Collapsible shipping container

A collapsible box container having a base, two end walls, a top wall and two side walls;

• said base comprising a rigid reinforced rectangular structure with two opposing skirting walls and internal plinths at each corner terminating below the upper edges of the skirting walls, said base including forklift tyne pockets extending through the opposing skirting walls;
• said end walls each comprising a rigid reinforced structure including integral side posts which form the load transmitting features of the erected container and which are supported by said plinths and locked thereto by keying elements located within the plinths, said side posts having an inner facing pivoting arrangement to permit pivoting of the end walls inwardly of the container;
• said top wall comprising a rectangular reinforced structure and a fixing block at each corner;
• said side walls each comprising two rigid reinforced rectangular sidewall structures longitudinally hingedly connected to one another and also hingedly connected to the inner edge of an adjacent skirting wall and a reinforced longitudinal edge of the top wall;
• whereby the container is collapsible by fractionally raising the top wall, unlocking the side posts from the plinths, pivoting each end wall inwardly of the container so that it assumes a horizontal position between the skirting walls, lowering the top wall while simultaneously collapsing the side walls inwardly of the container so that the rigid reinforced rectangular sidewall structures of each side wall fold into two face-to-face sections lying between the skirting walls, said opposing skirting walls and said top wall having interior surfaces defining an interior space therebetween, said collapsed side walls lying entirely within said interior space, and the perimeter of the top wall being substantially coplanar with the outer sides of the skirting walls and in sealed relationship thereto when the container is collapsed.