ultiboard symbol connection

[HBNI]

What is the meaning of the four triangles surrounding the hole on the left?  it is from a layer on the multilayer design. See the attached figure.

[Buechsenschuetz]

The triangles you see are not covered by copper. Ultiboard makes (on request) "thermal optimization" of pads which are part of a copper plane. If the pads were directly connected to the copper plane, a lot of heat would be transferred to the copper plane when soldering, thus prolonging the necessary solder time or, in other words, making the solder connection not reliable when using a standard soldering process. 

So the pads are connected via short tracks to the copper plane. These will transfer less heat when soldering, so the pad can be soldered with a standard process. 

Since thermal conduction and electrical conduction are closely related, also the electrical conduction is reduced - or the resistance between pad and copper plane is increased. So you have to find a compromise between reducing heat transfer and increasing resistance. Ultiboard has several options for themal optimization of pads. 

[HBNI]

Thanks for the reply.  You said: So the pads are connected via short tracks to the copper plane.

Can I assume there is a good electrical connection to the power plane after soldering the lead that passes through the hole for this arrangement. 

Or do I have to place a via to the power plane and make other traces connected to the via??

[Buechsenschuetz · Accepted solution]

All I can say is that most, if not all, layout systems use the "thermal optimization" for pads connected to a copper plane. The electrical connection seems good enough - we are using this technique with an older system and Ultiboard for decades and never had any problems with power supply pins up to several amps rating. 

[HBNI · Accepted solution]

Thank you.