June 21, 2019 by Sam Holland
In recent months, Bourns has announced significant expansions to their existing SinglFuse SMD fuse product line. Already an industry leader, it seems that Bourns is determined to provide the latest technology in circuit protection devices for a wide range of applications.
The overarching purpose of the Bourns SinglFuse SMD Overcurrent Protection product line is to provide overcurrent protection for sensitive circuitry found in products such as industrial automation, telecommunications, and handheld consumer devices. These SMD single-blow fuses evolved as a result of increasing emphasis on safety and related standards.
Over a period of about a year and a half, Bourns has significantly expanded the SinglFuse line by adding 33 models that now comprise a portfolio of products with current and voltage ratings up to 100 A and 600 VAC respectively.
Among the new products, you can find a wide variety of fuses designed to meet a variety of circuit protection needs, including high current, high voltage, and high inrush. These fuses are also available with different fusing speeds, ranging from fast acting to slow blow with options such as time lag and fast acting precision.
SingleFuse Product Line Fuses for Battery and Power Protection
Included in the most recent additions to the product line are the SF-3812FG-T (fast acting low voltage), SF-3812F-T (fast acting), and the SF-3812SP-T (time lag) model families.
These fuses have a ceramic tube structure with gold plated end caps. These particular fuses are ideal for power supplies, PC servers, voltage regulator models, and other battery and power protection applications.
SingleFuse Product Line Fuses for Power Supplies
Along similar lines, Bourns has also introduced the SF-2410FP-T (fast acting precision), SF-2410F-T (fast acting) and SF-2410HI-T (high inrush) fuses, also designed with the same ceramic tube structure and gold plated end caps. These families of fuses have been found ideal for game consoles, power supplies, LCD monitors (including backlight converters), notebook computers, and white goods.
There are, of course, other product lines for SMD fuses, such as those manufactured by Littlefuse, Eaton, and Bel. However, at this time, no SMD fuse manufacturer possesses as extensive a product line.
Unlike the Bourns TeleFuse device which is designed specifically for use in the telecommunications industry, the SinglFuse line offers broad applicability for many different applications and industries.
Bourns's range of SinglFuse line products for overcurrent protection. Image courtesy of Bourns.
In addition, Bourns is also able to engineer custom solutions to some of the most demanding specifications. When developing these custom solutions, Bourns has the ability to utilise any of several different fuse technologies such as ceramic multilayer, PCB substrate film printing, and ceramic tube wire-in-air. This allows engineers to pursue fuse options beyond off-the-shelf products.
Bourns SinglFuse products fit into PCB layouts with ease and are available in standard EUA package footprints. In fact, the newer additions to the SinglFuse product line have been designed to serve as a simple drop-in replacement for similar fuse products. All Bourns SinglFuse products are surface-mounted, which supports automated assembly as well as manual assembly. The individual fuse models are halogen-free and RoHS compliant, some are TÜL certified, and all are UL-certified.
Applications for these high-quality fuses include:
● Energy storage systems (including battery chargers);
● Portable electronics (memory, gaming systems, digital cameras, smartphones, wireless headphones);
● Battery management systems;
● Power supplies, adapters, and boards;
● Server farms;
● Voltage regulator modules;
● PCs and monitors;
● Smart appliances;
● Robots;
● Industrial controllers;
● Telecom infrastructure (PEO and ATCA applications, networking equipment); and
● Low-to-medium-risk medical equipment;
In short, the Bourns SinglFuse product family can be used with any design that includes sensitive circuitry with overloading concerns.
The recent expansion of the Bourns SinglFuse product portfolio reflects an increasing demand for safety that includes overcurrent protection for devices used in everything from handheld video game controllers to telecom infrastructure.
Their extensive, multipurpose SMD fuse product line should be consulted as a design option when developing solutions for battery management systems, portable electronics, power management systems, and other similar applications.
