Abstract: A distributed electronic price display system includes a central computer communicating through a radio frequency system to receivers located preferably at a gondola unit between each aisle in a facility to display prices or other information. Each gondola unit may be controlled by a single controller, depending upon the size and number of shelves and number of electronic tags placed under the command of the single controller. Each level of control at the gondola redistributes information to the next level down by selectively enabling the receipt and re-transmission of the information at various routing points in the system, including master controllers, slave controllers and price tag modules. This process continues until the message is loaded into the electronic display. A change of price can be accomplished remotely from the central station by the use of a radio frequency terminal carried by an attendant.

Abstract: A self-adjusting shelf mounted interconnect is disclosed including a bus connector having a series of electrical contacts to engage respective conductive strips of a first electrical bus that runs along a shelf carrying gondola. The self-adjusting interconnect is mounted below a shelf so that when the shelf is removably attached to the gondola, the contacts of the bus connector are automatically mated to the conductive strips of the electrical bus, whereby information transmitted from a remote computer to the first electrical bus can be transmitted to a second electrical bus that runs along the front of the shelf and to a particular one of a plurality of electronic price tag modules that are coupled to the second electrical bus to receive and display the information transmitted from the remote computer.