Schurter’s (Santa Rosa, CA) USN 1206 chip fuse offers temperature sensitivity suitable for both overcurrent protection and protection against excessive ambient temperatures. According to Schurter, the USN 1206 is not a pure thermal fuse, per se. The company claims it requires a current flow to blow, thus providing protection against overcurrent just as well as any conventional fuse. It is also designed to protect power semiconductors in automotive applications against over-temperature. The fuse has a current-time characteristic that shifts as a function of the ambient temperature. As a result, a specific trigger at a certain threshold value can be achieved with increasing temperature. The 12-A current rated USN 1206 has high I2t values at 32-V dc.