Bourns New Miniature Resettable Thermal Cutoff Device Offers Highest Current Capacity

Latest AA Series TCO Devices Integrate Breakthrough Technology to More Efficiently and Cost-Effectively Protect Today’s Denser, Higher Capacity Lithium Ion Battery Cells

RIVERSIDE, Calif, January 3, 2016 - Bourns, Inc., a leading manufacturer and supplier of electronic components, today introduced a breakthrough miniature resettable thermal cutoff (TCO) device series delivering the highest current capacity for comparable devices, matching the protection needs of today’s denser, higher capacity Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) battery cells. The new Model AA Series is capable of carrying 14 A at 60 °C, offering as much as 37 % more current capacity compared to Bourns’ previously available miniature resettable TCOs. The new protection devices also deliver extremely low impedance/resistance (2 mΩ max.), which is 60 % lower than earlier generation TCOs from Bourns. Saving costs and valuable design space, higher current Li-ion battery designs that previously needed two miniature resettable TCOs now only need a single AA Series device to meet protection requirements due to the innovative design and high precision metal press process.

Advances in technology have enabled larger, denser Li-ion battery cells and made lower power consumption components possible. "Beyond laptops, more and more of today's electronics such as e-bikes, power tools and even consumer robots and energy grid storage are seeing the benefits of a reduced battery pack cell count that ultimately cuts application costs. Working closely with our customers, we realized current miniature resettable TCO solutions were incapable of adequately or efficiently protecting these higher capacity Li-Ion batteries," said Yoichi Yoshimura, President of Bourns KK. "At Bourns, we've engineered the Model AA Series to provide the necessary higher current overtemperature protection so these batteries can be made not only safer and more reliable, but also smaller and more cost-effective."

As a pioneer in overtemperature and overcurrent protection solutions, Komatsulite Mfg. Co., Ltd., now Bourns KK, engineered the first commercial miniature resettable thermal cutoff device in 2000, quickly ramping up to a total shipment volume of about 2 billion devices in 2015 making it the market share leader. The company continues to excel at precision metal press processes, miniaturization and high current capacity engineering with an established roadmap that includes further innovation.

Pricing and Availability
The Model AA Series from Bourns is available now. As a pricing reference, Model AA72A10 is priced at $0.73 each in 3,000 piece quantities. For more information on these latest miniature resettable TCO devices, please go to: www.bourns.com/products/circuit-protection/mini-breakers

About Bourns

Bourns, Inc. is a leading manufacturer and supplier of position and speed sensors, circuit protection solutions, magnetic components, microelectronic modules, panel controls and resistive products. Headquartered in Riverside, California, USA, Bourns serves a broad range of markets, including automotive, industrial, consumer, communications, non-critical life support medical, audio and various other market segments. Additional company and product information is available 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.