Patent ID: 8132392

Claim:
A system comprising: a hopper in which ice is adapted to be disposed; means for placing a drawer in a first position relative to the hopper, the drawer defining a region defining a volume; means for disposing a first volume of ice into the region defined by the drawer from the hopper, the first volume of ice being generally equal to the volume defined by the region; means for after disposing the first volume of ice into the region defined by the drawer from the hopper, moving a door relative to the hopper and the drawer to place the door in a first configuration in which disposal of ice into the drawer from the hopper is generally prevented; means for after moving the door relative to the hopper and the drawer to place the door in the first configuration, disposing the first volume of ice in a bag, comprising: means for placing the drawer in a second position relative to the hopper; and means for permitting the first volume of ice to fall into the bag in response to placing the drawer in the second position relative to the hopper; means for determining the size of the bag; means for in response to determining the size of the bag, determining how many times (n) the drawer must be moved from the first position to the second position in order to fill the bag with ice; and means for filling the bag with ice, comprising: the means for disposing the first volume of ice in the bag; and means for moving the drawer from the first position to the second position an additional (n−1) times after disposing the first volume of ice in the bag.