Modular chest back pack

Claim 2

A back pack comprising: a plurality of hollow vertically stacked containers which have openings at their upper sides and are separable from one another to allow access to the interior of the containers individually through said openings for placing items therein and removing them therefrom; said containers being shaped similarly, with vertically successive containers peripherally engaging one another in nesting interfitting relation; said containers having walls formed of heat insulative material to minimize heat transfer between the interior and exterior thereof; a cover of heat insulative material for peripherally engaging and closing a top container of the stack and adapted to be opened to permit access to the interior thereof; a first strap extending vertically about said stack of containers and said cover to secure them together and exert upward supporting force on the stack, and releasable to permit separation of the containers; a second strap extending horizontally about the bottom container of said stack; means on said bottom container engaging said horizontally extending strap in a relation to exert upward supporting force on the bottom container and through it the stack from said horizontally extending strap; two shoulder straps for carrying the stack as a back pack; means attaching upper ends of said two shoulder straps to said vertically extending strap at a location spaced above said horizontally extending strap; and means attaching lower ends of said shoulder straps to said horizontally extending strap at opposite sides respectively of said vertically extending strap.

Claim 3

A back pack as recited in claim 1, including means for attaching said vertically extending and horizontally extending straps together at an intersection thereof.

Claim 4

A back pack as recited in claim 1, in which said means on the bottom container engaging said horizontally extending strap include a downwardly facing shoulder formed on said bottom container and extending along different sides thereof and against which said horizontally extending strap is engageable upwardly in supporting relation.

Claim 5

A back pack as recited in claim 1, in which said containers and said cover have recesses within which said vertically extending strap is received to locate the containers relative to said vertically extending strap.

Claim 6

A back pack as recited in claim 1, in which one of said containers above the bottom container has a bottom wall structure on which items in that container may be supported but which is open to flow of air between the interior of said one container and a container therebeneath to enable cooling or heating of both containers by ice or another cooling or heating substance in only one of the containers.

Claim 7

A back pack as recited in claim 1, in which one of said containers above the bottom container has an apertured bottom wall removable therefrom and adapted to support items therein but open to flow of air between said one container and a container therebeneath.

Claim 8

A back pack as recited in claim 1, including two bottom walls selectively positionable in the bottom of one of said containers above said bottom container, one of said walls being imperforate, and the other of said walls being apertured to permit flow of air vertically between said one container and a container therebeneath.

Claim 9

A back pack comprising: a series of hollow vertically stacked containers which have openings at their upper sides and are separable from one another to allow access to the interior of the containers individually through said openings for placing items therein and removing them therefrom; said containers being shaped similarly, with each of the containers except the top one thereof in the stack having an upper portion peripherally engaging a lower portion of the next container thereabove in nesting interfitting supporting relation; said containers having walls formed of heat insulative material to minimize heat transfer between the interior and exterior thereof; each of said containers except a bottom one thereof having a bottom wall structure on which items may be supported but which is open to flow of air between the interiors of two successive containers to enable cooling or heating of items in all of the containers by ice or another cooling or heating substance located in only one of the containers; a cover of heat insulative material for peripherally engaging and closing said top container of the stack and adapted to be opened to provide access to the interior thereof; said cover being adapted to peripherally engage and close any of the containers in the stack beneath said top container upon removal of the container or containers thereabove from the stack; a first strap extending vertically about said stack of containers and said cover and received and located within recesses in the containers and cover, and acting to secure the series of containers together and exert upward supporting force on the bottom container, with the strap being releasable to permit separation of the containers; a second strap extending horizontally about said bottom container; said bottom container having a downwardly facing shoulder above said horizontally extending strap and against which said horizontally extending strap is engageable upwardly in a relation to exert upward supporting force on the bottom container and through it the stack from said horizontally extending strap; two shoulder straps for carrying the stack as a back pack; means attaching upper ends of said two shoulder straps to said vertically extending strap at a location spaced above said horizontally extending strap; and means attaching lower ends of said shoulder straps to said horizontally extending strap at opposite sides respectively of said vertically extending strap.

Claim 10

A back pack comprising: a series of hollow vertically stacked containers which have openings at their upper sides and are separable from one another to allow access to the interior of the containers individually through said openings for placing items therein and removing them therefrom; said containers being shaped similarly, with each of the containers except the top one thereof in the stack having an upper portion peripherally engaging a lower portion of the next container thereabove in nesting interfitting supporting relation; said containers having walls formed of heat insulative material to minimize heat transfer between the interior and exterior thereof; each of said containers except a bottom one thereof having a bottom wall structure on which items may be supported but which is open to flow of air between the interiors of two successive containers to enable cooling or heating of items in all of the containers by ice or another cooling or heating substance located in only one of the containers; a cover of heat insulative material for peripherally engaging and closing said top container of the stack and adapted to be opened to provide access to the interior thereof; said cover being adapted to peripherally engage and close any of the containers in the stack beneath said top container upon removal of the container or containers thereabove from the stack; a first strap extending vertically about said stack of containers and said cover and received and located within recesses in the containers and cover, and acting to secure the series of containers together and exert upward supporting force on the bottom container, with the strap being releasable to permit separation of the containers; a second strap extending horizontally about said bottom container; said bottom container having a downwardly facing shoulder above said horizontally extending strap and against which said horizontally extending strap is engageable upwardly in a relation to exert upward supporting force on the bottom container and through it the stack from said horizontally extending strap; two shoulder straps for carrying the stack as a back pack; means attaching upper ends of said two shoulder straps to said vertically extending strap at a location spaced above said horizontally extending strap; and means attaching lower ends of said shoulder straps to said horizontally extending strap at opposite sides respectively of said vertically extending strap.

Claim 11

A back pack as recited in claim 8, including fastener means detachably securing said vertically extending strap to said horizontally extending strap at an intersection thereof; said means attaching upper ends of said two shoulder straps to said vertically extending strap including detachable connector means operable to detachably secure said upper ends of said shoulder straps to said vertically extending strap at a plurality of different vertically spaced locations; said vertically extending strap including fastener means for detachably securing opposite ends of said vertically extending strap together with the vertically extending strap at different effective lengths to encircle and tightly retain different numbers of said containers in a stack.