Patent ID: 8463447

Claim:
A method for dispensing a product, the method comprising: associating a plurality of product ingredients with a product dispenser, wherein a plurality of selectable products may be formed from the plurality of product ingredients; receiving input comprising a selected product for dispense; identifying a recipe for the selected product, wherein the recipe defines a ratio of the plurality of product ingredients for forming the selected product; identifying, based at least in part on the recipe, a respective expected flow rate for each of the plurality of product ingredients; commencing a dispense of each of the respective plurality of product ingredients based at least in part on the identified recipe; independently monitoring, during the dispense, a respective actual flow rate for each of the plurality of product ingredients; determining a difference between the monitored flow rate for at least one of the plurality of product ingredients and the expected flow rate for the at least one of the plurality of product ingredients; determining a total accumulated volume of the selected product that has been dispensed during the dispense; and adjusting, based at least in part upon the determined difference and the total accumulated volume, the flow of the at least one of the plurality of product ingredients to achieve a flow rate other than the expected flow rate for the at least one of the plurality of product ingredients and the monitored flow rate for the at least one of the plurality of product ingredients.