An automatic anti-theft device or lock is secured to a support of a portable apparatus to secure the apparatus against theft. The lock has two mating halves secured together to form a shatter-proof casing. One casing half includes a hollow spindle integral with the inside wall of the casing half, a retractile reel mounted on the spindle with a cable secured at one end thereto and wrapped around the reel. The second free end of the cable extends through one wall of the casing. The second casing half mounts a lock mechanism having a rotatable lock member which extends into the spindle when the casing halves are joined. The free end of the cable includes a lock cylinder which aligns with the rotatable lock member when it is inserted into the first casing half, and is secured by the rotatable lock member. The first casing member includes a slidable latch which is spring-biased to a first position to engage and latch the reel against rotation. The latch may be moved against the spring bias when the free end of the cable is not engaged in the casing to allow the reel to move and the cable to be extended or retracted.
A vacuum cleaner hose adapter comprises a single-walled generally cylindrical housing made of a non-conductive material which connects at one end to an electrified vacuum cleaner hose receptacle and which connects at the other end to a vacuum cleaner hose. Electrical conductors which run within bores in the housing wall supply electrical energy to the hose from electrical contacts in the vacuum cleaner receptacle. In operation, the adapter is inserted into a standard-type vacuum cleaner hose, and the electrical connector on the hose is engaged with the mating electrical connector on the adapter. The adapter is then plugged into the electrified vacuum cleaner hose receptacle to provide electrical power to the electrical connector on the hose via the electrical conductors of the adapter.