1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an illuminated indicator including an indicator mark that is formed by laser marking and through which light is transmitted and to a method of manufacturing the illuminated indicator.
2. Description of the Related Art
An illuminated indicator is known where a white coating material that transmits light is applied to the surface of a transparent resin form to form an undercoat, a black coating material that includes carbon and blocks light is applied to the surface of the white coating material layer to form a topcoat, and the black coating material layer is irradiated with YAG laser fight to cause part of the black coating material layer to evaporate, whereby an indicator mark (e.g., a character design, etc.) is formed (e.g., see Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 1-166984). In this illuminated indicator, when light strikes the underside of the resin form, the light is transmitted through the resin form and the white coating material layer, whereby the white indicator mark is illuminated and the light is prevented from being transmitted through the portion other than the indicator mark as a result of being blocked by the black coating material layer. For this reason, the white indicator mark can be seen against the black background even in dark places.
Incidentally, in such illuminated indicators, design freedom is being improved by making the color of the indicator mark black and making the color of the entire illuminated indicator a color other than black. However, because the black coating material usually uses carbon as the pigment, the absorption rate of the laser energy is high. Consequently, when the black coating material is used for the undercoat, the undercoat coating material evaporates when it is irradiated with laser light. For this reason, when the color of the indicator mark is made black, this is done by release printing, which leads to a complication of the manufacturing process and a rise in the manufacturing cost.