US Patent 10183424 Expanded foam shipping container

A product to be shipped is placed on a platform. A conveyor belt moves the product and platform toward a packaging station where mold forms at least define a space which encloses the product. Expanding foam is then injected via injector lines into the space. Once the expanding foam has at least partially hardened, the mold forms may be retracted and the package is moved to a next station for at least one of finishing, loading, or storing. The foam thus becomes the shipping package for the product. This eliminates the need to store shipping containers of multiple standardized sizes and shapes, and to fill the standardized shipping containers with dunnage. The mold forms also provide for customized exterior shapes for the shipping package.