Patent ID: 7731804

Claim:
A dishwasher comprising: an outer housing including at least opposing side walls that define an interior cavity; a drawer slidably mounted in the interior cavity of the outer housing, said drawer including front, rear, bottom and opposing side walls, as well as an open top portion, that collectively define a washing tub; a lid mounted for movement relative to the outer housing for selectively sealing the open top portion of the washing tub; and an operating mechanism interconnecting the outer housing and the lid, said operating mechanism including at least one lifting slider and at least one lifting spring, the lifting slider operatively coupled to the lifting spring wherein the lifting spring provides a biasing force to the lifting slider to shift the lid to a raised position, and at least one compression slider and at least one compression spring, the compression slider operatively coupled to the compression spring wherein the compression spring provides a biasing force to the compression slider to shift the lid to a lowered position wherein, when the drawer is withdrawn from the outer housing, the lifting spring forces the at least one lifting slider to raise the lid and, when the drawer is inserted into the outer housing the compression spring urges the at least one compression slider to force the lid against the washing tub establishing a seal between the lid and the washing tub.