The present invention relates to backpack for food delivery and to a corresponding system including the backpack and a mounting structure by means of which the backpack can be transported also with a vehicle, a motorcycle, a motorized scooter, a bicycle or the like.

Backpacks for food delivery are usually known as cuboid shaped boxes that can be worn on the back by use of respective backpack straps. Such boxes are mostly made up of a rather soft material, typically thermally insulated synthetic fabric material. For loading and unloading these backpack boxes, zippers are provided at one or more sides of the backpack and the open part of the outer fabric is folded to the side. With this design, however, the backpack can usually only be opened with both hands. Furthermore, due to the hanging down of the open side, unsightly folds and warps form on the outside of the fabric during prolonged use.

The present invention addresses this problem and provides for its solution, as a first aspect, a food delivery backpack being essentially of a cuboid shape and having backpack straps on one side of the backpack and a door for loading and unloading on another side of the backpack. The backpack is thermally insulated and has predominantly a softshell outer material and an inner liner defining an interior space of the backpack.

According to the present invention, the door is composed at least at its edges of a rigid material which is hinged to a rigid door frame via at least one hinge joint. With the rigid design of the door frame and the door according to the present invention, the door of the backpack can be opened and closed by only one hand and, furthermore, the appearance and integrity of the material does not suffer from the drag caused by gravity.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the hinge joint comprises a solid metal rod which is inserted to the door frame. This further increases the inventive effect as the overall stability and durability of the components is strengthened.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, at least one gasket is provided circumferentially at the door and/or the door frame to provide for sealing of the interior space of the backpack. This provides for far better temperature insulation as compared to the zip openings of known food delivery backpacks. According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the softshell outer material comprises a plastic fabric or plastic foam, preferably ethylene vinyl acetate foam. This provides for both overall stability and wearing comfort for the user. According to a particularly preferred embodiment, the body of the backpack is predominantly made up of a rectangular tube section formed from ethylene vinyl acetate foam, which is end capped at one side thereof by the door frame, and at the other side by an end face at which the backpack straps are provided. The end face is preferably made up of a soft moulded plastic, like moulded ethylene vinyl acetate.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the backpack comprises at least one shelf which can be removably inserted into the interior space of the backpack, the at least one shelf comprises hook-shaped structures and the backpack comprises solid rods attached to the inner liner, wherein the hook-shaped structures can be snapped onto the solid rods when the shelf is inserted. This design provides for a firm and easy connection of the shelf with the inside of the backpack. The material of the shelf is not particularly limited. Preferably, however, the at least one shelf is of a rigid plastic material. The solid rods can be of any suitable material. In terms of stability, however, the solid rods are of a metal material.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the backpack comprises a closable cover for the backpack straps. The cover can be of any suitable material, preferably, a synthetic fabric like nylon. Preferably, when covering the backpack straps, the closable cover is secured to the backpack by a Velcro fastener, which prevents any debris from entering. Alternatively, a zipper or a combination of a Velcro fastener and a zipper is also possible for closing and/ or securing the closable cover.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the door has a handle formed by a fabric strip one end of which being fixedly connected to the door and the other end of the fabric strip is engageable with a corresponding fastening element arranged at a side of the backpack adjacent to the handle. This provides for an easy and one-handed opening and closing operation. According to a preferred alternative, the door has a handle formed by a fabric loop which can be secured when the door is closed by passing one end of a Velcro strip through the fabric loop and making it adhere to the other end of the Velcro strip arranged at a side of the backpack adjacent to the handle. Also this solution is advantageous for opening and closing the door and for securing the closed door.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the backpack comprises fixing means in order to be fixable to a support structure of a vehicle, a motorcycle, a motorized scooter or a bicycle. Preferably, the fixing means comprise a belt which is connected to the backpack and has a buckle to open. According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the backpack comprises heating means for heating at least a part of the interior space of the backpack. Thereby, hot food can be kept warm for a longer period of time.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the backpack comprises locking means for the door. This provides for more security in situations where the backpack is mounted on a vehicle and the user leaves for a few minutes.

According to another aspect, the present invention provides a system for food delivery which includes the backpack according to the first aspect of the present invention and further includes a mounting structure configured to be fixed to a support structure of a vehicle, a motorcycle, a motorized scooter or a bicycle, wherein the backpack and the mounting structure comprise interconnectable coupling elements configured to allow the backpack to be manually coupled to and also manually decoupled from the mounting structure. Preferably, the interconnectable coupling elements provide for a formlocking connection, like a sliding connection or snap-in connection. Such connections are easy to accomplish by particular simple movement of the backpack relative to the mounting structure in order to engage and disengage the coupling between them.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the mounting structure is a mounting plate and the backpack is allowed to be coupled onto the mounting plate. Preferably, the backpack and the mounting plate are configured such that the backpack can be coupled to the mounting plate by positioning the backpack on the mounting plate and then sliding the backpack in a predetermined direction to the intended end position, thereby establishing the coupling. The sliding in a predetermined direction also includes a rotation of the backpack around a vertical axis.

In the following, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail and by referring to the appended drawings, in which

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a first embodiment of the system according to the invention with the backpack predominantly from a front view;

FIG. 2 shows the embodiment of FIG. 1 from a perspective rear view;

FIG. 3 shows the view of FIG. 2 with the door of the backpack open;

FIG. 4 shows an exploded perspective view of the system according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 5 shows a perspective rear and side view of a second embodiment of the system according to the invention; FIG. 6 shows the view of FIG. 5 with the door of the backpack open;

FIG. 7 illustrates the coupling of the system components according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 8 illustrates the same as FIG. 7 but from a different perspective;

FIG. 9 shows an exploded view of a detail of the system according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 10 shows a schematic cross-section illustrating a working principle;

FIG. 11 analogously to FIG. 7 illustrates the coupling of the system components according to the second embodiment;

FIG. 12 illustrates the same as FIG. 11 but from a different perspective;

FIG. 13 illustrates a detail of the backpack according to the first embodiment; and

FIG. 14 shows a cross-section in connection with the detail shown in FIG. 13.

In FIG. 1 , a first embodiment of the system 100 is shown with a front view to the food delivery backpack 1 being mounted to the mounting plate 101 and which mounting plate 101 in turn is fixed to the support structure S. With respect to terms indicating a direction as used herein, “front” refers to the side of the cuboid backpack 1 where the backpack 1 is worn by the user, i.e. where the backpack straps 2 are provided, and “back” or “rear" refers to the side opposite to the front side. Generally, all six faces of the cuboid-shaped backpack 1 are referred to herein as “sides”, unless explicitly stated otherwise. At the front side of the backpack 1 , the backpack straps 2 are provided. The backpack straps 2 can be hidden by the cover 14 which advantageously is made-up of a flexible and robust synthetic fabric material. The cover 14 is fixed to the backpack 1 at a lower edge and is zippable with the zippers 15 from both sides of the lower edge of the backpack 1 to the above. The upper horizontal edge of the cover 14 can be closed by the Velcro fastener 16. When the backpack 1 is worn by the user, the opened cover 14 can be rolled up and secured at the lower edge of the backpack 14, for example, by tucking it into a fold or by additional securing means generally known in the art.

The main body of the backpack 1 is predominantly composed of a soft plastic or foam material comprising, in this case, ethylene vinyl acetate foam (the softshell outer material 4). The material 4 is formed as a square tube, as best shown in FIG. 4, which is end-capped at the front side with an end face 41 at which the backpack straps 2 are arranged. In this embodiment, the end face 41 is made up of a soft material, advantageously of molded ethylene vinyl acetate, in order to provide for comfortable wearing of the backpack 1. In this respect, the term “soft” indicates that the surface of the material can be easily depressed only by the force of a finger, in contrast to hard plastic where this is not possible.

At the sides of the softshell outer material 4, attachment straps 24 are provided into which various accessories can be inserted, for example, a belt with a top handle (not shown), in case the backpack 1 needs to be carried alongside the user. The attachment straps 24 are stitched and/ or welded onto the softshell outer material 4 and are made-up of a robust synthetic fabric like, for example, nylon.

According to the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the door 3 is at the back side of the backpack 1 . When the door 3 is closed, the closure can be secured by the handle 17 which, in this embodiment, is a fabric loop 20 that is stitched and/ or welded to the door 3. In particular, the Velcro strip 21 which is arranged at and fixed with one end to an adjacent side of the softshell outer material 4 is passed with its other end through the fabric loop 20. Both ends of the Velcro strip 21 adhere to each other, thereby holding the door 3 closed.

FIG. 3 shows the door 3 of the backpack 1 in an open position. The door 3 is advantageously a stiff construction, which, in the present embodiment is realized by a hard plastic frame. The door 3 is tightly hinged via to hinge joints 8 to the door frame 7, which allows the door 3 to be moved strictly around the pivot axis defined by the hinge joints 8, and which prevents the door 3 from undergoing deformations over time and due to gravity. For this reason, the hinge joints 8 have robust hinge pins, in this case metal rods 9.

When the door 3 is closed, it engages with door frame 7 which, in this embodiment, includes the gasket 10 being circumferentially applied along the entire door frame 7. The door frame 7 is made up of a hard plastic material. The door frame 7 forms an end cap of the square tube-shaped softshell outer material 4, thereby providing for increased overall stability of the backpack 1.

According to the second embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the handle 17 of the door 3 is realized by the fabric strip 18 which, when the door 3 is closed, is engageable with the fastening element 19 arranged at an adjacent side of the backpack 1 . The fastening element 19 can either be fixed separately to the softshell outer material 4, or preferably forms part of the hard plastic door frame 7, as shown in FIG. 6, which provides for increased stability and reliability.

At next, the coupling mechanism between the backpack 1 and the mounting plate 101 is described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 8-12. For transporting food also with a vehicle or a motorcycle or the like, the backpack 1 is coupled to the mounting plate 101 which is fixedly arranged on a support structure S of the vehicle. The mounting plate 101 is predominantly made-up of a hard plastic plate that includes fixing means like the bores 105 through which the mounting plate 101 can be screwed onto the support structure S. In particular, both the mounting plate 101 and the backpack 1 comprise interconnectable coupling elements for a quick and reliable coupling of the backpack 1 onto the mounting plate 101. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 8-10, the coupling is realized by a sliding connection. The coupling elements at the mounting plate 101 are formed by the cutout rails 103 which are cut in parallel into the mounting plate 101 . Cutouts 102 that are wider than the cutout rails 103 are located along and contiguous to the cutout rails 103. T-shaped profiles 23 are arranged at the bottom side of the backpack 1 and engage with the cutout rails 103 when the backpack 1 and the mounting plate 101 are coupled to each other, as illustrated in FIG. 10. For engaging the T-shaped profiles 23 with the cutout rails 103, the backpack 1 is positioned above the mounting plate 101 and is lowered such that the T-shaped profiles 23 are inserted into the cutouts 102, as illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9. The cutouts 102 are therefore also wider than the T-shaped profiles 23. Finally, the T-shaped profiles 23 slide along the cutout rails 103 in order to engage with the cut-out rails 103, and the coupling between the backpack 1 and the mounting plate 101 is completed. By appropriately designing the dimensions of the T-shaped profiles 23 and the cutout rails 103, a sufficient rigidity of the coupled system 100 can be achieved. In order to further strengthen the coupling, however, additional engaging elements can be provided, like snap-in elements.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 8 to 10, four T-shaped profiles 23 are applied at the bottom side of the backpack 1 and a corresponding number of cutouts 102 and cutout rails 103 are formed at the mounting plate 101 . The appropriate number of coupling elements depends on the rigidity and dimensions thereof. For example, only one central T-shaped profile 23 may also be sufficient if only designed stable enough.

In another embodiment shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, a similar sliding connection can be realized by the rail profiles 22 of the backpack 1 engaging with the lateral rails 104 of the mounting plate 100. Here, the lateral rails 104 at the mounting plate 101 are not cut into the mounting plate 101 , but rather formed at the edges thereof. One advantage thereof is an easier manufacturing process and, furthermore, the stability of the system 100 is increased because the coupling points at the backpack 1 and, respectively, at the mounting plate 101 can be designed with a longer distance between each other. In particular, two lateral rails 104 are provided at one edge of the mounting plate 101 with a particular distance from each other which is greater than the length of the rail profiles 22 located at the bottom side of the backpack 1 . Analogously to the above first embodiment, a total number of 4 rail profiles 22 engage the respective lateral rails 104 by positioning the backpack 1 offset above the mounting plate 101 , lowering the backpack 1 until it rests on the mounting plate and finally sliding the backpack 1 in position such that the rate profiles 22 of the backpack 1 engage with the lateral rails of mounting plate 101. In order to protect the softshell outer material 4 at the bottom side of the backpack 1 from wear and tear, sliding rails 42 are provided at the bottom side of the backpack 1 along the sliding direction in which the coupling is made. The interior space 6 of the backpack 1 can be subdivided by inserting one or more shelves 11 into the backpack. For this purpose, a plurality of fixing portions are applied at the inner liner 5 of the backpack 1 at different heights as shown, for example, in FIG. 3. In this embodiment, the fixing portions are solid rods 13 applied to the inner liner 5 into which the shelf 11 can engage. This is best shown in FIGS. 13 and 14. The solid rod 13 in this embodiment is tightly enclosed in a bracket, which in turn is firmly connected to the inner liner 5, for example by means of gluing or welding. The shelf 11 is of a rigid material, in this case hard plastic, and is equipped at the respective edges with a hook-shaped structure 12. When inserting the shelf 11 into the backpack 1 , the hook-shaped structure 12 snaps onto the solid rod 13, thereby providing for a firm and secure connection.

In other embodiments, the backpack 1 is equipped with heating means (not shown) provided at the inner liner 5 or within the shelves 11 . For example, battery-powered flat heating elements known in the art can be applied.

In other embodiments, the door 3 of the backpack 1 can be locked by appropriate locking means (not shown) which, for example, are included in the hard plastic door frame 7.

REFERENCE SIGNS Food delivery backpack backpack straps door softshell outer material inner liner interior space door frame hinge joint metal rod gasket shelf hook-shaped structure solid rod cover zipper Velcro fastener handle fabric strip fastening element fabric loop Velcro strip rail profile T-profile attachments strap end face sliding rail system mounting plate cutout cutout rail lateral rail bore support structure