REFRIGERATOR APPLIANCE WITH ILLUMINATED DISPENSER TUBES AND RELATED DISPENSER ASSEMBLY

1 . A refrigerator appliance, comprising:

a cabinet defining a chilled chamber for receipt of food items for storage;

a door rotatably mounted to the cabinet and configured for permitting selective access to the chilled chamber of the cabinet; and

a dispenser assembly associated with the door, the dispenser assembly comprising:

a dispenser tube extending within a recessed area defined by the dispenser assembly, the dispenser tube being in fluid communication with a fluid source;

a light pipe positioned on the dispenser tube; and

a light source configured to direct light towards the light pipe,

wherein the light directed from the light source is configured to illuminate the light pipe.

2 . The refrigerator appliance of claim 1 , wherein the light pipe comprises a light pipe ring configured to extend around an outer perimeter of the dispenser tube.

3 . The refrigerator appliance of claim 2 , wherein the light pipe further comprises a leader section extending from the light pipe ring, the light source being configured to direct light towards the leader section.

4 . The refrigerator appliance of claim 1 , wherein the light pipe corresponds to an elongated pipe section configured to extend lengthwise along at least a portion of a length of the dispenser tube.

5 . The refrigerator appliance of claim 1 , wherein the light source corresponds to at least one light-emitting diode.

6 . The refrigerator appliance of claim 1 , wherein the light source is spaced apart from the light pipe.

7 . The refrigerator appliance of claim 1 , wherein the light source is positioned directly adjacent to the light pipe.

8 . The refrigerator appliance of claim 1 , wherein a color in which the light pipe is illuminated is selected based on whether the fluid source corresponds to at least one of a heated fluid source or a chilled fluid source.

9 . The refrigerator appliance of claim 8 , wherein the color corresponds to a red color for the heated fluid source and a blue color for the chilled fluid source.

10 . A dispenser assembly for a refrigerator appliance, the dispenser assembly comprising:

a dispenser tube extending within a recessed area defined by the dispenser assembly, the dispenser tube being in fluid communication with a fluid source;

a light pipe positioned on the dispenser tube; and

a light source configured to direct light towards the light pipe,

wherein the light directed from the light source is configured to illuminate the light pipe.

11 . The dispenser assembly of claim 10 , wherein the light pipe comprises a light pipe ring configured to extend around an outer perimeter of the dispenser tube.

12 . The dispenser assembly of claim 11 , wherein the light pipe further comprises a leader section extending from the light pipe ring, the light source being configured to direct light towards the leader section.

13 . The dispenser assembly of claim 10 , wherein the light pipe corresponds to an elongated pipe section configured to extend lengthwise along at least a portion of a length of the dispenser tube.

14 . The dispenser assembly of claim 10 , wherein the light source corresponds to at least one light-emitting diode.

15 . The dispenser assembly of claim 10 , wherein the light source is spaced apart from the light pipe.

16 . The dispenser assembly of claim 10 , wherein the light source is positioned directly adjacent to the light pipe.

17 . The dispenser assembly of claim 10 , wherein a color in which the light pipe is illuminated is selected based on whether the fluid source corresponds to at least one of a hot fluid source or a cold fluid source.

18 . The dispenser assembly of claim 17 , wherein the color corresponds to a red color for the heated fluid source and a blue color for the chilled fluid source