Patent ID: RE41543

Claim:
A vending machine for sale of items selected by a customer, said vending machine including a retrofit door for retrofitting to an existing vending machine, said door vending comprising: a storage unit for storing a plurality of items for sale and a dispensing mechanism for dispensing the items from said storage unit; the retrofit door comprising: ( a ) a selector device for selecting one or more of said items for sale by a customer; ( b ) a payment-control device for receiving and detecting an amount of payment required for sale of an item and for actuating said dispensing mechanism when a payment is received to dispense a selected item; and ( c ) a computer assembly connected to said storage unit and dispensing unit mechanism , selector device and payment control device and having a computer, video display screen and a communication network, whereby said computer is connected to and actuated by said selector device for automatically connecting said computer to a preselected internet site in response to purchase of the selected item, dispensing the selected item, and automatically displaying information obtained from said internet site on said video screen for viewing by the customer, said computer assembly further including customer actuating means for enabling a customer to interface with said computer ; said computer having programming responsive to payment of an additional amount in excess of the amount required to purchase the selected item to provide the customer access to at least one website of the customer's choice on the internet through interaction with the vending machine after the selected item is dispensed .