Patent ID: 7096916

Claim:
A system for producing a consolidated cellulosic article, comprising: a mat former; a primary press having first and second platens and a drive, the first and second platens having opposed, complementarily contoured, die surfaces, the drive being adapted to compress the first and second platens toward one another, said primary press for compressing a mat received from said mat former to form a softboard having first and second opposed major surfaces; a removal tool, the tool including a blade for removal of cellulosic material in a planar fashion, said removal tool for removing cellulosic material from at least the first major surface of the softboard received from said primary press; and a secondary press having first and second platens and a drive, said first platen having a die surface having a configuration corresponding to the first major surface of the softboard after removal of the cellulosic material by said removal tool, and said second platen having a die surface having a configuration corresponding to the second major surface of the softboard, the drive being adapted to compress the first and second platens toward one another, said secondary press for compressing the softboard received from said removal tool to form a consolidated cellulosic article.