abstract |
A method and an apparatus for producing a product having a magnetically formed pattern, capable of forming any desired pattern in diversely different shapes with a clear visual recognizability, at high speed, by a simple procedure, and a painted product produced by these method and apparatus. The product is produced by forming a paint layer from a paint medium mixed with magnetic non-spherical particles, and applying a magnetic field containing the lines of magnetic field in a shape corresponding to the desired pattern to be formed. The desired pattern becomes visible on the surface of the painted product as the light rays incident on the paint layer are reflected or absorbed differently by those magnetic non-spherical particles which are oriented to be substantially parallel to a surface of the paint layer and arranged in a shape corresponding to the desired pattern to be formed on the painted product form the contour of the desired pattern, and those magnetic non-spherical particles which are oriented to be substantially non-parallel to the surface of the paint layer. |