Patent ID: 7231928

Claim:
A household dishwasher, comprising: a housing defining an interior chamber and having an open face providing access to the interior chamber; a door moveably mounted to the housing for movement between a closed position where the door closes the open face to block access to the interior chamber and an open position where the door is remote from the open face to permit access to the interior chamber; a tub located within the interior chamber and comprising spaced side walls, a top wall connecting upper edges of the spaced side walls, a bottom wall connecting lower edges of the spaced side walls, and a rear wall connecting rear edges of the spaced side walls to form an open-face wash chamber with an open face that is coincident with the open face of the interior chamber; a liquid recirculation system for recirculating liquid throughout the wash chamber; a bulk wash aid dispenser configured to supply an individual charge of wash aid for multiple cycles of the dishwasher is located within the wash chamber and comprising a wash aid meter that dispenses an individual charge of wash aid from a bulk wash aid supply having multiple individual charges of wash aid, the wash aid meter having a spray nozzle that directs a spray of fluid onto the bulk wash aid supply to erode or dissolve a sufficient amount of wash aid from the bulk wash aid supply to form the individual charge of wash aid; and an imperforate cover removably coupled to the bottom wall and sized to overlie and receive the bulk wash aid supply, the cover configured to prevent the recirculated liquid from directly contacting the bulk wash aid supply.