Configurations of electronic component-carrying apertures in a termination belt

A miniature component carrier including a thin, resilient mask through which are formed multiple apertures that are sized and shaped to compliantly receive and hold multiple miniature electronic components in a controlled orientation, each electronic component having opposed upper and lower surfaces spaced apart by a component thickness bound by opposed side wall surfaces and opposed end wall surfaces, each electronic component further having multiple corner regions in which one of the upper surface or the lower surface meets at least one of a side wall surface and an end wall surface, comprising:

• multiple spaced-apart apertures each having side margins that are shaped to facilitate placement of an electronic component in each aperture such that the side margins of the aperture primarily contact and grip the corner regions of the electronic component, thereby confining within an operational tolerance side margin contact with one or both of the side or end wall surfaces and thus reducing damage to the side and end wall surfaces resulting from their contact with the side margins during receipt and gripping of the electronic component in the aperture.