Returnable packaging system

Claim 1

A returnable packaging system, comprising: a pallet; a plurality of trays on said pallet, said trays being constructed from a relatively thin thickness of material, said trays having a first generally planar outer surface and a second generally planar outer surface, with the material thickness of said trays therebetween and means along said outer surfaces of said trays for receiving a plurality of parts, said receiving means including a plurality of receptacle cut-outs extending inwardly of said first and second planar surfaces through said thickness, each cut-out being seized to nest each individual parts therein and to receive parts on opposite sides of said trays, whereby said cut-outs being designed to prevent intimate contact between each part on opposite sides of said trays and whereby the nesting provided by said cut-outs prevents shifting of each individual parts; said plurality of parts on said trays (and) being arranged in a tray-part-tray layer relationship, the top of a part of a first layer being spaced from a bottom of a part of a succeeding layer in said layered relationship by individual ones of said tray plurality; and a heat shrinkable cover about layered parts, said cover engaging at least a portion of said pallet below the initial tray of said stacked plurality of parts in the heat shrunk size thereof.