Patent ID: 7106165

Claim:
A fuse comprising: a substrate; a first lead terminal disposed on the substrate, the first lead terminal having a top surface and an end face; a second lead terminal disposed on the substrate, the second lead terminal having a top surface and an end face; a first intermediate layer formed on the top surface of the first lead terminal; a second intermediate layer formed on the top surface of the second lead terminal; and a fuse element made of a fusible member and coupled to the first and second lead terminals through the first intermediate layer and the second intermediate layer such that the fuse element spans the first and second lead terminals, wherein the first and second lead terminals are arranged such that the end face of the first lead terminal and the end face of said second lead terminal oppose each other, with a gap separating the end face of the first lead terminal from the end face of the second lead terminal, and wherein the first intermediate layer is disposed at a predetermined distance, which is more than zero, from the intersection between the top surface of the first lead terminal and the end face of the first lead terminal.