Patent ID: 7399930
Filing Date: 2008-07-15
Classification: H05K,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A method for repairing a damaged contact pad on a printed circuit board, the contact pad being located on a first surface of the printed circuit board and being connected to a via that passes through the printed circuit board, the via comprising a hole with sidewalls and a conductive material that is attached to the sidewalls, the method comprising the steps of: creating a countersink hole in the first surface of the printed circuit board in a location that is substantially centered on an axis passing through the via, the countersink hole passing only part way through the printed circuit board so as to be located above a remaining portion of the via that passes through a remainder of the printed circuit board: inserting a replacement structure into the countersink hole and the remaining portion of the via, the replacement structure including a stem portion, a head portion, and a shoulder portion that connects the stem portion to the head portion, the shoulder portion having an angle that substantially matches an angle of a shoulder of the countersink hole; and permanently attaching the stem portion of the replacement structure to the conductive material attached to the sidewalls of the remaining portion of the via so as to electrically couple the head stem portion of the replacement structure to the conductive material attached to the sidewalls of the remaining portion of the via, wherein after the inserting step, a bottom surface of the replacement structure is substantially planar with a bottom surface of the circuit board so as not to protrude from the bottom surface of the circuit board.