Patent ID: 7124890

Claim:
A shipping system for the facilitated packing and transportation of items, wherein the items are of a type requiring separation between vertically stacked layers, the shipping system comprising: at least one shipping unit, each shipping unit further comprising: at least two substantially open-topped shipping trays, wherein each of said shipping trays is operably configured to be capable of being stacked atop another of the at least two trays, wherein in the stacked configuration each of said shipping trays has at least one shipping tray positioned adjacent thereto such that a pair of adjacently stacked shipping trays includes an upper adjacent substantially open-topped shipping tray and a lower adjacent substantially open-topped shipping tray; each tray having a top, two opposing side walls and a bottom wall, the bottom wall having a bottom surface, each of the opposing side walls having at least two stacking tabs wherein the stacking tabs of one opposing side wall are substantially aligned with the stacking tabs of the other opposing side wall; a cover, operably configured to be positioned atop an uppermost one of said at least two substantially open-topped shipping trays of the at least one shipping unit, wherein the bottom wall of each upper adjacent substantially open-topped shipping tray is a lid for each lower adjacent substantially open-topped shipping tray; and at least one binding member, operably configured to hold the cover atop the uppermost substantially open-topped shipping tray of the at least one shipping unit, by extending at least partially across the cover and substantially between the stacking tabs of the uppermost substantially open-topped shipping tray, down the side walls and at least partially across the bottom wall of a plurality of stacked articles, wherein the binding member comprises at least one strip of adhesive material, simultaneously engaging a top surface of the cover and the bottom surface of a bottom-most one of said at least two substantially open-topped shipping trays; wherein each substantially open-topped shipping tray of said at least two substantially open-topped shipping trays has substantially the same top plan configuration, and the cover has a top plan configuration substantially the same as each of said at least two substantially open-topped shipping trays.