Abstract: A lightweight collapsible shipping container is provided having a unitary molded construction in which a bottom panel is hingedly joined to four peripheral side panels and a top panel is hingedly joined to one of said side panels in a manner to provide an essentially co-planar and stackable association of panels when in knockdown condition, with edges of said side panels and top panel having interlocking means as the side panels are raised to positions perpendicular to the bottom panel and the top panel is lowered over the assembled side panels.

Abstract: A shaped article is formed of thermoplastic sheeting which consists of a pair of sheets of thermoplastic material spaced apart and interconnected by longitudinally extending ribs. The combination of the sheets and the ribs form elongated passageways in the sheeting. Individual sections of the sheeting have the ends of the passageways sealed closed so that a gaseous medium, such as air, is trapped in the passageways. The sheeting is formed in an extrusion process with one of the sheets having a greater thickness than the other. The individual sections of the sheeting are formed into a shaped article with the sealed character of the passageways being maintained so that the sheets remain in spaced relation in the shaped sections. The difference in thickness between the sheets is selected so that, following the shaping operation, both sheets have substantially the same thickness.