Bale lump eliminator for a round cotton module baler

Abstract

A baler for making large cylindrical modules of cotton includes an expansible module-forming chamber comprising a plurality of module-forming belts that are supported in side-by-side relationship across a plurality of fixed and movable belt support rolls. The module-forming chamber includes a fixed front section and a movable rear section in the form of a discharge gate mounted to an upper rear location of the front section for pivoting between a lowered baling position and a raised discharge position. Located at the bottom of the baling chamber between a bottom fixed belt support roll and a lower front roll of the lowered discharge gate is an inlet through which cotton passes into the module-forming chamber. A module wrapping arrangement is carried on the discharge gate for selectively feeding a length of plastic sheet material into the inlet for being wrapped about the circumference of a cotton module formed in the chamber. Located within the inlet in front of the lower front gate roll is a rake-like cotton bunching eliminator which operates to prevent cotton from bunching prior to being fed onto the circumference of a rotating cotton module during the operation of wrapping the module, thus eliminating the formation of lumps on the circumference of the module.