Product for protectively packaging appliances for storage and shipment

A protective shipping and storage package for appliances, comprising:

• (a) a polymeric foam protective base cap for being fitted onto a base of an appliance, said base cap defining first and second pairs of mutually opposed planar sides and third and fourth pairs of mutually opposed planar sides adjacent respective ones of said first and second pairs of sides, said first, second, third and fourth pairs of sides extending around a periphery of the base cap;
• b) a polymeric foam protective top cap for being fitted onto a top of the appliance, said top cap defining first and second pairs of mutually opposed planar sides and third and fourth pairs of mutually opposed planar sides adjacent respective ones of said first and second pairs of sides, said first, second, third and fourth pairs of sides extending around a periphery of the top cap;
• (c) a plurality of planar protective side panels for being positioned in spaced-apart relation around the appliance and interconnecting said base and top caps, said side panels having opposite ends for respectively engaging and cooperating with the third and fourth pairs of opposed sides of the base cap and top cap in the same plane as the third and fourth pairs of sides to form a protective package around the appliance;
• and
• (d) retaining means positioned on and extending around the assembled top cap, base cap and plurality of side panels for securing the protective package in its protective position around the appliance.