Patent ID: 6866740

Claim:
A method of manufacturing a contoured, consolidated cellulosic article, having a variable basis weight, comprising the steps of: forming a loose mat of cellulosic material and a binder resin; trimming the mat to a preslected height by scalping the upper portion of the mat with a first rotary scalper; creating a softboard by pre-pressing the mat at a first pressure between first and second platens, the softboard having a top and a bottom surface and being formed in the absence of heat to avoid curing of the binder resin; machining at least one of the top and bottom surfaces to have a pattern; and consolidating the mat between a third platen and a fourth platen at a second pressure that is greater than the first pressure, the third and fourth platens having contours complementary to contours in the mat top surface and bottom surface, respectively.