Method and apparatus for drying objects in a washer

A washer for washing articles, said washer comprised of:

• a housing defining a chamber, said housing having side walls and a top wall;
• a partition disposed in an upper portion of said chamber for dividing said chamber into an upper compartment and a lower compartment, said lower compartment dimensioned to receive articles to be washed, said partition having an outer peripheral edge that generally conforms to said side walls of said housing, said partition dimensioned such that an annular gap is formed about said outer peripheral edge of said partition, said annular gap being disposed between said upper compartment and said lower compartment;
• heating means disposed in said upper compartment above said partition, said heating means for heating air in said upper compartment;
• a spray arm disposed in said lower compartment, said spray arm for spraying a fluid into said lower compartment;
• an external air inlet fluidly communicating with said upper compartment;
• and
• a blower assembly disposed in said upper compartment, said blower assembly having a first inlet, a second inlet and an outlet, said first inlet communicating with said lower compartment, said second inlet communicating with said external air inlet and said outlet communicating with said upper compartment for creating an air flow path through said washer, said air flow path extending from said outlet of said blower assembly, through said upper compartment, through said gap between said partition and said side walls, through said lower compartment to said first inlet of said blower assembly, said blower assembly also conveying air from said external air inlet to said upper compartment, wherein less than about 10% of said air flowing through said outlet of said blower assembly comes from said external air inlet,
• wherein air flowing from said upper compartment, through said annular gap forms streams of high velocity air along each of said side walls of said lower compartment.