Patent ID: 7416106

Claim:
A method for processing a circuit board, the method comprising: placing a mask layer on the circuit board, the mask layer defining a set of pad profiles for a component mounting location, each pad profile of the set of pad profiles having a set of rounded corners; forming, for each pad profile of the set of pad profiles, a soldering pad having a set of radii corresponding to the set of rounded corners of that pad profile to create a set of soldering pads for the component mounting location, each soldering pad having the set of radii being configured for a high bond strength solder joint; removing the mask layer from the circuit board; wherein forming, for each pad profile of the set of pad profiles, the soldering pad includes: etching, as the soldering pad, a surface mount contact having a main portion, and multiple convex lobes integrated with the main portion; and further comprising: after removing the mask layer from the circuit board, printing solder paste on a top surface of each soldering pad of the set of soldering pads while leaving a periphery of the top surface of each soldering pad of the set of soldering pads exposed, placing a circuit board component in contact with the printed solder paste, and applying heat to solder the circuit board component to the set of soldering pads using the printed solder paste.