Patent ID: 8528302

Claim:
An ice bagging assembly having: a support frame; a horizontal ice bag cassette coupled to the support frame and configured to store a plurality of empty ice bags in a stack of horizontal empty ice bags, each empty ice bag having a first ply and a second ply defining an inside of each empty ice bag between the first and second plys, each of the first ply and the second ply having an inner surface facing each other and an outer surface facing away from each other; a bag selector coupled to the support frame and configured to grasp only a single ply of a first empty ice bag of the plurality of empty ice bags between rollers through direct contact with the outer surface of the first ply and not the second ply of the first empty ice bag while the first empty ice bag is horizontal on the stack of empty ice bags and to move the first empty ice bag from a horizontal position to an open vertical position below an ice chute, the ice chute configured to drop a plurality of ice cubes into the first open ice bag; an ice bag support below an end of the ice chute and positioned to support the first ice bag as the plurality of ice cubes drop into the first ice bag; and a sealing mechanism configured to seal an open end of the first ice bag.