data traffic control part-unit 41.

During the operation of the equipment according to the invention first the data storage unit 50 of the computer technology device 5 must be filled with data relating to the devices 1 to be sold and displayed or data controlling, monitoring or supporting their operation and by this enabling the updating of the programs running in the given devices 1. After uploading data into the data storage unit 50 the data therein must be updated continuously.

After the connections for forwarding information between the carrying unit 2 of the equipment and the data storage unit 50 have been established, the equipment is ready for operation. When the device 1 to be displayed is connected to the data traffic line 1 1 of the information forwarding gate 10 via the data transfer cable 20, and the given device 1 itself is in resting condition, the first interrupting member 61 and second interrupting member 62 of the signal flow interrupting part-unit 60 are in contact with each other. As a result of this the data forwarding connection between the data storage unit 50 and the identification data storage compartment lb of the device 1 can operate without any disturbances. As soon as the data traffic control part-unit 41 of the central control unit 40 detects that a device 1 has been connected to the data traffic line 11 of the information forwarding gate 10 via the data transfer cable 20, it interrogates the content of the identification data storage compartment lb of the given device 1 , and forwards it to the computer technology device 5 via the information channel 80. On the basis of the identification data received the computer technology device 5 finds the received content in the data storage unit 50 and forwards it to the internal control part-unit la of the device 1 via the route: information channel 80 - data traffic control part-unit 41 - data transfer channel 30 - information forwarding gate 10 - data transfer cable 20, where the necessary programs, updates and contents are stored.

When a person interested lifts up a device 1 with contents "updated" as above from the bearing part-unit 72 of the goods protection bearing unit 70 situated on the carrying unit 2, the first interrupting member 61 and second interrupting member 62 of the signal flow interrupting part-unit 60 inserted in the data transfer cable 20 move away from each other and the connection between the device 1 and the data traffic control part-unit 41 is interrupted. However, the interruption of this data connection enables the device 1 to forward the contents stored therein, e.g. pictures, music, etc., via the signal transfer cable 4 to the medium broadcast unit 3, so that the given device 1 can be tested. A further process that takes place when the device 1 is lifted up is that the technical information, type name, or even price information relating to the given device 1 can also be displayed on the image display part-unit 3b of the medium broadcast unit 3. Such information may come from the device 1 itself via the signal transfer cable 4, but such information data or even advertisements displayed on the image display part-unit 3 b of the medium broadcast unit 3 may also be received from the data traffic control part-unit 41 of the central control unit 40, or directly from the data storage unit 50 of the remote computer technology device 5.

When the data transfer cable 20 is not connected to the data traffic line 11 of the information forwarding gate 10, the data traffic control part-unit 41 of the central control unit 40 is not active either, and no data can be forwarded from the data storage unit 50 of the remote computer technology device 5 at all to the data transfer channel.

Obviously the goods protection function of the equipment according to the invention operates independently from the data traffic control part-unit 41 of the central control unit 40, but this operation does not form a subject of the invention described in the present specification, so it is not described herein.

In the case of the practical example of the equipment according to the invention shown in figure 2, the data transfer line 20 between the device 1 and the data traffic line 11 of the information forwarding gate 10 is not interrupted, so here there could be continuous data traffic between the data traffic control part-unit 41 of the central control unit 40 and the device 1, which, however, in the case of certain solutions makes it difficult or even impossible to test the device 1. For this reason in the case of such forms of implementation there is an instruction line 43 establishing a monitoring connection between the data traffic control part-unit 41 and the goods protection monitoring part-unit 42 of the central control unit 40. The instruction line 43 operates as described below. It sends a signal via the start signal transfer cable 73 to the goods protection monitoring part-unit 42 only if the sensor part-unit 71 connected to the start signal transfer cable 73 is attached to a device 1. However, if no signal is received via the start signal transfer cable 73, that is there is no device 1 placed in the given goods protection bearing unit 70, then via the instruction line 43 the goods protection monitoring part-unit 42 blocks the operation of the data traffic control part-unit, and so it does not attempt to find an evaluable signal with the help of the data transfer channel 30 on the data traffic line 1 1 of the information forwarding gate 10, and does not send any information a to the data traffic line 1 1 of the information forwarding gate 10 via the data transfer channel 30.

The equipment according to the invention can be favourably used at all points of sale, where the basic task is to show the interactive devices to be sold during operation and, at the same time, to display as much useful information as possible about the given product to support customers' decision and sale, in such a way that the displayed information and data is allocated to the exhibited product practically automatically and clearly, while ensuring the protection of the product against misappropriation at the same.

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List of references

1 device 1 a internal control part-unit

lb identification data storage compartment

2 carrying unit

3 medium broadcast unit sound broadcast part-unit

image display part-unit

4 signal transfer cable

5 computer technology device

10 information forwarding gate 11 data traffic line 20 data transfer cable 30 data transfer channel 40 central control unit 41 data traffic control part-unit

42 goods protection monitoring part-unit

43 instruction line

50 data storage unit

60 signal flow interrupting part-unit 61 first interrupting member

62 second interrupting member

70 goods protection bearing unit 71 sensor part-unit

72 bearing part-unit

73 start signal transfer cable 80 information channel

Claims

1. Equipment with goods protection for the point-of-sale display of interactive devices, which comprises a carrying unit for displaying the device, an information forwarding gate allocated to the carrying unit and suitable for connecting the device, a medium broadcast unit and a goods protection bearing unit allocated to the carrying unit, where the goods protection bearing unit has a bearing part-unit attached to the carrying unit and a sensor part-unit connected to the device and co-acting with the bearing part-unit, the information forwarding gate is connected to the medium broadcast unit via a signal transfer cable, and the goods protection bearing unit is connected to the goods protection monitoring part-unit via a start signal transfer cable, characterised by that the information forwarding gate (10) has a data traffic line (1 1), where the data traffic line (1 1) is at least temporarily connected to the internal control part-unit (la) of the device (1) and/or to the identification data storage compartment (lb) of the device (1) via a data transfer cable (20) on the one part, and the data traffic line (1 1) of the information forwarding gate (10) is connected to the data traffic control part-unit (41) with the help of a data transfer channel (30) on the other part, the data traffic control part-unit (41) is connected to the goods protection monitoring part-unit (42) via an instruction line (43), and the data traffic control part-unit (41) and/or the goods protection monitoring part-unit (42) is connected to a data storage unit (50) with the help of an information channel (80).

2. Equipment as in claim 1, characterised by that a signal flow interrupting part-unit (60) is inserted between the device (1) and the information forwarding gate (10).

3. Equipment as in claim 2, characterised by that the signal flow interrupting part- unit (60) is inserted in the data transfer cable (20).

4. Equipment as in claim 2 or claim 3, characterised by that the signal flow interrupting part-unit (60) has a first interrupting member (61) and a second interrupting member (62), which co-acts with the first interrupting member (61) and can be separated from it and then linked to it again, where either one of the first interrupting member (61) and the second interrupting member (62) is attached to the device (1), while the other one of the first interrupting member (61) and the second interrupting member (62) is fixed to the carrying unit (2).

5. Equipment as in claim 4, characterised by that the first interrupting member (61 ) of the signal flow interrupting part-unit (60) is joined with the sensor part-unit (71) of the goods protection bearing unit (70), and the sensor part-unit (71) is attached to the device (1 ).

6. Equipment as in claim 4 or claim 5, characterised by that the second interrupting member (62) of the signal flow interrupting part-unit (60) is placed in the bearing part-unit (72) of the goods protection bearing unit (70), and the bearing part-unit (72) is fixed to the carrying unit (2) displaying the device (1).

7. Equipment as in any of claims 1-6, characterised by that the medium broadcast unit (3) contains a sound broadcast part-unit (3a) and/or an image display part-unit (3b).

8. Equipment as in any of claims 1-7, characterised by that the data traffic control part-unit (41 ) and the goods protection monitoring part-unit (42) are placed in one single central control unit (40), and the central control unit (40) is connected to the data storage unit (50) via the information channel (80).

9. Equipment as in any of claims 1-8, characterised by that the data storage unit (50) is situated at a great distance from the carrying unit (2), and the information channel (80) is suitable for the realisation of long-distance data traffic, e.g. it is a wireless RF device.

10. Equipment as in any of claims 1-8, characterised by that the data storage unit (50) is placed in a computer technology device (5).