Many people have difficulty in bending down and thus have difficulty in retrieving small objects. Such people may use a grabbing device having two opposing fingers, mounted on the end of a shaft, one of which pivots against a spring to open further on pulling of a cord. However, these are often difficult to operate and precision is needed to grab the item.

The object of the invention is to provide a simpler grabbing device.

According to the invention there is provided a grabber comprising:- a shaft; a deformable cage defining a space to accommodate an object to be grabbed, attached to one end of the shaft.

Preferably the deformable cage is a plurality of hoops, fixed at each end to the shaft. Typically five hoops are used.

Alternatively the cage may be a coil defining a central void.

In use the deformable cage is pushed against the side of the object causing deformation of the cage around the object, and capture of the object in the space in the centre of the cage.

Typically the cage will be made of metal, but may be of plastics material. In addition the shaft may be extendible.

To help understanding of the present invention, two embodiments thereof will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a grabber according to a first embodiment of the invention; and

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a further grabber according to a second embodiment of the invention.

Referring first to Figure 1, the grabber 1 thereshown includes a shaft 2, having at one end 6 a plurality of hoops 4, the ends 8 of which are all connected to one end 6 of the shaft 1. The hoops 4 are arranged such that they surround an central void 10.

In use the grabber 1 is pressed against an object, having one hoop 4 on either side of the object, until the hoops deform and part and the object enters into the central void 10. The hoops 4 then spring back into position and enclose the object.

The object can then be raised to the user on the shaft 2 where it can be removed from the void 10.

Turning now to Figure 2, the grabber 10 thereshown is similar to that of Figure 1 in that it includes a shaft 22 and a deformable 24 cage defining and enclosure 30. As shown the shaft 22 is telescopic 26. The cage 24 is formed from a coil of wire 38. As before, in use the coil 38 can be pressed onto an object, the coil then deforms to allow the object to pass between the coils and be captured by the grabber 20.

Again the object is drawn to the hand of the user with the shaft 22, where it is removed from the coils.

The invention is not intended to be restricted to the above embodiments. For example other systems of deformable cage. The cage may be made of plastics material or metals and may be integrally moulded with the shaft or fixed at a later stage in manufacturing.