Bourns, Inc. is a private, global electronics corporation that develops, manufactures and supplies a wide range of electronic components for a variety of industries including automotive, industrial, instrumentation, medical electronics, consumer equipment, computers and peripherals, telecommunications, portable electronics and more.
Established in Altadena, California in 1947 by Marlan and Rosemary Bourns, the company was originally founded to develop and sell electronic components and sensors to the aerospace industry. Today, headquartered in Riverside, California, Bourns makes or provides a broad range of electronic components and circuit protection devices including automotive sensors, circuit protection solutions, magnetic and inductor products, specialty engineering and manufacturing services, precision potentiometers, panel controls and encoders and resistive products.
Bourns has nine other facilities around the world and has continued growing through the development of new products and technologies as well as through acquisitions. The company has approximately 3500 employees worldwide.
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More than 60 years ago, co-founders Marlan and Rosemary Bourns set up shop in their tiny 384-square-foot (35.7 m2) garage in Altadena, California. Their idea to provide a method of accurately determining an aircraft's pitch attitude solved a crucial problem for pilots. The invention of the first miniature linear motion and vane position potentiometers propelled their small business into the global corporation that it is today.
In 1952, Bourns patented the world's first trimming potentiometer, trademarked "Trimpot". [1] In 1995, Bourns acquired VRN's Trimmer assets and introduced the first 4 mm surface mount sealed tact switch. In 2008, Bourns acquired the Transient Blocking Unit (TBU) assets of Fultec Semiconductor, Inc. TBU technology is a new approach to electronics circuit protection and is designed to block a transient through a current disconnecting mechanism rather than diverting or shunting the surge to ground.
Bourns has acquired a number of acquisitions to expand its technology portfolio, especially in the area of circuit protection:
2009: Acquired Central Office Surge Protection Products assets from Corning Cable Systems LLC
2008: Acquired the Protection Products assets of Emerson Network Power Energy Systems
2008: Acquired the Transient Blocking Unit (TBU) assets of Fultec Semiconductor, Inc.
2006: Acquired Therm-O-Disc, Inc.
2006: Acquired the Automotive Controls Division assets of SSI Technologies
2006: Acquired J.W. Miller Magnetics Business
2005: Acquired Tyco/Meggitt's Fuel Card Product assets
2004: Acquired RUF Automotive Group
2004: Acquired MMC's Switch Power Products assets
2003: Acquired Microelectronic Modules Corporation assets
2003: Acquired Telecom Protection assets from Texas Instruments Sensors & Controls Division
2001: Acquired Joslyn GDT Division assets
UQ News: New phase for UQ Semiconductor start-up
The Press-Enterprise: Riverside's Bourns Inc. celebrates 60th anniversary