Patent ID: 6910582

Claim:
An insulated and shock absorbing shipping container comprising: a shape retaining insulated body formed of expanded polyurethane foam, said insulated body having a bottom wall and plural side walls cooperatively defining a cavity, and said side walls defining an opening to said cavity, a shape retaining and also yieldable and crushable filling structure received into said cavity, said filling structure including a grid of interlocking walls cooperatively defining an array of plural parallel receptacles extending between said bottom wall and said opening, and said filling structure including cushioning and spacing structure extending outwardly there from toward said side walls of said insulated body, said cushioning and spacing structure defining a cushioning space extending about said array of plural receptacles; wherein said filling structure includes a first plurality of substantially similar walls extending in a first direction, and a second plurality of substantially similar walls extending in a second direction substantially perpendicularly to said first direction, and said first plurality of walls and said second plurality of walls interlocking with one another to form a shape retaining grid of walls, and said spacing structure including each of said first and said second plurality of walls including an outwardly extending end portion disposed outwardly of said array of receptacles and extending toward a side wall of said insulated body, and said end portions of said first and second plurality of walls each being shape retaining and each also being selectively crushable to absorb shock; wherein said container also includes within said cavity alongside of said filling structure a support structure forming in cooperation with an adjacent side wall of said insulated body a trough for receiving a temperature control pack, and said support structure including an upstanding wall section confronting and engaged by end portions of one of said first plurality and said second plurality of walls, whereby said upstanding wall section is interposed between said end portions of said walls and a temperature control pack placed in said trough.