APPARATUS FOR INSERTING A CART, SUCH AS A CART WITH ONE OR MORE FIXED WHEELS, INTO AN ENCLOSURE

1 . A dispenser comprising a cart positioning assembly for facilitating the insertion of a wheeled cart into said dispenser, said cart positioning assembly being adapted for guiding said wheeled cart into a desired target cart position within said dispenser by:

engaging a body portion of said cart and thereby guiding the movement of said body portion as said cart moves into said target cart position.

2 . The dispenser of claim 1 , wherein:

said cart comprises at least one front fixed wheel and at least one swiveled rear wheel;

said front fixed wheel is in a target fixed-wheel position when said cart is in said target cart position; and

said cart positioning assembly is adapted to facilitate a sliding movement of said at least one fixed wheel into said target fixed-wheel position.

3 . The dispenser of claim 2 , wherein:

said cart positioning assembly is adapted to facilitate a sliding rotational movement of said at least one fixed wheel into said target fixed-wheel position.

4 . The dispenser of claim 2 , wherein:

said rear swiveled wheel is in a target swiveled-wheel position when said cart is in said target cart position; and

said cart positioning assembly is adapted to facilitate a rolling movement of said at least one swiveled wheel into said target swiveled-wheel position.

5 . The dispenser of claim 4 , wherein said cart positioning assembly is adapted to facilitate a rotational movement of said cart into said target cart position.

6 . The dispenser of claim 2 , wherein said cart positioning assembly is adapted to facilitate a rotational movement of said cart into said target cart position about a particular vertical axis.

7 . The dispenser of claim 6 , wherein said particular vertical axis is adjacent an outer front corner of said cart.

8 . The dispenser of claim 1 , wherein said cart positioning assembly is adapted for guiding said wheeled cart into a desired target position within said dispenser by:

engaging said body portion of said cart and thereby restricting the movement of said cart to a particular, substantially linear, path;

while said cart positioning assembly continues to engage said body portion of said cart, allowing a user to move said cart along said particular, substantially linear path until: (1) an outer front wheel of said cart is in a particular first staging position; (2) an inner front wheel of said cart is in a particular second staging position; and (3) said cart positioning assembly is in a “rotation only” mode, in which the cart positioning assembly restricts the movement of said cart to rotating about a particular axis of rotation; and

while said cart positioning assembly is in said “rotation only” mode, allowing a user to rotate said cart about said particular axis of rotation until said cart is in said target position.

9 . The dispenser of claim 1 , wherein:

said cart comprises a first lateral side and a second lateral side;

said cart positioning assembly comprises a substantially U-shaped member;

said cart positioning assembly is adapted for guiding said wheeled cart into a desired target position within said dispenser by:

using said U-shaped member to engage said first and second lateral sides of said cart and thereby restricting the movement of said cart to a particular, substantially linear, path;

while said U-shaped member continues to engage said first and second lateral sides of said cart, allowing a user to move said cart along said particular, substantially linear path until: (1) an outer front wheel of said cart is in a particular first staging position; (2) an inner front wheel of said cart is in a particular second staging position; and (3) said cart positioning assembly is in a “rotation only” mode, in which the cart positioning assembly restricts the movement of said cart to rotating about a particular axis of rotation; and

while said cart positioning assembly is in said “rotation only” mode and said U-shaped member continues to engage said first and second lateral sides of said cart, allowing a user to rotate said cart about said particular axis of rotation until said cart is in said target position.

10 . The dispenser of claim 1 , wherein:

said cart is a linen cart; and

said dispenser is a linen dispenser.

11 . A cart positioning assembly that is adapted for guiding a wheeled cart into a desired target cart position within an enclosure by:

engaging a body portion of said cart and thereby guiding the movement of said body portion as said cart moves into said target cart position.

12 . The cart positioning assembly of claim 11 , wherein:

said cart comprises at least one front fixed wheel and at least one swiveled rear wheel;

said front fixed wheel is in a target fixed-wheel position when said cart is in said target cart position; and

said cart positioning assembly is adapted to facilitate a sliding movement of said at least one fixed wheel into said target fixed-wheel position.

13 . The cart positioning assembly of claim 12 , wherein:

said rear swiveled wheel is in a target swiveled-wheel position when said cart is in said target cart position; and

said cart positioning assembly is adapted to facilitate a rolling movement of said at least one swiveled wheel into said target swiveled-wheel position.

14 . The cart positioning assembly of claim 12 , wherein said cart positioning assembly is adapted to facilitate a rotational movement of said cart into said target cart position.

15 . The cart positioning assembly of claim 12 , wherein said cart positioning assembly is adapted to facilitate a rotational movement of said cart into said target cart position about a particular vertical axis.

16 . The cart positioning assembly of claim 15 , wherein said particular vertical axis is adjacent an outer front corner of said cart.

17 . The cart positioning assembly of claim 11 , wherein said cart positioning assembly is adapted for guiding said wheeled cart into a desired target position within said enclosure by:

engaging said body portion of said cart and thereby restricting the movement of said cart to a particular, substantially linear, path;

while said cart positioning assembly continues to engage said body portion of said cart, allowing a user to move said cart along said particular, substantially linear path until: (1) an outer front wheel of said cart is in a particular first staging position; (2) an inner front wheel of said cart is in a particular second staging position; and (3) said cart positioning assembly is in a “rotation only” mode, in which the cart positioning assembly restricts the movement of said cart to rotating about a particular axis of rotation; and

while said cart positioning assembly is in said “rotation only” mode, allowing a user to rotate said cart about said particular axis of rotation until said cart is in said target position.

18 . The cart positioning assembly of claim 11 , wherein:

said cart comprises a first lateral side and a second lateral side;

said cart positioning assembly comprises a substantially U-shaped member;

said cart positioning assembly is adapted for guiding said wheeled cart into a desired target position within said enclosure by:

using said U-shaped member to engage said first and second lateral sides of said cart and thereby restricting the movement of said cart to a particular, substantially linear, path;

while said U-shaped member continues to engage said first and second lateral sides of said cart, allowing a user to move said cart along said particular, substantially linear path until: (1) an outer front wheel of said cart is in a particular first staging position; (2) an inner front wheel of said cart is in a particular second staging position; and (3) said cart positioning assembly is in a “rotation only” mode, in which the cart positioning assembly restricts the movement of said cart to rotating about a particular axis of rotation; and

while said cart positioning assembly is in said “rotation only” mode and said U-shaped member continues to engage said first and second lateral sides of said cart, allowing a user to rotate said cart about said particular axis of rotation until said cart is in said target position.

19 . A method of inserting a wheeled cart into an enclosure, said method comprising the steps of:

moving said cart so that a body portion of said cart engages a cart positioning assembly adjacent said enclosure; and

while said cart positioning assembly engages said body portion, and thereby at least partially restricts the movement of said cart, moving said cart into a target position within said enclosure.

20 . The method claim 19 , wherein:

said cart comprises at least one front fixed wheel;

said front fixed wheel is in a target fixed-wheel position when said cart is in said target cart position; and

said step of moving said cart into a target position within said enclosure comprises sliding said front fixed wheel into said target fixed-wheel position.

21 . The method of claim 20 , wherein said step of moving said cart into a target position within said enclosure comprises laterally sliding said front fixed wheel into said target fixed-wheel position.

22 . The method of claim 20 , wherein:

said cart comprises at least one rear swiveled wheel;

said rear swiveled wheel is in a target swiveled-wheel position when said cart is in said target cart position; and

said step of moving said cart into a target position within said enclosure comprises rolling said rear swiveled wheel into said target swiveled-wheel position.

23 . The cart positioning assembly of claim 22 , wherein said step of moving said cart into a target position within said enclosure comprises rotating said cart into said target cart position about a particular vertical axis.