Patent ID: 8562754

Claim:
A dishwasher, comprising: a tub defining a washing chamber, a dishwasher rack positioned in the washing chamber of the tub, a door to permit access to the washing chamber, a control panel to permit selecting a desired stop time for a wash cycle, and a controller programmed to determine a start time for the wash cycle based upon the desired stop time selected via the control panel, determine a duration of the wash cycle, cause the control panel to display a bar having a length representative of the duration of the wash cycle, a first end of the bar associated with the start time, and a second end of the bar associated with the desired stop time, wherein the control panel is configured to enable moving of the bar in relation to a time scale to simultaneously adjust the start time and the desired stop time of the wash cycle, wherein the controller is programmed to determine whether there is insufficient time to achieve the desired stop time for the selected wash cycle with the selected options, wherein, when the controller determines that there is insufficient time to achieve the desired stop time for the selected wash cycle with the selected options, the controller is further programmed to select a plurality of alternative wash cycles and/or options and cause the control panel to present the plurality of selected alternative wash cycles and/or options, wherein the controller is programmed to select the plurality of alternative wash cycles and/or options such that there is sufficient time to achieve the desired stop time, and wherein a wash cycle is defined by a combination of wash options.