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An ice dispensing assembly includes a hopper, a metering disk, a shelf member, and a separating wall. The hopper includes an outlet opening defined in a bottom end of the hopper, and an ice inlet defined in a top end of the hopper. The metering disk is positioned in the hopper and includes a plurali

An ice dispensing assembly includes a hopper, a metering disk, a shelf member, and a separating wall. The hopper includes an outlet opening defined in a bottom end of the hopper, and an ice inlet defined in a top end of the hopper. The metering disk is positioned in the hopper and includes a plurality of cavities. The shelf member is arranged to at least partially shield the cavities from a supply of ice held in the hopper. The metering disk is rotatable relative to the hopper between a first position wherein at least one cavity is exposed to the supply of ice to be filled with ice, and a second position wherein the cavity is separated from the supply of ice by the separating wall and ice in the cavity is dispensed through the outlet opening.

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1. A method of dispensing ice, comprising; providing an ice dispensing system that includes a hopper having an outlet opening, an upper portion, and a lower portion, a metering member positioned in the hopper and having a plurality of cavities defined therein, a shelf, positioned in the hopper, incl

1. A method of dispensing ice, comprising; providing an ice dispensing system that includes a hopper having an outlet opening, an upper portion, and a lower portion, a metering member positioned in the hopper and having a plurality of cavities defined therein, a shelf, positioned in the hopper, includes a vertical dividing wall extending downward from an inner periphery of the shelf, the vertical dividing wall being elongated in a vertical direction, and an open space defined between the shelf, the vertical dividing wall, and the metering member;removably positioning the shelf through the upper portion of the hopper; filling the upper and lower portions of the hopper with a supply of ice, the supply of ice passing through a central opening in the shelf into the lower portion;rotating the metering member to position at least one cavity of the plurality of cavities in a fill position within the hopper wherein at least one cavity is exposed for filling with ice from the supply of ice, and a dispense position within the hopper wherein a bottom of the at least one cavity is aligned with and above the outlet opening to dispense ice from the hopper;shielding a portion of the supply of ice from the at least one cavity with the shelf when the at least one cavity is in the fill position;shielding a portion of the supply of ice from at least one cavity with the vertical dividing wall when at least one cavity is in the dispense position. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising shielding a portion of the supply of ice from at least one cavity with the shelf when at least one cavity is in the fill position. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the ice dispensing system further includes an ice generating device coupled in flow communication with the hopper, the method further comprising delivering the supply of ice into the hopper from the ice generating device. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the ice dispensing system further includes an ice agitator positioned in the hopper and connected to the metering member, the method further comprising breaking up the supply of ice with the agitator when rotating the metering member relative to the hopper. 5. A method of dispensing ice, the method comprising: providing an ice dispensing system including: a hopper having an outlet opening, an upper portion, and a lower portion,a metering member positioned in the hopper, the metering member having a plurality of cavities,a shelf member positioned in the hopper, the shelf member having a vertically-elongated dividing wall and a central opening, the shelf member configured to divide an upper portion of the hopper from a lower portion of the hopper, the shelf member being removable from the hopper;filling the upper and lower portions of the hopper at least partially with a supply of ice, the supply of ice passing from the upper portion to the lower portion through the central opening, wherein the shelf member constantly shields at least a portion of each of the plurality of cavities from the upper portion of the supply of ice;rotating the metering member to position at least one of the plurality of cavities in a fill position wherein the at least one of the plurality of cavities is filled from the supply of ice in the lower portion of the hopper;rotating the metering member to position at least one of the plurality of cavities in a dispense position wherein a bottom of the at least one of the plurality of cavities dispenses ice from the hopper downward through the outlet opening; andseparating at least one of the plurality of cavities from the supply of ice in the lower portion of the hopper by the vertically-elongated dividing wall extending downward from an inner periphery of the shelf, wherein an empty void extends between the shelf, the vertically-elongated dividing wall, and the metering member. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein filling the upper and lower portions of the hopper at least partially with a supply of ice comprises at least partially filling the upper portion with ice across a first width of the hopper and at least partially filling the lower portion with ice across a second width of the hopper, the second width being less than the first width. 7. The method of claim 5, wherein the shelf member comprises at least one break up protrusion and the method further comprising breaking up ice in contact with the shelf member using the at least one break up protrusion. 8. The method of claim 5, further comprising positioning the dividing wall in the lower portion of the hopper nearer to a center of the hopper than the rest of the lower portion of the hopper. 9. The method of claim 5, wherein the shelf member further comprises at least one lock protrusion and the hopper further comprises at least one locking track, and the method further comprises locking the at least one lock protrusion to the at least one locking track. 10. The method of claim 5, wherein the shelf member has an angled upper surface, and the method further comprises moving the supply of ice in the upper portion of the hopper to the lower portion of the hopper by sliding the supply of ice inward relative to the hopper along the angled upper surface. 11. A method of directing flow of ice through an ice dispenser, the method comprising: providing an ice dispensing system including: a hopper having an outlet opening, an upper portion, and a lower portion;a metering member positioned in the hopper, the metering member having a plurality of cavities;a shelf, the shelf comprising a central opening and a dividing wall extending downward from an inner periphery of the shelf, said dividing wall being vertically elongated within the hopper;an open space in the hopper, the open space extending between the shelf, the dividing wall, and the metering member;removably positioning the shelf within the hopper through the upper portion of the hopper;filling the upper and lower portions of the hopper at least partially with a supply of ice, wherein the supply of ice passes through the central opening of the shelf, wherein the shelf shields ice in the lower portion from ice in the upper portion, wherein the dividing wall shields the supply of ice from filling at least one of the plurality of cavities of the metering member when at least one cavity is in a dispense position;rotating the metering member to position at least one of the plurality of cavities in a fill position wherein the at least one of the plurality of cavities is filled from the supply of ice;rotating the metering member to position at least one of the plurality of cavities in the dispense position wherein a bottom of the at least one of the plurality of cavities dispenses ice downward from the hopper through the outlet opening. 12. The method of claim 11, wherein a portion of the hopper having the dividing wall is non-concentric with the metering member, and wherein rotating the metering member to position at least one of the plurality of cavities in the dispense position comprises rotating the at least one of the plurality of cavities under the dividing wall. 13. The method of claim 11, wherein the shelf is positioned above the dividing wall and filling the hopper at least partially with a supply of ice further comprises directing ice inward relative to the dividing wall using the shelf. 14. The method of claim 11, wherein the dividing wall merges with an interior sidewall surface of the hopper at merge points with the interior sidewall surface, and wherein at least a portion of the supply of ice flows along the interior sidewall surface of the hopper to the dividing wall by the merge points. 15. The method of claim 11, further comprising agitating the supply of ice by inducing a non-concentric flow of ice using the dividing wall. 16. The method of claim 11, further comprising agitating the supply of ice using an agitator extending into the hopper from the metering member. 17. The method of claim 11, further comprising scraping ice from a top surface of the metering member using the dividing wall. 18. The method of claim 1, further comprising shielding the portion of the supply of ice from the open space with the vertical dividing wall. 19. The method of claim 5, further comprising separating the supply of ice in the lower portion of the hopper from the empty void with the vertically-elongated dividing wall.