| abstract |
A backpack carried on the back of a vendor for transporting and dispensing packaged goods, such as food products or other merchandise. The backpack has a back wall, front wall, opposed side walls, a top closure, and a bottom wall defining a generally rectangular storage compartment. The backpack has at least one access opening at a lower end which is accessible to the hand of the vendor wearing the backpack. A plurality of packaged goods are supported in a vertically descendable disposition by a support member or receptacle installed in the storage compartment which has a lower portion disposed adjacent to the access opening and is configured to support the lowermost one of the packaged goods adjacent to the access opening such that it can be manually removed by the vendor while the backpack is being worn. In a preferred embodiment, the lower portion of the opposed side walls of the backpack extend laterally outward from the storage compartment to define laterally opposed side extensions, and the back wall has a pair of laterally opposed access openings one in each side extension accessible to either hand of the person wearing the backpack by reaching rearwardly to manually withdraw the lowermost one of the packaged goods with either hand. The walls may be thermally insulated to maintain the temperature of packaged food products. A hollow shell may be installed on the exterior of the backpack which is configured to resemble the shape of the goods contained within the backpack. |