Patent ID: 8161633

Claim:
A method for forming a circuit board, comprising: forming a circuit board substrate from a circuit board material; disposing a circuit pattern on said circuit board substrate; positioning said circuit board substrate on a rigid structure having a three dimensional contoured surface; and applying heat and applying pressure to said circuit board substrate using a vacuum-bag autoclave process to at least partially conform said circuit board substrate to said three dimensional contoured surface; wherein said vacuum-bag autoclave process comprises increasing a temperature of an environment surrounding said circuit board substrate from a first temperature to a second temperature, and maintaining said second temperature for a period of time that is sufficient for thermally equilibrating said circuit board substrate at said second temperature which is 50-80% of a melting point temperature of the circuit board material; wherein said second temperature is selected to preserve an integrity of said circuit pattern and to obtain a desired accuracy between a topology of said circuit board substrate and said three dimensional contoured surface of a rigid structure.