Apparatus for continuously manufacturing boards

Claim 1

Apparatus for continuously manufacturing board from a mixture of board particles and a bonding agent comprising: means for forming a mat of said mixture; compressing means for sizing said mat; a pair of spaced platens; a pair of endless belts which engage surfaces on opposite sides of the mat and which carry the mat from the mat forming means past the compressing means and between said platens; means associated with said platens for distributing fluid under pressure against said belts thereby developing fluid bearings between said platens and the belts, and causing said mat to be dimensioned to its final size, said distributing means including: (a) a source of fluid under pressure; (b) a plurality of subcompartments in each platen; (c) controllable regulator means interconnecting the fluid source and said subcompartments whereby fluid is supplied to each subcompartment at a pressure substantially independent of the pressure of fluid in the remaining subcompartments; and (d) at least one hole associated with each subcompartment to permit fluid to pass from said subcompartment through a surface of the respective platen adjacent the belt to thereby develop said fluid bearing; and means for heating said mat as it is carried between said platens to cure said bonding agent to form the board from said mat.