Dishwasher including a drying apparatus

Abstract

A dishwasher including a tub provided in the cabinet to form a washing chamber, and a drying apparatus arranged on a side wall of the tub and including a flow path provided to allow air sucked from the washing chamber to flow, a heater arranged in the flow path to heat air in the flow path, and a switch arranged upstream of the heater to turn off the heater in response to air, which is adjacent to the heater, reaching a predetermined temperature.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A dishwasher comprising:
 a cabinet defining an exterior of the dishwasher;   a tub disposed in the cabinet and defining a washing chamber;   a drying apparatus disposed between the cabinet and the tub and configured to supply hot air to the washing chamber, the drying apparatus comprising:
 a housing including an inlet port and an outlet port to provide an air flow path inside of the housing, the outlet port being coupled to the tub; 
 a fan disposed in the housing downstream from the inlet port; 
 a heater disposed in the housing downstream relative to the fan; and 
 a temperature sensor mounted at the housing to detect a temperature of heated air to be supplied to the tub; 
   a controller configured to turn on or off the heater based on the temperature detected by the temperature sensor; and   a switch mounted at the housing adjacent to the heater and configured to turn off the heater in case of overheating of the heater.   
     
     
         2 . The dishwasher of  claim 1 , wherein the temperature sensor is configured to measure the temperature of the heated air downstream from the heater. 
     
     
         3 . The dishwasher of  claim 1 , wherein the housing comprises:
 a first housing coupled to an outer surface of the tub and extending along a direction of air flow; and   a second housing extending along the direction of air flow and coupled to the first housing so as to form the air flow path with the first housing.   
     
     
         4 . The dishwasher of  claim 1 , further comprising an outlet cover disposed on an inner surface of the tub to cover the outlet port. 
     
     
         5 . The dishwasher of  claim 4 , wherein the outlet cover is rotatably coupled to the housing. 
     
     
         6 . The dishwasher of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a holder fixing the switch to the housing; and   a fastening member coupling the holder to the housing.   
     
     
         7 . The dishwasher of  claim 1 , further comprising an inlet cover over the inlet port. 
     
     
         8 . The dishwasher of  claim 7 , wherein the inlet cover is rotatably coupled to the housing. 
     
     
         9 . The dishwasher of  claim 7 , wherein the inlet cover includes a plurality of intakes.