Patent ID: 7337594

Claim:
An automated dispensing device for dispensing a quantity of food pieces to be cooked comprising: a freezer; a food magazine located in the freezer for containing a plurality of bulk food pieces to be dispensed, a secondary container located within the freezer for containing a plurality of food pieces dispensed from the food magazine; said food magazine having dual rotatable spiral flights, said spiral flights having a spacing of a size and shape to allow only one individual food piece to be placed in the spacing between adjacent flight segments and being rotatable to dispense individual pieces of food one piece at a time from the plurality of bulk food pieces contained in the food magazine into the secondary container; a device for determining the quantity of food pieces contained in the secondary container and for terminating the dispensing of individual pieces of food from said food magazine when a predetermined quantity of food pieces is sensed in the secondary container; and a device for rotating the secondary container sufficiently so that food pieces contained therein are dumped to a location outside of the freezer.