Systems and methods for dispensing, slicing, buttering, and toasting bread

A system for dispensing bread buns into a bun slicing mechanism comprising:

• a receiver;
• a hopper comprising a substantially transparent elongated housing configured to contain a row of whole bread buns, defining a discharge end configured to transiently engage the receiver and to dispense whole bread buns into the receiver, and defining a pressurized end opposite the discharge end;
• a piston arranged within the hopper between the pressurized end of the hopper and the row of whole bread buns;
• a permeable seal interposed between an interior wall of the hopper and an adjacent surface of the piston, the permeable seal cooperating with the hopper and the piston to define a closed volume between the pressurized end of the hopper and the piston, the permeable seal configured to bleed gas from the closed volume toward the discharge end of the hopper;
• a gas supply intermittently supplying gas into the closed volume to displace the piston toward the discharge end of the hopper;
• and
• a roller arranged between the hopper and the receiver and extending into a boundary defined by a cross-section of the hopper projected toward the receiver parallel to an axis of the hopper.

A method for slicing a type of whole bread buns, the method comprising:

• retracting a cutting block along a chute into a load position;
• dispensing a whole bread bun into the chute between the cutting block and a blade extending across the chute;
• advancing the cutting block along the chute toward the blade;
• detecting contact between the cutting block and the blade at a contact position;
• at a first time, advancing the cutting block into a pierce position offset from the contact position toward the blade by a pierce distance less than a common width of the type of whole bread buns;
• and
• at a second time succeeding the first time by a pierce duration, advancing the cutting block from the pierce position into a slice position adjacent the blade to drive the whole bread bun fully through the blade.