Abstract: A sports ball retrieval and dispensing device includes a ball retrieving and dispensing receptacle and a handle constructed of respective pluralities of separate parts having respective assembled conditions in which the receptacle parts are mounted to one another and the handle parts are mounted to one another and coupled to the assembled receptacle so as to enable use of the device in ball retrieving and dispensing modes of operation. The receptacle and/or handle also are convertible to respective disassembled conditions in which at least some receptacle parts are taken apart from one another and/or at least some handle parts are taken apart from one another such that the device occupies a reduced volume of space so as to enable packaging and shipping of the device.

Abstract: An enhanced fishing line has a unique combination of breaking strength and elongation properties to provide a high level of flexibility, a high ultimate knot breaking strength, and a high level of breaking toughness that is defined as the actual work per unit volume of material required to break the material. The line is a monofilament construction made of a synthetic polymeric material such as a polyamide, polyester, polyethylene, or fluropolymer and manufactured by an extrusion process followed by a drawing process where the extruded diameter is between 1.1 and 1.4 times the diameter of the finished line after drawing.

Abstract: An enhanced fishing line has a unique combination of breaking strength and elongation properties to provide a high level of flexibility, a high ultimate knot breaking strength, and a high level of breaking toughness that is defined as the actual work per unit volume of material required to break the material. The line is a monofilament construction made of a synthetic polymeric material such as a polyamide, polyester, polyethylene, or fluropolymer and manufactured by an extrusion process followed by a drawing process where the extruded diameter is between 1.1 and 1.4 times the diameter of the finished line after drawing.

Abstract: A sports ball retrieval and dispensing device includes a ball retrieving and dispensing receptacle and a handle constructed of respective pluralities of separate parts having respective assembled conditions in which the receptacle parts are mounted to one another and the handle parts are mounted to one another and coupled to the assembled receptacle so as to enable use of the device in ball retrieving and dispensing modes of operation. The receptacle and/or handle also are convertible to respective disassembled conditions in which at least some receptacle parts are taken apart from one another and/or at least some handle parts are taken apart from one another such that the device occupies a reduced volume of space so as to enable packaging and shipping of the device.

Abstract: A string for various kinds of recreational equipment is a composite-coated monofilament string which includes a single filament or a bundle of multiple filaments of string and a composite coating surrounding and bonded to the single filament or bundle of multiple filaments. The monofilament and multifilament string can be made from any of suitable conventional material. The composite coating in each construction of the string includes a matrix material and particles of PTFE interspersed within the matrix material and within a range of about 11% to 20% by weight of the composite coating. The matrix material can be a suitable synthetic material.

Abstract: A product package assembly includes a display card having a front surface, a transparent display enclosure attached on the front surface, a product disposed upon the front surface and contained within the display enclosure so as to be visible through the enclosure to a consumer but protected from physical contact by a consumer without first removal of the enclosure from the display card, and a sample of the product affixed and exposed on the front surface of the display card so as to allow physical contact by a consumer with the sample of the product.

Abstract: A sports ball retrieval and storage device includes a receptacle, a pair of support members and a lid. The receptacle is in the form of a molded one-piece body made of substantially rigid material and having a plurality of side walls and a bottom grate integrally connected together so as to define an open top and an interior chamber of the receptacle. The side walls and bottom grate are formed of respective upper and lower annular perimeter members and laterally spaced apart elongated members extending between and integrally connected at opposite ends with opposite portions of the upper and lower annular perimeter members. The side walls converge toward one another from the open top to the bottom grate of the receptacle and thereby provide the molded one-piece body of the receptacle with a tapered configuration permitting receptacles of multiple devices to nest with one another.

Abstract: A racquet stringing machine includes a base, a racquet mounting frame attached to the base for mounting and securing a racquet to be strung with string, a string clamping device which holds the clamped end of the string in place relative to the racquet frame while tension is being applied to the tensioning end of the string and a string tensioner having a string tensioner frame mounted to the base in offset relation to the racquet mounting frame, a tension setting mechanism movably mounted to the string tensioner frame for applying a desired amount of tension to the strings and a string gripper mounted to the tension setting mechanism for holding the tensioning end of the string while tension is applied.

Abstract: The invention relates to strings for stringed musical instruments, fishing equipment, and sports racquets which are exposed to a suitable solvent or suitable elasticizer compatible with the materials contained in the fibers, bonding resins, or coating resins in the strings, such that partial dissolution of the material in the suitable solvent occurs or absorption of the suitable elasticizer occurs so as to increase the elasticity, increase the flexibility, increase the ductility, or increase the resiliency of the strings.

Abstract: A racket frame, such as for a tennis racket, has a head portion, a handle portion and a throat portion extending between and interconnecting the head and handle portions. The head portion encompasses an open region and has a plurality of stringing holes for attaching stringing to the head portion and across the open region. The throat portion is in the form of a pair of legs in a generally V-shaped configuration. Different cross-sectional dimensional relationships are incorporated in the racket frame to tailor racket frame stiffness. A first cross-sectional dimensional relationship relates to location of the maximum cross-sectional height of the racket frame in a lower extent of the head portion thereof so as to define a dual reverse tapered profile along the cross-sectional height of the racket frame.

Abstract: A burnable poison rod for use in a nuclear reactor comprises a metallic tube with upper and lower closure means, a neutron absorber positioned within the cladding and a neutron moderating spacer means positioning the neutron absorber in spaced relation to the lower closure means. The neutron moderating spacing means can comprise a solid neutron moderating material, or a liquid coolant moderator contained within the lower section of the cladding with a sealing plug positioned between the neutron absorber and the liquid coolant moderator.

Abstract: A burnable poison rod for use in a nuclear reactor comprises a metallic tube with upper and lower closure means, a neutron absorber positioned within the cladding, and a neutron moderating spacer means positioning the neutron absorber in spaced relation to the lower closure means. The neutron moderating spacing means can comprise a solid neutron moderating material, or a liquid coolant moderator contained within the lower section of the cladding with a sealing plug positioned between the neutron absorber and the liquid coolant moderator.