Patent ID: 8062569

Claim:
A method for molding wood fiber board comprising: softening a wood fiber blank comprising wood fiber; performing a press closing cycle to apply pressure to the wood fiber blank in a press comprising an upper mold and a lower mold, at least one of the upper mold and the lower mold movable toward the other from an open position for receiving the wood fiber blank to a closed position which defines a mold cavity between the upper and lower molds, the press closing cycle comprising a first movement stage in which at least one of the upper and lower molds is moved towards the other; a first stop stage following the first movement stage, the first stop stage comprising retaining the upper and lower molds at a first fixed distance from one another; a second movement stage following the first stop stage in which at least one of the upper and lower molds is moved towards the other; a second stop stage following the second movement stage, the second stop stage comprising retaining the upper and lower molds at a second fixed distance from one another; and a third movement stage following the second stop stage in which at least one of the upper and lower molds is moved towards the other to close the press; thereafter reducing the pressure applied to the wood fiber blank in the mold cavity; and restricting lateral extrusion flow of the wood fiber material through at least one constriction in the mold cavity.