Patent ID: 7327547

Claim:
An element for use in electrical circuits comprising: A) a body formed of flexible foam material and having (1) an internal structure formed by a plurality of cell-shaped structures, each cell-shaped structure including a plurality of edges (2) a plurality of electrically conductive granules located on the edges of each cell-shaped structure, some of the granules being in electrical contact with each other and some of the electrically conductive granules being spaced apart from each other, (3) foam material being interposed between adjacent spaced apart electrically conductive granules, the foam material that is interposed between adjacent spaced apart electrically conductive granules being electrically insulating so that the adjacent spaced apart electrically conductive granules having foam material interposed therebetween are electrically insulated from each other, (4) an electrically conductive path that is defined through the body by the electrically conductive granules and being defined by the location, orientation and spacing of the electrically conductive granules that are in electrical contact with each other and along with the foam material that is interposed between some adjacent granules, and (5) the body having an electrical resistance that is a function of the internal structure and geometry of the body and which is dissipative; and B) two electrical contact elements electrically connected to the body, the electrical contact elements being in electrical series with the electrically conductive path defined through the body, each contact element being in contact with the foam body over a defined area of contact which includes some of the electrically conductive path, overall resistance of the body and the electrical contact elements being a function of the internal structure and geometry of the foam body and the geometry of the defined areas of contact between the electrical contact elements and the body.