Shipping and storage container

Claim 1

A PACKAGE CONTAINING ELONGATED ARTICLES SUCH AS FLUORESCENT TUBES AND THE LIKE FOR SHIPPING AND STORING SAID ELONGATED ARTICLES, SAID PACKAGE COMPRISING AN ELONGATED RECTILINEAR BOX HAVING END CAPS AT THE LONGITUDINAL ENDS OF SAID BOX, SAID END CAPS BEING SECURED TO SAID BOX AND ENCLOSING THE ENDS THEREOF, EACH OF SAID END CAPS HAVING A MAIN TRANSVERSE ELEMENT EXTENDING ACROSS AN END OF SAID BOX, SAID TRANSVERSE ELEMENTS BEING SPACED APART TO PREVENT LENGTHWISE SHFITING OF SAID ELONGATED ARTICLES WHEN SAID END CAPS ARE IN A BOX-CLOSING POSITION, SUPPORT MEANS FOR SUPPORTING EACH OF SAID ELONGATED ARTICLES AT AT LEAST SPACED POINTS ALONG THEIR LENGTH, SAID SUPPORT MEANS EXTENDING ACROSS THE FULL TRANSVERSE DIMENSIONS OF SAID BOX, SAID SUPPORT MEANS HAVING ALIGNED HOLES THEREIN ALONG A PLURALITY OF PARALLEL AXES FOR RECEIVING THE SAME NUMBER OF SAID ELONGATED ARTICLES IN SAID ELONGATED BOX, SEPARATE SPACER MEANS EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY OF SAID BOX INTERMEDIATE SAID SUPPORT MEANS FOR POSITIONING SAID SUPPORT MEANS ALONG THE LENGTH OF THE BOX AGAINST RELATIVE MOVEMENT WITHIN SAID BOX WHEN SAID END CAPS ARE IN A PACKAGE-CLOSING POSITION, SAID SPACER MEANS DEFINING A PLURALITY OF OPEN AREAS ACROSS THE TRANSVERSE DIMENSIONS OF SAID BOX AND INCLUDING SEGMENS LYING INTERMEDIATE SAID ELONGATED ARTICLES, AT LEAST ONE OF SAID END CAPS BEING HINGEDLY SECURED TO SAID BOX AND BEING OPENABLE AND CLOSABLE FOR REMOVABL AND INSERTION OF ELONGATED ARTICLES THERETHROUGH WITHOUT DISPLACEMENT OF SAID SUPPORT MEANS AND SAID SPACER MEANS WHEN ELONGATED ARTICLES ARE INSERTED AND REMOVED FROM SAID BOX, SAID ELONGATED ARTICLES BEING INSERTABLE AND REMOVBALE FROM SAID BOX ONLY THROUGH SAID ENDS OF SAID BOX, AND ELONGATED ARTICLES DISPOSED WITHIN THE ALINGED HOLES OF SAID SUPPORT MEANS.