Process for manufacturing of formed products

A method of making a shaped cellulosic paper or paperboard article from a dilute aqueous suspension of cellulosic fibers, comprising the steps of:

• (a) diluting cellulosic fibers with water to form a dilute aqueous suspension of less than 10 percent by weight cellulosic fibers;
• (b) then agitating the dilute aqueous suspension of cellulosic fibers until the fibers become separated from each other and swollen;
• (c) then dewatering the aqueous suspension to obtain an aqueous suspension of at least 20 percent weight cellulosic fibers;
• (d) then preparing a homogenous, plastically formable material by adding to the suspension sufficient hydrocolloid to bind substantially all of the water in the material to prevent the water from bleeding out during subsequent shaping and to prevent the fibers from flocculating, and by kneading the material, said material containing water in the range of from about 50 to about 90 percent, fibers in the range of from about 8 to 49 percent, and hydrocolloid in the range of from about 1 to about 20 percent, by weight;
• (e) shaping the material into the desired shape by extrusion, injection molding, rolling, pressing or drawing, and
• (f) bonding the solids of the material by drying the shaped material.