Patent ID: 7767029

Claim:
A dishwasher comprising; a key input unit through which a washing mode is input; a tub defining a washing chamber; a door provided on a front portion of the tub to open and close the washing chamber; a blower mounted on a side of the door to suck wet-vapor existing in the washing chamber; a condensing duct installed inside the door and connected to the blower to condense the wet-vapor; a sump formed on a bottom of the tub to reserve washing water; a drain motor for draining the washing water out of the sump; a memory unit for storing a reference operation time and the reference number of operations of the drain motor; and a control unit for controlling the drain motor, wherein the control unit controls the drain motor intermittently such that the drain motor operates for a predetermined time during a drying cycle for drying dishes, and the operation time of the drain motor is gradually reduced as the number of operations of the drain motor increases, and the blower includes: a body having a wet-vapor inlet communicated with the washing chamber; a fan driving motor mounted on the body; a drying fan connected to one side of the fan driving motor for sucking the wet-vapor from the washing chamber and exhausting the wet-vapor to the condensing duct, and forming a water-vapor inlet therein; and a condensing fan connected to the other side of the fan driving motor for cooling the wet-vapor flowing along the condensing duct, wherein the drying fan is disposed within the body and the condensing fan is disposed outside of the body.