Abstract:
A more comfortable thong sandal is disclosed. The strap of the thong sandal includes a piece of material added to the underside of the rubber body of the strap. This additional piece of material provides a cushion to alleviate irritating friction that would otherwise occur because of direct contact between the rubber body and a foot.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    1. Field 
         [0002]    Footwear. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0004]    A popular casual shoe is a thong sandal. A thong sandal can be easily slipped on and off the foot. People generally wear thong sandals in warm weather (e.g., at the beach) or indoors (e.g., in a gym locker room), as the sandal exposes much of the foot. In many instances wearing a thong sandal is uncomfortable for the first time or the first several times as a person&#39;s foot must adjust to the contact between the foot and the thong strap. Although some variations of thong sandals exist, there is a need for a thong sandal that provides more comfort to the wearer. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0005]    The invention is illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like references indicate similar elements. It should be noted that references to “an” or “one” embodiment in this disclosure are not necessarily to the same embodiment, and such references mean at least one. 
           [0006]      FIG. 1  is a diagram of a top view of an embodiment of a thong sandal. 
           [0007]      FIG. 2  is a diagram of a bottom view of the thong sandal of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0008]      FIG. 3  is a diagram of a back view of the thong sandal of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0009]      FIG. 4  is a diagram of an exploded view of the thong sandal of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0010]      FIG. 5  is a diagram of a side view of the thong sandal of  FIG. 1  being worn. 
           [0011]      FIG. 6  is a diagram of a front view of the thong sandal of  FIG. 1  being worn. 
           [0012]      FIG. 7  is a diagram of an embodiment of a bottom view of a thong sandal strap. 
           [0013]      FIG. 8  is a diagram of an embodiment of a bottom view of a thong sandal strap. 
           [0014]      FIG. 9  is a diagram of an embodiment of a bottom view of a thong sandal strap. 
           [0015]      FIG. 10  is a diagram of an embodiment of a bottom view of a thong sandal strap. 
           [0016]      FIG. 11  is a diagram of an embodiment of a bottom view of a thong sandal strap. 
           [0017]      FIG. 12  is a diagram of an embodiment of a bottom view of a thong sandal strap. 
           [0018]      FIG. 13  is a diagram of an embodiment of a bottom view of a thong sandal strap. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0019]      FIGS. 1-3  are diagrams of a top, bottom (or underside), and back side view, respectively, of a thong sandal. Thong sandal  100  includes sole  105  to support the weight of a foot and strap  120  to assure that sole  105  (and overall sandal) stays with the foot while the foot is moving, such as when the person is walking. 
         [0020]    Sole  105  at upper side  110  receives strap  120  through posts (also referred to as prongs or plugs)  220 ,  230 ,  240  that extend through to the underside of sole  210 . While  FIG. 2  depicts three posts, the thong sandal  100  may alternatively be manufactured with five posts (one post at the toe end and two posts for each of the two posts shown at the heel end). Thong sandals with posts that extend all the way through to the underside of the sole are classified as “house slippers” and are generally cheaper to import, as these types of shoes incur lower costs in duties from overseas. Thus, a thong sandal of this style is generally notably cheaper than a thong sandal containing posts that do not extend all the way through to the underside of the sole. 
         [0021]    Strap  120  is composed of a base piece  130  that forms the main body of the strap  120  and includes the posts  220 ,  230 ,  240  that are attached to the sole  105 . Base piece  130  is a polymer material (e.g., synthetic rubber, thermal plastic urethane (TPU), thermal plastic rubber (TPR), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), or any combination of these materials, etc.). One way a base piece may be formed is by using a mold, where a polymer material in liquid form is poured or injected into the mold to set, thus creating a molded polymer strap of flexible, closed cell material. Accordingly, base piece  130  and posts  220 ,  230  and  240  are integrally formed as a single unit. As noted above, a strap formed solely of a polymer mold (with a hardness property of 65-70 PSI) without any added padding can cause discomfort to the foot of a person wearing the shoe because of the friction created from contact between the rubber base piece  130  and the foot. The discomfort is generally centered on areas of the foot with the greatest or heaviest contact to the strap, such as between the big toe and the second toe (in contact with a toe post of the strap) and the upper surface of the foot near the big toe and the second toe (in contact with the two main portions of the strap). 
         [0022]    In one embodiment, the strap  120  is also composed of a padding piece  140  attached to the underside of base piece  130 . Padding piece  140  provides a cushion between base piece  130  and the foot, alleviating discomfort that might otherwise be caused by friction between base piece  130  and the foot. Padding piece  140  is made of a material that provides more cushion than base piece  130 , such as neoprene, ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), cotton, organic fabric, or synthetic material (e.g., an open cell polymer or polymer gel). Padding piece  140  is thus compressible in response to the force of the foot against padding piece  140  to provide such cushion, whereas base piece  130  is generally not compressible in response to the force of the foot against base piece  130  and causes discomfort to the foot. Padding piece  140  is stitched, glued, taped, and/or fused to base piece  130 . Padding piece  140  may also wrap around post  220  and may be connected to post  220  or connected to itself around the post (e.g., free ends of padding piece  140  are stitched together). 
         [0023]    In one embodiment, base piece  130  has a body, exclusive of posts  220 ,  230  and  240 , that has a generally uniform thickness, e.g., on the order of 0.1 to 0.25 inches. Alternatively, base piece  130  may be molded with an inset (concave) space or an underside (side intended to face sole  105 ) so that padding piece  140  may be placed inside the inset space of base piece  130 . Collectively, the arrangement of base piece  130  having an inset and padding piece  140  form a strap of generally uniform thickness forms an even surface at the underside portion of the strap  120 , with padding piece  140  not protruding or not significantly protruding from the underside surface of base piece  130 . Rather, the edges of the underside surface of base piece  130  around the inset space are at an approximately equivalent surface level with padding piece  140 . 
         [0024]    Padding piece  140  may be of various sizes. In one embodiment, padding piece  140  is a single piece that covers the entire underside of base piece  130  (at the two main portions) and wraps around post  220  (the toe portion of base piece  130 ) that would be situated between the big toe and the second toe.  FIGS. 1-3  show padding piece  140  wrapped around post  220 . In another embodiment, padding piece  148  is not wrapped around post  220  but instead, as a single distinct piece or multiple distinct pieces, is connected to post  230  and post  240  so that post  230  and post  240  are padded but post  220  is not. In another embodiment, padding piece  140  is a single piece that covers just a portion of the aforementioned parts of base piece  130 , such as a portion of each of post  230  and post  240  between post  220  that is likely to contact a top portion of a human foot when sandal  100  is worn (i.e., padding piece  140  extends from adjacent post  220  less than a length of post  230  or post  240  between post  220  and sole  105 , respectively). Typically, a sandal such as sandal  100  when worn contacts less than an entire portion of a foot. Generally a point of contact that creates the most friction with the foot while walking is an open area of post  230  and post  240  near the big toe and the second toe. Furthermore, padding piece  140  may be composed of multiple pieces. For example, a first distinct portion of padding piece  140  may wrap around post  220 , and a second distinct portion of padding piece  140  may be connected to an underside of base  130  exposed to the top surface of the foot can be another piece. 
         [0025]      FIG. 4  is a diagram of an exploded view of a thong sandal. In this figure, base piece  130 , padding piece  140 , and sole  105  are detached from one another to illustrate the components of this embodiment of a thong sandal. 
         [0026]    To manufacture a thong sandal, base piece  130 , padding piece  140 , and sole  105  are created separately and subsequently assembled. Padding piece  140  is attached to base piece  130  via stitching, gluing, taping, or fusing. Then, strap  120  (composed of padding piece  140  attached to base piece  130 ) is attached to sole  105  by securing posts  220 ,  230 ,  240  of the strap to sole  105 . The posts  220 ,  230 ,  240  are inserted through openings  225 ,  235  respectively, through the entire width of the sole  105 , such that the posts  220 ,  230 ,  240  are visible from the underside view of the sole  105 . In one embodiment, only posts  220 ,  230   240  of base piece  130  are inserted through openings  225 ,  235  and  245 , respectively, of sole  105 . In other words, padding piece  140  is not also inserted in or through the openings. 
         [0027]      FIG. 5  is a diagram of a side view of a thong sandal being worn.  FIG. 5  depicts a thong sandal on a foot  410 . 
         [0028]    When a person is walking, the movement of the foot  410  causes contact between the foot  410  and the strap  120  and is particularly discomforting around the area of most friction  420 . The padding of the strap  120  may cover the entire underside surface of the strap  120  (and the part of the strap  120  between the big toe and the second toe) or the padding may be limited to the portion of the strap  120  that creates the most friction with the foot  410 . 
         [0029]      FIG. 6  is a diagram of a front view of a thong sandal being worn. In this view, the piece of the strap  120  between the big toe and the second toe can be seen. This portion of the strap  120  (i.e., post  220 ) typically creates friction with the foot  410  while the person is walking and can be discomforting if that portion of the strap  120  does not contain padding. The upper surface of the foot  410  near the big toe and the second toe is also in great contact with the strap  120 ; this contact can also be discomforting if that portion of the strap  120  does not contain padding. Thus, at least these portions of the strap  120  would include padding. 
         [0030]      FIGS. 7-13  are diagrams of various embodiments of a bottom view (sole side view) of a five post/prong thong sandal strap. Note that the embodiments described above depict a three post/prong thong sandal strap. The strap has a rubber base piece  1050  (including posts  1010 ,  1020 ,  1030 ,  1040 ,  1050 ) and a padding piece attached together through stitching, gluing, taping, or fusing. The figures show various embodiments of a padding piece that may be used with a five post sandal strap or a three post sandal strap as described above. 
         [0031]    The padding piece may be a single piece of various sizes. For example, the padding pieces  140 ,  510 ,  520 ,  560  of  FIGS. 7 ,  8 ,  9 , and  13  cover the rubber base piece  1005  to various extents. Generally, the padding is focused on at least the upper portion of the padding piece. 
         [0032]    The padding piece may be made of multiple padding parts. FIGS.  10 - 12 depict padding pieces of three ( 530 A,  530 B,  530 C,  540 A,  540 B,  540 C) or five parts ( 550 A,  550 B,  550 C,  550 D,  550 E). Further variations are recognized of different numbers of padding parts. 
         [0033]    In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments thereof. It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes can be made thereto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.