Bourns Announces Industry's First ECL Triggered by Excessive Voltage or Current

RIVERSIDE, Calif., June 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Bourns, Inc., a leading manufacturer and supplier of electronic components, today announced its latest series of Transient Blocking Unit (TBU™) circuit protection devices designed to protect telecommunications applications from surges in the industry's first electronic current limiter triggered by excessive voltage or current. Designated the Bourns® TBU™ PL-Series SLIC, the new circuit protection device family provides extremely fast overcurrent protection combined with SLIC battery voltage tracking triggered protection. Combined with additional overvoltage protectors, this new solution protects against very high surge levels and meets telecom 500A Telcordia GR-1089 intrabuilding and 6kV/150A ITU-T standards.  

Protecting sensitive telecom applications from the potentially damaging effects of surges that can cause current and voltage to rise above normal operating levels, the Bourns® TBU™ PL-Series responds in 100 nanoseconds.  The resettable circuit protection devices also feature significantly lower let-thru energy and overshoot protection, which reduces stress on the SLIC and the printed circuit board (PCB) for increased reliability and product life.  Bourns' new TBU™ series also cuts the circuit protection component count to three devices compared to the seven needed in a conventional gated thyristor solution because there is no need for peripheral R-C or L-C components nor additional GDTs for increased surge requirements that take up valuable PCB space and increase manufacturing costs.

"Similarly, for customers who are currently using the Bourns® P-G TBU™ series, the new Bourns® TBU™ PL-Series drastically reduces the component count and the TBU™ package size is 25 percent smaller to better meet our customer's needs for board area and height reductions," said Paul Wiener, telecom market director at Bourns.  "This new TBU™ series provides the best of both worlds – the highest protection levels with the fewest number of components."

The Bourns® TBU™ PL-Series is available in three voltages (850, 600 and 500) and two operating current levels (100 mA and 200 mA) that match worldwide standards and SLIC chipset requirements.  Product samples, evaluation boards and sample kits are available now through Bourns' distribution partners.  As a pricing example, Bourns® TBU-PL050-100-WH is priced at ($.056 each) in (3K) quantities.

About Bourns® TBU™ Technology

Bourns' TBU™ High Speed Protector is the first new approach to electronics circuit protection in over a decade. This technology is designed to block a transient through a current disconnecting mechanism. Rather than a complex interstage coordination between two shunting components, the TBU™ device allows customers to protect circuit boards from both overvoltage and overcurrent surges. The TBU™ device protects electronic equipment within nanoseconds, essentially eliminating latency common in the circuit protection design, limiting let-through energy. The TBU™ device has virtually no capacitance or inductance, and therefore can be used in high bandwidth applications. It has a resistive characteristic which permits currents up to a certain level to pass unimpeded to the protected interface. In higher current situations, the TBU™ device switches to a high impedance state, protecting until the surge voltage dissipates or the short-circuit reseals. The TBU™ device offers full bi-directional operation which is inherently resettable.

About Bourns

Bourns, Inc. is a leading manufacturer and supplier of automotive sensors, circuit protection solutions, magnetic products, microelectronic modules, trimming and precision potentiometers, panel controls and encoders and resistive products.  Headquartered in Riverside, CA, Bourns serves a broad range of markets, including telecommunications, computer, industrial, instrumentation, automotive, consumer, non-critical life support medical, audio and various other market segments.  Bourns® products are manufactured according to ISO-9000 standards under Six Sigma quality programs. Bourns® automotive products are manufactured in accordance with the TS16949 standard. Additional company and product information is available at the company's website at www.bourns.com.

Bourns® and the Bourns logo are registered trademarks of Bourns, Inc. and may be used only with the permission of Bourns and proper acknowledgement. Other listed names and brands are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

SOURCE Bourns, Inc.