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The most versatile cork ejector is the Party
Jack from Switzerland. Walter Steiner of
Winterthur applied for two Swiss patents for
his multi-purpose tool: "
Gerät zum Öffnen von
Flaschen, Büchsen und Gebinden
." The first
application was presented November 7, 1967
and Patent 467, 717 was issued January 31,
1969. Another application was submitted
December 12, 1967 and Patent 474,447 was
issued June 30, 1969 and a third was entered
January 26, 1968 and Patent 501,550 was issued
January 15, 1971. It is interesting to note that a
U. S. patent covering the latter two Swiss
submissions was granted ten days before the
third Swiss patent (U. S. Patent No. 3,552,241).
Among Steiner's nineteen claims in the U. S. Patent is "needle valve means is provided
with cork withdrawal threading at the side thereof facing said needle member" in claim
11 and references to a "additional cork puller of standard construction" in claims 18 and
19. The model produced by Stewi of Winterthur has a corkscrew twist molded on the
needle side of the threaded adapter. Thus when a cork cannot be ejected with air, the
needle can be pushed all the way in and the twist turned into the cork for "manual"
extraction. The needle is stored in the handle and reversed and threaded into the body
for use. The pump lever has a slide release to operate. Reciprocating action makes for
effortless cork removal. The "Party Jack" comes in a colorful 10" two-part tube with a
superbly illustrated instruction sheet.
