77
Again American inventors went silent on air ejectors.
_____________
Using the design of the Swiss Corky and the
Japanese Cork Jet, Wen-San Jou from Taiwan added
a
mechanism for quick connection of the needle and a
number of other accessories. This made his Cork
Lifter & Pump truly versatile. It not only uncorks
bottles but repressurizes bottles and inflates soft
tennis balls sports balls, party balloons, and bicycle
tires.
This air ejector is included under the United States
because it appears to be the first location of Wen-
San
Jou's October 24, 1989 application. The kit is
marked "Made in China" and produced with the
United States as the major marketing target. Wen-
San
Jou was granted U. S. Patent No. 5,026,261 for his
"Compact Air Pump" on June 25, 1991.
Otto Schwarz from Girtag, the Swiss manufacturer
of
the Corky, recalled his first encounter with the
Cork-Lifter & Pump: "This item was presented to
our
company many years ago by a Swedish student. This
multi-function item is good for only on the leaflet!
Perhaps with 1000-2000 strokes you may be able to fill up a tyre of a bicycle. From
experience we know that all multi-function types of cork extractors plus several
additional other functions were not successful. It looks like the said Swedish student was
