Patent ID: 7806990

Claim:
A dishwasher comprising: a wash chamber configured to contain eating utensils; a wash water tank configured to contain wash water; wherein the eating utensils are washed by the wash water contained in the wash water tank, wherein the wash water, after washing, is collected into the wash water tank, and wherein a part of the wash water contained in the wash water tank is replaced with supplied water at every washing cycle of a plurality of washing cycles; a detergent supply device configured to supply a detergent to the wash water; and, a microcomputer storing a program capable of causing the microcomputer to perform: controlling a start and a stop of each consecutive washing cycle of the plurality of washing cycles; counting a number of times consecutive washing cycles have been performed; storing a predetermined set of parameters that define an amount of the detergent to be supplied to the wash water given the number of times consecutive washing cycles have been performed so as to maintain a desired concentration of detergent in the wash water; determining, at every washing cycle of the plurality of washing cycles, an amount of the detergent to be supplied to the wash water exclusively based on the number of times consecutive washing cycles have been performed and the predetermined set of parameters; and controlling the detergent supply device to supply the determined amount of the detergent to the wash water at every washing cycle of the plurality of washing cycles, wherein the predetermined set of parameters define an increasing amount of detergent from an initial washing cycle to each consecutive washing cycle in the plurality of cycles.