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On October 19, 1962 Robert W. Cameron,

Belvedere, California, filed his application for a

"Combined Film Cutter and Cork Remover." His

invention related to the

Federighi invention in that

he used the same gas

container and cork ejection

method but he was focused

on the removal of the

"film." He accomplished this

by extending the holder of the container below the plug and adding

a "saw-like or sawtooth configuration" to the rim. When the

needle is pushed through the cork, the rim presses against the top

of the film to cut it and if necessary, the whole assemble can be

rotated to sever the film. U. S. Patent 3,135,144 was granted June

2, 1964.

Whereas corkscrew patents generally refer to the material on the

top of the wine bottle as "foil", Cameron uses the term "film."

Perhaps that was a throwback to his 1930s job as a news

photographer in Des Moines, Iowa, and his World War II career as an aerial

photographer! After the war, Cameron had put away his camera to seek arcane

moneymaking endeavors to support his family. It wasn't until the late 1960s (after his

invention) that he returned to his first-love aerial photography. Since then he has

published sixteen "above" books including Above Chicago, Above San Francisco, Above

London, and Above Paris.

Cameron's invention was marketed under the name Cork-O-Matic by his firm Cameron

& Co. at 444 Market Street, San Francisco.