Thong sandal with protective covering

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.

1 . A thong sandal comprising:
 a sole having an upper side and an underside; and   a strap including:
 a base piece having an upper side and an underside, the base piece including posts, the posts inserted through the sole and exposed at the underside of the sole; and 
 a padding piece coupled to the underside of the base piece. 
   
   
   
       2 . The thong sandal of  claim 1 , the padding piece alleviates friction between the base piece and a foot. 
   
   
       3 . The thong sandal of  claim 1 , the base piece being a molded rubber material. 
   
   
       4 . The thong sandal of  claim 3 , the molded robber material selected from the group consisting of thermal plastic urethane (TPU), thermal plastic rubber (TPR), and polyvinyl chloride (PVC)b. 
   
   
       5 . The thong sandal of  claim 1 , the padding piece being a cushion material. 
   
   
       6 . The thong sandal of  claim 1 , the underside of the base piece having an inset space, the padding piece situated in the inset space such that an exposed surface of the padding piece and a surface of the underside of the base piece outside the inset space are continuous. 
   
   
       7 . A thong sandal comprising:
 a sole; and   a strap having:
 a molded rubber base piece defined by a toe portion, a first main portion, a second main portion, and posts, wherein the toe portion, the first main portion, the second main portion, and the posts formed as integral parts of the molded rubber base piece; and 
 a padding piece coupled to the molded rubber base piece. 
   
   
   
       8 . The thong sandal of  claim 7 , the padding piece is stitched to the molded rubber base piece. 
   
   
       9 . The thong sandal of  claim 7 , the padding piece is glued to the molded rubber base piece. 
   
   
       10 . The thong sandal of  claim 7 , the padding piece is fused to the molded rubber base piece. 
   
   
       11 . The thong sandal of  claim 7 , the padding piece alleviates friction between the molded rubber base piece and a foot. 
   
   
       12 . The thong sandal of  claim 7 , the padding piece is composed of material based at least in part on one of neoprene, ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), cotton, organic fabric, antibacterial fabric, gels, lycra, stretch fabrics, or synthetic material. 
   
   
       13 . The thong sandal of  claim 7 , the padding piece being split into two or more pieces. 
   
   
       14 . The thong sandal of  claim 7 , the molded rubber base piece having three posts. 
   
   
       15 . The thong sandal of  claim 7 , the molded rubber base piece having five posts. 
   
   
       16 . A method comprising:
 attaching a padding piece to a molded rubber base piece to create a strap, the molded rubber base piece having posts;   inserting the posts of the strap through a sole, the sole having an upper side and an underside; and   securing the posts of the strap at the underside of the sole.