The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 22, 2002
Filed:
Jul. 16, 1997
Gary R. Cantu, San Jose, CA (US);
James W. Pfeiffer, Los Gatos, CA (US);
Daniel B. Steinberg, Campbell, CA (US);
PricePoint, Incorporated, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Abstract
An information display system comprises a controller, a ceiling node, a rail, an end cap and a solar powered display module. The display module stores and displays information. The controller communicates with the end cap through an IR downlink and an RF uplink, and the end cap communicates with the display module by wired communication. By uniquely combining RF and IR communication systems in the information display system, communication between the controller and the module is fast and accurate and the display module's power consumption is significantly reduced to make a solar powered information display system practical. By a unique power bus, excess power is shared.