Abstract: Apparatus is described for grasping hollow bodies, such as bottles, from the inside. It is particularly useful in protecting grasping equipment used in conjunction with bottle coating equipment. On a movable rod inside a housing are mounted a structure adapted to engage the rim of the bottle and grasping arms which can be inserted into the neck of the bottle. The rod is spring-biased toward a position in which the structure and the grasping arms are retained within the housing. To grasp a bottle, a force is applied to the rod against this spring-bias so as to urge the rod, the structure and the grasping arms toward the bottle. At an intermediate point on the outward stroke, the structure is released from the rod. If the structure engages the rim of the bottle after its release and before the outward stroke ends, the structure is prevented by a slider from moving back into the housing and relative movement between the rod and the structure causes the grasping arms to engage the inside of the bottle.