The Mendes family of string pinsetters is not as common as the PBS family. Mendes machines are easily spotted for its shield that descends on a hinge like a closing door. The machine may immediately start up if all the pins are knocked down. The early Mendes string pinsetters were pneumatic. They released an electrical version of the machine known as the ME90. Mendes was bought out by Qubica—now QubicaAMF Worldwide. The machine is now marketed by QubicaAMF under the TMS name [8] These machines are available for five and ten pin, but there is no convertible version. A third family of pinsetter was recently[when?] released into the market by Paule Computer Systems. The machine—marketed as the Merlin—is a convertible five/ten pin string pinsetter that uses 15 strings.[9]  The changeover time of this machine is quick. The PBS version uses 12 strings—a changeover requires the headpin and the two corners to be restrung. Duckpin bowling is played in two varieties. Regular duckpin bowling is popular in the northeastern and mid-Atlantic United States. One popular pinspotter in this sport is the Sherman model, named after its inventor, Ken Sherman, which was produced from 1953-1973. It has continuously moving conveyor belts at the ends of the gutters beside the pin deck as required by the sport's ruling body, the National Duckpin Bowling Congress that move fallen pins to the pit. The Sherman's sweep device is located on the right side, vertical "kickback" panel of the lane and pivots 180 degrees (much like a fence gate) to clear pins. The pin table always handles the pins by the neck. A new rack of pins is created with a moving magazine that is shaped like a pin triangle. When the magazine is loaded and the bowler is ready for a new set of pins, a lever pushes the magazine unit out to the pin table so it can take the pins out of the magazine and then set them down on the lane. The Bowl-Mor company also made a duckpin pinspotter for a time, using a similar sweep device to its more famous candlepin machines. Soft belly or rubberband duckpin is played in Quebec. Most of these bowling centers use a string type pinsetter similar to five pin. Apart from five-pin, rubber band duckpin is the only bowling variant that currently sanctions string type pinsetters. The free-fall machine for this sport features a rotating turntable in the pit floor similar to a Bowl-Mor candlepin unit, conveyor belts in the gutters as required in the regular duckpin game in the US, an elevator similar to the Brunswick GSX, a turret similar to the A-2, and a rather flat looking pin table.