Power bus for powering electronic devices operating in retail environments
A system and method for supporting and providing electrical power to devices. One embodiment includes an elongated member coupled to the structure and configured to support a device and to supply electrical power to the device. A coupling member is operable to engage the elongated member or power bus and support the device. The coupling member is operable to be moved from a first position to a second position along the elongated member to reposition the device with respect to the structure. In one embodiment, the elongated member is configured to supply electrical power to the device substantially continuously during movement of the coupling member along the elongated member.
This application is a Continuation of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/760,802 filed Jan. 20, 2004 and claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/441,367 filed Jan. 20, 2003. The entire teachings of the above applications are incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Technical Field of the Invention
The principles of the present invention are generally directed to a power bus for delivery of electrical power to electronic and electrical devices operating in a retail environment, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a rail conduit capable of delivering electricity and supporting at least a portion of an electronic or electrical device at substantially any location thereon.
2. Description of Related Art
Retail facilities often utilize electronic or electrical devices (“devices”) in relation to products and/or structures for supporting products. Such electronic devices may include electronic displays, coupon dispensers, or other electronic device utilized to provide and/or receive information to and from customers. The electronic devices also may include lights (e.g., fluorescent lights), vacuums, coffee seed grinders, and other electrical products. In providing power to these devices, an outlet or other plug-in type socket is typically wired. These wired electrical sockets are limited in that they may not be aesthetically pleasing and do not provide for the devices to be repositioned to any extent from the electrical socket without the use of an extension cord, which is not aesthetically pleasing. Alternatively, the devices may use batteries, but repositioning of the battery powered devices generally requires inconvenient and/or extensive mechanical reconfiguration, which is also true with repositioning devices that are connected to the electrical sockets.
Another problem with locating devices in relation to products is the need for hardware to mount the devices to the structure. The hardware is in addition to the wired socket and costs extra money in terms of cost and labor for installation and/or repositioning. For example, major retail chain stores are currently configured with structures that are used to display products. A typical major retail chain store may have 3 million structures. It is not economical for the retail stores, large or small, to purchase new structures. In addition, it is not cost effective to have electricians retrofit existing structures to be wired as the structures would either have to be disassembled, wired, and reassembled or be configured with wires that are not aesthetically pleasing and can be seen by customers.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONTo overcome the problems and limitations of having (i) non-aesthetically pleasing electrical power sockets, (ii) inconvenient and/or extensive mechanical reconfiguration to reposition a device on a structure, and (iii) costly purchasing or retrofitting of structures, for example, the principles of the present invention provide for a system and method for supporting and providing electrical power to devices. One embodiment includes an elongated member coupled to the structure and configured to support a device and to supply electrical power to the device. A coupling member is operable to engage the elongated member or power bus and support the device. The coupling member is operable to be moved from a first position to a second position along the elongated member to reposition the device with respect to the structure. In one embodiment, the elongated member is configured to supply electrical power to the device substantially continuously during movement of the coupling member along the elongated member.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSThe disclosed invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which show sample embodiments of the invention and which are incorporated in the specification hereof by reference, wherein:
The principles of the present invention generally relate to a power bus or elongated member that is capable of extending along a structure or fixture used to display products. The structure may be a gondola, shelf, or other retail fixture for displaying products. Alternatively, the power bus may be coupled to an architectural member of an edifice. The architectural member may be a wall, beam, pole, ceiling, floor, or other structural component that mayor may not be configured to display products.
The power bus may support and provide electrical power for use by devices. In one embodiment, the devices may access power from the power bus at substantially any location thereon. Alternatively, the power bus may be configured to provide electrical power at certain locations rather than substantially the entire length. The power bus may be formed of one or more elongated members. In one embodiment, the elongated members are rails in the shape of a conduit, tube, or other geometric configuration. The elongated members may also include demarcations or predetermined separation and/or connection points to make shorter or extend the elongated members. Power may be delivered along one or more electrical conductors that are part of or coupled to the power bus (see, for example,
In addition to the power bus being capable of conducting power, the power bus may further be utilized to conduct information signals to and from devices, where the information signals may include content (e.g., image, video, audio, data) and control information (e.g., brightness, reset, location, data). In one embodiment, information or data representative of a video image may be communicated along the power bus, either along one of the conductors (i.e., HIGH or GND) or on a separate conductor or data line. Control information further may be communicated via the power bus or data line so that devices may timely and properly display the video image, for example.
In addition, the same or separate conductors (e.g., conduits 306 or conductive material may be utilized to carry signaling information (i.e., data and control information). The power bus 302 may further be capable of supporting at least a portion of an electronic device directly or by an extension arm (see
In addition to the power bus 302 supporting the device, repositioning of the device requires minimal or no mechanical reconfiguration. For example, the device may be moved via a trolley (see
Because the rollers 504 of the trolley 502 may be inserted into the conduits 306, the trolley 502 may be disposed at substantially any position along the power bus 302. The device may be repositioned by sliding or rolling the trolley 502 along the power bus 302. During the repositioning, conductive mechanism(s) may maintain contact with the power bus 302 so that the device being powered maintains power and signaling substantially continuously during the repositioning process. By using a power bus 302 as provided, no or minimal reconfiguration to a structure (e.g., gondola) is needed to reposition the device.
As the trolley 502 is moved, gaps that may be intentionally positioned in the conductors may cause a disruption of power to the device so that the device automatically resets, updates, or requests an update of its position from a user, thereby ensuring that the device does not maintain or obtain incorrect information (e.g., product advertising) that is related to a previous position of the device. Various methods for providing a reposition signal to the device before, during, or after being repositioned may be utilized. One embodiment for providing a reposition signal to the device includes sensing a change in position via a sensor (not shown). The sensor may be mechanical optical magnetic, electrical electronic, and the like as understood in the art. Another method is to sense motion (e.g., engagement or disengagement) of a lock or connector of the trolley or device to the power bus. In response to there being a repositioning, either automatically determined by a sensor or a manual entry being entered into the device, a repositioning signal may be communicated to a system (e.g., computer) via a wired or wireless connection for informational or other purposes.
An extension arm 506 may be coupled to the trolley 502. In one embodiment, the extension arm 506 may extend vertically from the trolley 502. Alternatively, the extension arm 506 may extend in any other direction from the trolley 502 and/or include one or more hinges to enable a user to position the device coupled to the extension arm 506 in any position and/or orientation. The extension arm 506 may be tubular or other geometric shape. In one embodiment, the extension arm 506 is hollow to enable conductors, such as wires, to extend therethrough to supply power to the device from the power bus 302. Alternatively, conductive surfaces may extend along the surface of the extension arm 506 to supply power to the device.
Other types of devices that are being utilized in retail environments include wireless devices. More specifically, RFID devices are used to track items located in the retail environment and/or on specific shelf locations. By configuring the RFID devices on the power bus 302, the RFID devices may be repositioned with minimal or no structural modification of the structure to which the power bus is mounted. Additional information regarding RFID devices is described in co-pending U.S. Patent Application 60/487,650 filed on Jul. 16, 2003, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. Other wireless devices, such as optical devices, may be powered by the power bus 302.
Further shown in
It should be understood that the two configurations (i.e., coupling power bus to the upright posts via adapters on the top of the upright posts 102 or coupled to slots of the upright posts 102) provided herein are merely exemplary and that many other configurations are possible in accordance with the principles of the present invention. For example, the power bus 302 may be mounted to a wall, mounted to a ceiling, mounted below a shelf, or extended from the edge of a shelf. Further, the length of the power bus 302 may be varied according to the particular application that the power bus is to be applied. In one embodiment, the power bus 302 may have “break points” (not shown) where it may be separated or severed to form different lengths. Alternatively, and/or additionally, “connection points” (not shown) may be included on the power buses to enable lengthening or extending a power bus. In lengthening the power bus, a conductive jumper may be configured between individual power buses so that electrical power is continuous across the entire length of power buses and that only one power supply is needed to power an entire extended power bus. The power bus 302 may also be configured in a variety of different orientations, such as vertically or diagonally. The trolley 502 may have a set screw or other fastening mechanism to lock the trolley 502 in place on the power bus 302 if the power bus 302 is oriented other than horizontally.
The innovative concepts described in the present application can be modified and varied over a wide rage of applications. Accordingly, the scope of patented subject matter should not be limited to any of the specific exemplary teachings discussed, but is instead defined by the following claims.
Claims
1. A system for providing electrical power to a device at a sure for displaying products, said system comprising:
- an elongated member coupled to the structure and configured to support the device and to supply electrical power to the device; and
- a coupling member operable to engage said elongated member and support the device, said coupling member operable to be moved from a first position to a second position along said elongated member to reposition the device with respect to the structure.
2. The system according to claim 1, wherein said elongated member is configured as a rail conduit for said coupling member to translate along.
3. The system according to claim 1, further comprising at least one electrical conductor extending along said elongated member for providing power for the device at multiple locations along the elongated member.
4. The system according to claim 3, wherein said coupling member includes at least one electrode, the at least one electrode being in electrical communication with the device and for contacting the at least one electrical conductor to deliver electrical power to the device.
5. The system according to claim 1, wherein the device is a display screen.
6. The system according to claim 1, wherein said coupling element is a trolley configured to translate along said elongated member.
7. The system according to claim 6, wherein the trolley includes at least one revolving member that contacts said elongated member.
8. The system according to claim 1, further comprising an extender arm coupling said coupling member and the device, said extender arm operable to position the device from the structure.
9. The system according to claim 1, wherein said elongated member is configured to supply electrical power to the device substantially continuously during movement of said coupling member along said elongated member.
10. The system according to claim 1, further comprising at least one data conductor coupled to said elongated member for communicating information signals to and from the device.
11. The system according to claim 10, wherein said at least one data conductor is at least one electrical conductor operable to supply the electrical power to the device.
12. A method for providing electrical power to a device at a structure for displaying products, said method comprising:
- coupling an elongated member to the structure, the elongated member operable to support a device and to supply electrical power to the device;
- engaging a coupling member to the elongated member, the coupling member operable to support the device; and
- moving the coupling member from a first position to a second position along the elongated member to reposition the device with respect to the structure.
13. The method according to claim 12, wherein said moving the coupling member along the elongated member substantially continuously maintains electrical power to the device.
14. The method according to claim 12, wherein said moving includes rolling the coupling member along the elongated member.
15. The method according to claim 12, wherein said moving includes sliding the coupling member along the elongated member.
16. The method according to claim 12, further comprising extending the device from the coupling member.
17. The method according to claim 12, further comprising communicating information signals along the elongated member to and from the device.
18. A system for providing electrical power to a device at a structure for displaying products, said system comprising:
- means for (i) supporting a device and (ii) supplying electrical power to the device, said means for supporting and supplying coupled to the structure;
- means for coupling said means to the structure; and
- means for coupling the device to said means for supporting and supplying, said means for coupling operable to be moved from a first position to a second position along said means for supporting and supplying to reposition the device with respect to the structure.
19. The system according to claim 18, further comprising means for conducting electrical power along said means for supporting and supplying.
20. The system according to claim 18, wherein said means for coupling the device to said means for supporting and supplying further including means for delivering electrical power to the device.
21. The system according to claim 18, wherein said means for coupling the device to said means for supporting and supplying further includes means for moving said means for coupling from the first position to the second position.
22. The system according to claim 18, further comprising means for extending the device from said means for coupling.
23. The system according to claim 18, further comprising means for supplying electrical power to the device via said coupling member substantially continuously during movement of said coupling member along said elongated member.
24. The system according to claim 18, further comprising means for communicating information signals to and from the device.
25. A system for providing electrical power to an electronic device at a structure, said system comprising:
- an elongated member coupled to the structure and configured to support the electronic device and to supply electrical power to the electronic device; and
- a coupling member operable to engage said elongated member and support the electronic device, said coupling member operable to be moved from a first position to a second position along said elongated member to reposition the electronic device with respect to the structure.
26. The system according to claim 25, wherein the structure is configured to display products.
27. The system according to claim 26, wherein the structure is an architectural member of a retail facility.
28. The system according to claim 25, further comprising at least one electrical conductor extending along the elongated member.
29. The system according to claim 28, wherein said at least one electrical conductor is configured to have electrical power accessed therefrom along substantially the entire length of said at least one electrical conductor.
30. A system for providing electrical power to a device, said system comprising:
- an elongated member configured to support a wireless device and to supply electrical power to the wireless device; and
- a coupling member operable to engage said elongated member and support the wireless device said coupling member operable to be moved from a first position to a second position along said elongated member to reposition the wireless device with respect to the elongated member.
31. The system according to claim 30, wherein the wireless device is an electronic wireless device.
32. The system according to claim 31, wherein the electronic wireless device is an RFID electronic wireless device.
33. The system according to claim 30, wherein said elongated member is coupled to a structure for displaying products.
Type: Application
Filed: Nov 16, 2006
Publication Date: May 31, 2007
Inventors: Peter Goldring (Franklin Lakes, NJ), Stanley Kirshenbaum (Great neck, NY), Mikhail Marsky (New York, NY), Robert Wolinsky (Fairfield, CT), Martin Amadio (Virginia Beach, VA)
Application Number: 11/600,635
International Classification: A47F 7/00 (20060101);