Dish washing machine

A compact, self-contained dish washing machine comprising:

• a watertight machine housing including:
• a bottom, substantially vertical side walls enclosing a space of generally rectangular cross-sectional outline, and a removable matching top cover;
• the housing further defining in its bottom portion a reservoir space or well and a dry space between its well and the level on which the housing is normally supported if resting on a flat surface;
• at least one removable dish rack arranged in said housing so as to be capable of holding dishes and other articles within the spray zone;
• a substantially vertically oriented spray pipe arranged inside said housing in the vicinity of a side wall thereof, the spray pipe having its lower end reaching into the water which is normally contained in said well and its upper end closed and located near the top of the housing;
• a plurality of spray orifices arranged on the periphery of the spray pipe, at such vertical locations and angular orientations that the sprays exiting therefrom under pressure collectively cover an effective spray zone of substantially no more than 180 degrees angular extent from the spray pipe axis and of a vertical extent which covers at least a major portion of said enclosed housing space;
• a pump impeller carried by and journalled inside said immersed spray pipe portion on a vertical impeller shaft;
• an electric motor arranged in said dry space underneath the well so as to have its shaft axially aligned with the impeller shaft, the motor shaft extending sealingly through the housing wall which separates the well from the dry space;
• and
• an axially disengageable coupling between the impeller shaft and the motor shaft, the coupling being arranged inside the well, near the bottom thereof.