Patent ID: 7488877

Claim:
A shoulder rest for violin or the like musical instrument, comprising: a) an elongated single piece body having a top surface and an undersurface, a first end and a second end; said elongated single piece body extending vertically at said first end and at said second end, to form a first vertical guard and a second vertical guard; b) said first and second vertical guards containing recesses to accept a first and second collapsible insert, respectively, each of said recesses has two internal planar walls; c) said first collapsible insert pivotably coupled to said first vertical guard by at least one protuberance shaped pivot point; said second collapsible insert pivotably coupled to said second vertical guard by at least one protuberance shaped pivot point, each of said first and second collapsible inserts has two external planar walls that correspond with the two internal planar walls of said recesses, and said protuberance shaped pivot point is attached to one of said external planar walls of the respective collapsible insert; d) a first gripping member having a first stem protruding from a bottom end of said first gripping member being adjustably but securely connected to a top end of said first collapsible insert; e) a second gripping member having a second stem protruding from a bottom end of said second gripping member being adjustably but securely connected to a top end of said second collapsible insert; f) each said pivot points adapted to allow pivotal movement of the respective collapsible insert from where a longitudinal axis of each of said first and second stems are at a generally perpendicular angle relative to a longitudinal axis of the elongated single piece body, to a position where said first and second stems are substantially parallel to said longitudinal axis of said elongated single piece body; and wherein each collapsible insert is received within a space between the two internal planar walls of each vertical guard, such that when a first stem is positioned substantially perpendicular to said longitudinal axis of said elongated single piece body, approximately 80% of the first collapsible insert is embedded within the first vertical guard.