US Patent 8011511 Packing material and method

A packing material is made of a thin plastic bag with compressible beads inside, and with the pressure inside the bag being sufficiently less than the ambient pressure outside the bag to keep the beads in a non-free-flowing state, the packing material being generally flat, with a generally constant cross-sectional thickness and having at least one trough of lesser cross-sectional thickness to serve as a bend line.