Patent ID: 8591051

Claim:
A method for producing a design panel, the design panel including a plate-like panel main body made of a synthetic resin, the panel main body including a plurality of light-transmitting portions having a light-transmitting property, the light-transmitting portions being adapted to be illuminated by a light for illumination from a backside of the light-transmitting portions, and a plurality of light-shielding portions adapted to prevent diffusion of a light that passes through the light-transmitting portions in the planar direction of the panel main body, the method comprising the steps of: forming the panel main body from the synthetic resin having a light-transmitting property; and forming the light-shielding portions by radiating a laser beam onto given parts of the synthetic resin such that the given parts change color, the light-shielding portions each having substantially a same thickness as that of the panel main body, wherein the design panel has a viewable area, a majority of the viewable area is covered by a black painted layer which does not transmit light to a viewer, and the light-shielding portions are grouped in pairs, with one of each pair being a predetermined distance in a lateral direction along the panel main body from the light source, the pair having a respective portion on each side of a plane defined by the light source and the panel main body.