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In discussing known products in his patent, Steiner says

"….it has been found that the previously known

constructions possess certain drawbacks, because they

fail to adequately accommodate to the particular

characteristics of a bottle closure having a cork…it is

known that when using cork puller mechanisms which

operating according to the principle of injecting air into

the bottle, it is not possible to build up sufficient

pressure because the cork does not provide a gas-tight

enclosure…the air…escapes into the atmosphere and

the cork remains in an unchanged position…"

Then Steiner gets to the scary part: "On the other

hand, sometimes it occurs that the cork adheres quite

strongly to the neck of the bottle. Then, it is necessary

to use a relatively high pressure, but the danger exists

that the bottle itself will crack."

Steiner claims to resolve these

problems by "the magnitude of the

stroke of the piston member, which

stroke is composed of two partial

strokes" [sounds like we're going to

get a little extra dose of air here] and

the threading at the needle top. If air

leaks around the needle, the threading

can be "threaded to such an extent

until the cork is positively sealed."

And if the cork is tight, the threading

can assist by using both air and

normal pulling. Steiner concludes "Owing to this double action which is exerted upon

the cork, it is possible to practically remove every cork from a bottle."

So there you have it, the fail-safe combination air cork ejector and corkscrew - the

Party Jack! Export Manager Chr. J. Heer says the Party Jack production ended around

1992. By that time approximately 900,000 of the units had been manufactured.