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Harold Horner of the Prestige Group Limited, London,

applied for his patent for "An Improved Cork Extracting

Device" on February 3, 1966. British patent 1,116,853 was

published June 12, 1968. Prestige Registered the design for

their cork ejector in 1966 (No. 925,232).

The operation of Horner's invention was basically the same

as the Corkette with the added feature of an easily

replaceable needle. This is described in the patent as "…the

probe has at its other end an enlargement and a connecting

piece extending from the enlargement, which connecting

piece is received in and connected to the outlet port in the

main part, and wherein the enlargement contains a one way

valve."

Prestige placed operating instructions on the back of the

box and included this warning:

The Cork Boy should only be used to open full bottles of still wine which are of

a standard cylindrical shape.

Horner also obtained patents in Belgium (693,084), France (1,509,521), Germany

(1,958,715), The Netherlands (6,701,613), and Spain (336,014).