Apparatus for forming a sheet of dry wood pulp

An apparatus for forming a coherent and substantially uniform sheet of dry fibrous material comprises a feed conveyor arranged to receive and convey the fibrous material, a spreader, a collection conveyor positioned to receive and convey fibrous material discharged by the spreader and means for consolidating the fibrous material received by the collection conveyor. The spreader has a first member which comprises an assembly of blades extending across the feed conveyor and rotatable so that the blades at their lowest position are closely adjacent to the feed conveyor and rotate towards the fibrous material on the feed conveyor to lift the fibrous material off the feed conveyor, and a second member positioned so that fibrous material thus lifted off the conveyor is subjected to a fibre-separating action between the first and second members before being discharged from the spreader.