ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 24 -- United States Patent no. 12,741,442, issued on Sept. 22.
"Expandable and/or disposable ice pack" was invented by Mark Hoff (Oriental, N.C.), Charles F. Schroer (Raleigh, N.C.), Paul Kenyon (Canton, Ohio), Murray Ross (Espanola, Canada) and Brian Spain (Marysville, Mich.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "This disclosure includes ice packs that include paper and absorbent material, and also includes various methods of adding liquid to, freezing, shipping, and/or using such ice packs. Some of the ice packs of this disclosure have a body that includes first and second layers of paper and one or more side panels coupled thereto such that the body is expandable. The absorb...