(B) CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not applicable (C) FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable.

(D) MICROFICHE

Not applicable

(E) BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(1) FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of vending machines. The invention particularly relates to cold pack vending machines, which can be readily used to keep food material cold when placed outside of a refrigerator or freezer. (2) BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

To break the continuation of work-office routine, a lot of families take vacations or go on camping trips by the river or forest. While camping, people take along a lot of food stuff with them. Sometimes, the food stuff might have a very short shelf life, or something like ice cream, cold drinks, or beer may get warm. To overcome this, a lot of people carry a box filled with ice, which stores ice for a long time and also helps store perishable food stuffs for some time.

While camping, the box filled with ice can serve the purpose of supporting perishable food products for a limited period of time, such as a couple of hours or so, but not for a whole day. Similarly, while camping, there is sometimes a requirement of a few essential medicines, such as insulin injections, which have to be kept in freezer temperature. Such items require cold packs for keeping them at that required temperature even in the absence of a freezer. These cold packs are made of a soft sealed portable plastic sac that is filled with water or refrigerant gel. Gel packs are often made of non-toxic materials that will remain a slow-flowing gel, and, therefore, will not spill easily or cause contamination if the container breaks. Gel packs may be made by adding hydroxyethyl cellulose (Cellusize), Sodium polyacrylate, or vinyl-coated silica gel. For use, the ice packs or cold packs are frozen in a freezer. Both ice and other non-toxic refrigerants (mostly water) can absorb a considerable amount of heat before they warm above 0 °C. These packs are commonly used to keep food cool in portable coolers, as a cold compress to alleviate the pain of minor injuries, or in insulated shipping containers to keep products cool during transport. Cold packs are used in coolers to keep perishable foods (especially meats, dairy products, eggs, etc.) below the 5-75 °C (41-167 °F) danger zone when outside a refrigerator or freezer, and to keep drinks pleasantly cool.

U.S. Pat. App. No. 20090157015 discloses a vending machine body or device that is adapted to take payment in a variety of means and dispense sunscreen, insect repellant, hand sanitizers, or similar lotions, gels, or liquids. The sunscreen (or similar lotion, gel or liquid) may be dispensed in foil packets, plastic bladders, gel packs, or similar containers.

E.P. Pat. App. No. 1622099 discloses a method for the distribution of individual containers or "packs" that are individual sealed envelopes (type "bags"), lightweight, of small volume, and contain a cold product, which, once out of the area distribution, emerges from the cold. The container (or package or envelope), after use, is generally disposable. The invention provides a sealed container or sealed casing (type "sachet"), in order to momentarily have a cold body by releasing the cold keeps cold or frozen to maintain an object that must remain cold or frozen, as this item has not been used or taken to a location where mere is a conventional cold.

U.S. Pat. No. 6112539 discloses a device for making, bagging, and delivering a sealed bag of ice to a consumer. The user merely deposits a specified amount of money into the coin operated vending machine and the user thereafter receives the completely sealed bag of ice. The present invention has refrigeration means which supplies ice into a hopper area that has out-feed means for dispensing ice into a bagging means. The ice bagging means has a replaceable roll of plastic material thai is conveyed through a machine that has a cutting and heat sealing means which cuts out a bag and produces sealed ends on the bag of ice.

Thus, there is a long-felt need to provide a vending machine that can dispense frozen cold packs on demand to help keep afresh perishable food products while travelling or camping in places where a freezer is not available. Therefore, in this way, this invention provides a suitable solution that addresses the need for a resource or product for keeping food material that is perishable in nature cold by keeping the cold pack underneath the food material.

(F) SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides an improved protective covering. As such, the general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new and improved vending machine that has all of the advantages of the prior art, and none of the disadvantages.

An objective of the invention is to provide an ice pack or a cold pack vending machine.

It is another objective of the present invention to provide a cold pack vending machine that has shelves and hangers to dispense a frozen pack.

It is another objective of the present invention to provide a cold pack vending machine that dispenses a cold pack that is dependable, durable, and reusable.

It is another objective of the present invention to provide a cold pack that is leak-proof.

It is yet another objective of the present invention to provide a cold pack that helps keep food material cool and does not react with it.

It is another objective of the present invention to provide a cold pack vending machine mat can dispense cold packs of different sizes and weights. It is another objective of the present invention to provide a cold pack vending machine that has two payment slots that are connected with the computing system that enable payment by cash and credit/debit card.

In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set form in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments, and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and tenninology employed herein are for the purpose of description, and should not be regarded as limiting.

These, together with other objectives of the invention and the various features of novelty that characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages, and the specific objectives attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter, in which there are illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.

(G) BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be better understood, and objectives other than those set forth above will become apparent, when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings, wherein:

Fig.l shows the preferred embodiment of the cold pack vending machine.

(H) DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings. which form a part hereof, and in which is shown, by way of illustration, specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and it is to be understood that the embodiments may be combined, or that other embodiments may be utilized, and that structural, logical, and electrical changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents. Fig.l shows a cold pack vending machine. The outer section, or the enclosure, is known as the cabinet 1. It has a front door, which has transparent glass attached to it for displaying the contents inside the cabinet. The contents, cold packs 2 and 3 of different sizes and weights, are placed on different shelves 4. The cabinet also houses a refrigeration system that has freezer elements, which help keep the cold packs frozen. The computing system is also connected to a cold pack delivery system that consists of hangers. The cold pack delivery system is designed to deliver the cold pack of desired size and weight.

The consumer has the option of different modes for payment, as the front portion of the machine has both a debit/credit card payment slot 5, and a slot for putting coins 6, at middle portion on right hand side, beside the transparent glass on front door of cabinet . Both the slots for payment are integrally connected to the computing system. The cold packs are delivered on the cold pack receiving tray 7.

The cold pack vending machine is powered by electricity, and the inside temperature is designed to be maintained at freezing temperature. The cold packs that are dispensed are made of a soft sealed portable plastic sac filled with refrigerant gel. Gel packs are often made of non-toxic materials that will remain a slow-flowing gel, and, therefore, will not spill easily or cause contamination if the container breaks. Cold packs are used to keep perishable foods (especially meats, dairy products, eggs, etc.) below the 5-75 °C (41-167 °F) danger zone when outside of a refrigerator or freezer.

Advantageously, the present invention is different from the existing knowledge. It provides a preferable option over the ice pack dispensing machines, as the ice melts faster due to high latent heat of vaporization of water, and, hence, offers comparatively less time for which food products can be kept cold.

It is to be understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative, and not restrictive. For example, the above-discussed embodiments may be used in combination with each other. Many other embodiments will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. The benefits and advantages which may be provided by the present invention have been described above with regard to specific embodiments. These benefits and advantages, and any elements or limitations that may cause them to occur or to become more pronounced, are not to be construed as critical, required, or essential features of any or all of the embodiments.

While the present invention has been described with reference to particular embodiments, it should be understood that the embodiments are illustrative, and that the scope of the invention is not limited to these embodiments. Many variations, modifications, additions, and improvements to the embodiments described above are possible. It is contemplated that these variations, modifications, additions, and improvements fall within the scope of the invention.