Ice bagging apparatus and methods

An ice vending apparatus adapted to fill a portion of a container with ice pieces upon demand by a consumer, which comprises:

• a plurality of containers stored inside a housing associated with an ice dispensing portion adapted to containerize ice pieces in successive containers upon demand by one or more consumers;
• and
• an interlock system constructed and arranged to receive each container one at a time, the interlock system comprising a pair of inner and outer doors arranged in association with a pair of side walls to define a chamber therebetween, wherein the interlock system is adapted to close the inner door to inhibit or prevent access to additional containers while the outer door is adapted to be opened by a consumer to retrieve a container that has received ice pieces.

A method for providing ice pieces to a consumer, which comprises:

• rotating a ramp zone between a storage position and a transferring position so as to direct a plurality of ice pieces from a holding zone over the ramp zone to a container in the transferring position;
• and
• removing a portion of moisture from the dispensed ice pieces as they move through and past the ramp zone to the container, wherein the removed moisture is directed away from the container.