Cotton receiving and densification apparatus for a cotton module builder of a cotton harvesting machine

A cotton module builder for a cotton harvesting machine, comprising:

• a floor and opposing side walls extending upwardly from opposite peripheral edges of the floor defining an upwardly open cotton compacting chamber, the compacting chamber including an upper region having a predetermined first sideward extent;
• cotton distributing and compacting apparatus supported in the upper region of the compacting chamber for movement downwardly against cotton collected therein for compacting the collected cotton into a compacted cotton module, the cotton distributing and compacting apparatus being configured for supporting cotton thereon and including at least one elongate auger rotatable for moving cotton supported thereon longitudinally therealong and downwardly therethrough for distribution into the compacting chamber;
• and
• cotton receiving and densification structure disposed in covering relation to the upper region of the cotton compacting chamber and the cotton distributing and compacting apparatus, the cotton receiving and densification structure defining a cotton receiving chamber generally above and downwardly open to one end of the upper region of the cotton compacting chamber and a cotton densification chamber in connection with the cotton receiving chamber generally above and downwardly open to an opposite end of the cotton compacting chamber, the structure defining an endwardly facing inlet opening in connection with an inlet end of the cotton receiving chamber and disposed for receiving flows of airborne cotton from a side-by-side array of ducts in connection with harvesting apparatus of a harvesting machine, the inlet opening and the inlet end of the cotton receiving chamber having a predetermined second sideward extent which is at least twice the first sideward extent of the upper region of the compacting chamber and a sideward extent of the cotton densification chamber, the structure including side wall portions defining sides of the cotton receiving chamber which taper convergingly from the inlet region to the densification chamber such that at least portions of flows of airborne cotton received through the inlet opening into the inlet region will be convergingly guided by the side wall portions into the densification chamber.