# US 10,767,914 B2 · Icemaker and freezer > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,767,914 B2 - Document ID: US10767914B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/307,535 - Filed: 2017-06-06 - Published: 2019-05-16 - Granted: 2020-09-08 - Earliest claimed: 2016-06-07 - Assignees: Nidec Servo Corporation - Applicants: Nidec Servo Corporation - Inventors: Eiji Kuroda; Kenji Sugaya; Hironobu Yoshikawa; Hideaki Ito - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10767914B2 ## CPC - F25C 1/24: for refrigerators, e.g. freezing trays - F25C 5/04: without the use of saws - F25C 5/185: with freezing trays - F25C 5/22: {particularly adapted for household refrigerators} - F25D 27/00: Lighting arrangements (in general F21) - F25D 27/005: {combined with control means} - F25C 2400/10: Refrigerator units - F25C: PRODUCING, WORKING OR HANDLING ICE - F25D: REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR (refrigerated showcases A47F3/04; thermally-insulated vessels for domestic use A47J41/00; refrigerated vehicles, see the appropriate subclasses of classes B60 - B64; containers with thermal insulation in general B65D81/38; heat-transfer, heat-exchange or heat-storage materials, e.g. refrigerants, or materials for the production of heat or cold by chemical reactions other than by combustion C09K5/00; thermally-insulated vessels for liquefied or solidified gases F17C; air-conditioning or air-humidification F24F; refrigeration machines, plants, or systems F25B; cooling of instruments or comparable apparatus without refrigeration G12B) ## Abstract An icemaker includes an ice-making tray in which ice is produced, an ice-discharging mechanism that removes the ice from the ice-making tray, a driver that drives the ice-discharging mechanism and that is attached to the ice-making tray on a front side in a front-rear direction, and a lighting unit that emits light. The lighting unit emits the light toward a rear side in the front-rear direction. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An icemaker that is disposable in a freezer, and, when power is supplied, that makes ice by using cold air of a freezing chamber to freeze water that has been poured into an ice-making tray and that discharges the ice, the icemaker comprising: an ice-making tray in which ice is produced; an ice-discharging mechanism that removes the ice from the ice-making tray; a driver that drives the ice-discharging mechanism and that is attached to the ice-making tray on a front side in a front-rear direction of the freezes; and a lighting unit that emits light; wherein the lighting unit emits the light toward a rear side in the front-rear direction. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The icemaker according to claim 1, wherein a direction in which the light is emitted from the lighting unit is inclined with respect to the front-rear direction. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The icemaker according to claim 1, wherein the lighting unit includes at least one light source and a circuit board to which the at least one light source is attached, and an attachment surface of the circuit board to which the at least one light source is attached faces the rear side. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The icemaker according to claim 3, wherein the attachment surface is inclined with respect to a plane perpendicular to the front-rear direction. ### Claim 5 (depends on 3) The icemaker according to claim 3, wherein the at least one light source includes a plurality of light sources; the plurality of light sources are disposed at intervals in a top-bottom direction perpendicular to the front-rear direction; and the at least one light source is a light emitting diode. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The icemaker according to claim 1, wherein the lighting unit includes at least one light source and an optical member on which light emitted from the at least one light source is incident; and the optical member emits the incident light in a direction toward the rear side in the front-rear direction. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The icemaker according to claim 6, wherein the optical member includes at least a portion of a Fresnel lens. ### Claim 8 (depends on 6) The icemaker according to claim 6, wherein the lighting unit further includes a circuit board to which the at least one light source is attached; and an attachment surface of the circuit board to which the at least one light source is attached is disposed along the front-rear direction. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The icemaker according to claim 1, wherein the lighting unit is provided in the driver. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The icemaker according to claim 1, wherein the lighting unit is provided on a side surface of the driver along the front-rear direction. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The icemaker according to claim 1 further comprising: a sensor that detects an open/closed state of the freezer; wherein the lighting unit emits light when the sensor detects that the freezer is in an open state. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) A freezer comprising the icemaker according to claim 1. ### Claim 13 A freezer comprising: a freezer body that is box-shaped and that includes an opening on a front side in a front-rear direction; a door that opens and closes the opening; and an icemaker attached to a side surface on one side in a left-right direction perpendicular to both the front-rear direction and a top-bottom direction among inner side surfaces of the freezer body; wherein the icemaker includes an ice-making tray in which ice is produced, an ice-discharging mechanism that removes the ice from the ice-making tray, a driver that drives the ice-discharging mechanism and that is attached to the ice-making tray on the front side, and a lighting unit that emits light; wherein the lighting unit includes a light source and a circuit board to which the light source is attached, and emits the light toward a rear side in the front-rear direction; an attachment surface of the circuit board to which the light source is attached faces the rear side; and when viewed in the top-bottom direction, an inclination of a first imaginary line with respect to the left-right direction, the first imaginary line connecting an end portion of the attachment surface on a first side in the left-right direction and an end portion of the opening on a second side in the left-right direction, is equal to or less than an inclination of a second imaginary line with respect to the left-right direction, the second imaginary line connecting the light source and the end portion of the opening on the second side in the left-right direction.