Bourns Announces New Line of Shunt Protectors Designed Specifically for Sensitive LED Lighting Applications

Riverside, Calif., February 15, 2011 - Bourns, Inc., a leading manufacturer and supplier of electronic components, today announced a new line of open LED shunt protection devices designed specifically for LED lighting applications. Designated the Bourns® LSP-Series, the new shunt protector family enables LED lighting applications configured in strings to be more robust and reliable. Most LED designs include solid-state lighting luminaries configured in series strings of 20 or more LEDs. In this configuration, an open LED can cause the entire LED string to go dark, resulting in reduced performance and possible maintenance calls and costly warranty returns. Adding a Bourns® LSP-Series shunt protector to an LED design allows the unaffected lights in the string to remain illuminated by shunting current around the inoperable LED. The new LSP-Series of open LED shunt protectors are an optimal solution for a variety of LED lighting applications including light bulbs, lighting fixtures and backlighting systems.

"LED lighting applications are exploding in volume," said Ian Doyle, product line manager of semiconductor products at Bourns, Inc. "Bourns' new LSP-Series of open LED shunt protectors address the failure rates of early LED designs. Incorporating a Bourns® LSP device into the design of LEDs improves reliability and helps eliminate costly downtime."

The Bourns® LSP-Series of open LED shunt protectors include four models: LSP0600BJR-S, LSP0900BJR-S, LSP1300BJR-S and LSP1800BJR-S. Customers can maximize the level of protection by selecting Bourns® model LSP0600BJR-S and using one device per LED. Alternatively, customers can reduce their protection costs by selecting Bourns® models LSP0900BJR-S, LSP1300BJR-S or LSP1800BJR-S that are able to isolate groups of two, three or four LEDs respectively. Bourns' new device family comes in an SMB surface mount package and is RoHS* compliant. Product samples are available now through Bourns' distribution partners. As a pricing example, Bourns® LSP0600BJR-S is priced at $.30 each in 10K piece quantities.

*RoHS Directive 2002/95/EC January 27, 2003 including Annex.

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 (low/medium risk)^†, 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.

^† Bourns® products have not been designed for and are not intended for use in "lifesaving," "life-critical" or "life-sustaining" applications nor any other applications where failure or malfunction of the Bourns® product may result in personal injury or death. See Legal Disclaimer Notice www.bourns.com/docs/legal/disclaimer.pdf

Agency Contact:
Annette Keller
Keller Communication
annettekeller1984@gmail.com

Company Contact:
David Scofield
Bourns, Inc.
(951) 781-5054
david.scofield@bourns.com