Wheeled cart for material management system

A material cart comprising:

• a base frame which defines a bottom surface which lies substantially in a horizontal plane;
• and
• a plurality of wheel-including casters which are attached to the base frame in a manner which accommodates a movement of the wheels of the casters relative to the base frame between a condition of use at which the wheel of each caster engages the floor or underlying support surface to permit the base frame to be wheeled to an alternative site by way of the casters and an out-of-the-way condition at which no portion of the wheels of the casters is disposed beneath the horizontal plane in which the bottom surface of the base frame lies so that the bottom surface of the base frame can be lowered onto the floor or underlying support surface without interference from the wheels of the casters;
• and
• means for releasably securing the wheel-including casters to the base frame in at least one of the condition of use and the out-of-the-way condition;
• wherein the frame includes a first set of through-openings, each caster defines a first set of through-openings which are aligned with the first set of through-openings of the frame when the casters are positioned relative to the frame in the condition of use;
• the means for releasably securing includes a first pin having a shank which is positionable through the first set of aligned through-openings of the frame and the first set of through-openings of the caster for pinning the caster to the frame when the caster is positioned in the condition of use;
• the frame includes a second set of through-openings, and each caster defines a second set of through-openings which are aligned with the through-openings of the second set of through-openings of the frame when the casters are positioned relative to the frame in the out-of-the-way condition;
• and
• the means for releasably securing includes a second pin having a shank which is positionable through the aligned through-openings of the second set of frame through-openings and the through-opening of the second set of caster through-openings for pinning the caster to the frame when the caster is positioned in the out-of-the-way condition.

A material cart comprising:

• a base frame which defines a bottom surface which lies substantially in a horizontal plane;
• and
• a plurality of wheel-including casters;
• and
• the casters are attached to the base frame with pivot pins which permit a pivotal movement of the wheel of each caster relative to the base frame between a condition of use at which the wheel of the caster engages the floor or underlying support surface and thereby permits the base frame to be wheeled to an alternative site and an out-of-the-way condition so that the bottom surface of the base frame can be lowered onto the floor or underlying support surface without interference from the wheels of the casters;
• and
• wherein each caster includes a bearing plate disposed between the base frame and the wheel of the caster and being disposed in such a relationship to the pivot pin so that when each caster is positioned in the condition of use, the weight of the frame is transferred to the wheel of the caster through the bearing plate rather than through the pivot pin used to pivotally secure the caster to the frame.