Dispenser

An apparatus, comprising:

• a hopper to hold ingredients;
• a dispenser unit coupled below the hopper to receive the ingredients through an opening in the hopper, the dispenser unit including a housing and a dispenser element having two dispensing vanes coupled rotationally about respective parallel horizontal axes, each of the two dispensing vanes including a surface at a radial distance from the corresponding parallel horizontal axis with teeth arranged on and projecting from the surface, the surfaces of the two dispensing vanes being in contact and being flexible in radial directions of the two dispensing vanes;
• a scale positioned to receive dispensed ingredients from the dispenser unit and configured to generate a weight signal indicating a weight of the dispensed ingredients;
• and
• a controller coupled to the two dispensing vanes and to the scale, the controller configured to control rotation of the two dispensing vanes in first opposing directions about the respective parallel horizontal axes to dispense ingredients from the hopper to the scale and to determine a first flow rate.

An apparatus, comprising:

• a dispenser unit comprising a plurality of dispenser vanes, each dispenser vane comprising:
• a flexible cylindrical surface comprising a plurality of teeth,
• wherein the dispenser vanes are configured adjacent to each other to form at least one channel, and
• wherein when an ingredient passes through the channel, the flexible cylindrical surfaces of adjacent dispenser vanes flex in response to the ingredient.