Abstract: A tool such as a cleaning tool has an extensible handle comprising two or more telescoping tubes of elliptical or other noncircular cross-section which, when their axes are aligned, may be freely telescoped relative to one another until a desired extension is reached, and may then be rotated out of alignment to bind the tubes together.

Abstract: A shopping cart anti-theft apparatus is described. The apparatus is designed to be mounted on the swivel caster of a wheel of a shopping or other cart, and comprises a locking assembly and an actuating assembly for operating the locking assembly. The actuating assembly includes a magnet responsive to the cart passing over a magnetic barrier to actuate the locking assembly. Thus, if a user attempts to remove a cart from a store parking lot by pushing it over a magnetic barrier arranged around the periphery of the parking lot, the swivel caster will be maintained in an off-center, turn-inducing position such that the cart can only travel in a circle if pushed.

Abstract: A security device for use on shopping carts comprises an extra wheel adapted to be installed on a cart such that it normally travels along the ground at location spaced behind the front wheels, and a locking assembly for locking the extra wheel in a turn-inducing orientation when actuated by someone pushing the cart over a raised barrier. The extra wheel is mounted on the cart by a telescopic mounting assembly comprising first and second telescoping cylinders. The first cylinder is adapted to be mounted on the cart in a vertical orientation at a position spaced behind the front wheels, and the extra wheel is mounted at the lower end of the second cylinder which is telescopically engaged in the first cylinder.