Patent ID: 8686869

Claim:
An apparatus for providing access, the apparatus comprising an alignment assistance system for a lock assembly which is for locking a first object to a second object, the first and second objects being movable relative to each other, the lock assembly comprising a fastener which is for being installed on the first object and for being operable to engage the second object in an aligned state in which the fastener is aligned with the second object, to lock the first and second objects together in the aligned state; wherein access is not provided in the aligned state; wherein access is operable to be provided in at least a first state of the first and second objects, the first state being a non-aligned state; wherein the first and second objects are for being positioned so that in the aligned state, the first object is movable relative to the second object in at least a first direction and a second direction opposite from the first direction; wherein movement from the aligned state in the first direction leads to the first state, and wherein movement from the first state back in the second direction causes a return to the aligned state; wherein the alignment assistance system comprises magnetic material in the first and second objects, the magnetic material being arranged so that at least when the first and second objects are in a vicinity of the aligned state, the magnetic material urges the first and second objects into the aligned state, and when the first and second objects are in the aligned state, then magnetic forces induced by the magnetic material resist the first and second objects moving out of the aligned state in any one of the first and second directions.