Purpose of copper "lines" coming from PCB vias?

[kalel]

I've seen something like this on another board before, and this time on a cheap LED light PCB.

What is the purpose of these?


The images were taken quickly, some are blurred.

[T3sl4co1l]

Thieving patterns for wave soldering?

Not so much "thieving" itself, but providing paths for solder to wick away rather than stay globbed on the pad.  There's probably a better term.

Tim

[TerraHertz]

They are not 'copper lines', but linear openings in the solder mask. You can faintly make out the actual copper track and pad areas in your photos, and they are much larger than the pads.
The purpose of these copper exposures, as mentioned, is to reduce the amount of solder that stays on the pad during wave soldering. Thus saving the manufacturer some money - significant over thousands of boards.

[kalel]

I did not know what to call them. Thanks for the explanation.