Electrified latch

A cabinet lock for securing a door panel to a cabinet housing, the cabinet lock comprising:

• a) a latching component having a latch housing and a latch member reciprocally translatable between a locked orientation to secure said door panel to said cabinet housing and an unlocked orientation to free said door panel from said cabinet housing;
• and
• b) an electromechanical component including an actuator, a drive member position sensor, and a communications module,
• wherein said actuator is operably coupled to a drive member,
• wherein said drive member is coupled to said latch member whereby powering of said actuator translates said latch member to said unlocked orientation,
• wherein said drive member position sensor emits a first signal when said latch member reaches said unlocked orientation,
• wherein said communications module directly communicates instructions and/or information regarding said locked and unlocked orientations of said latch member with a remote municipal traffic control agency,
• wherein said communications module directly communicates a second signal to said remote municipal traffic control agency indicating that said latch member is being translated from said locked orientation to said unlocked orientation, and
• wherein when said second signal is indicative of an unauthorized access attempt to an interior compartment of said cabinet housing, collection of video and/or audio data is initiated.

An electromechanical component for a locking mechanism used to secure a door to a cabinet housing, wherein said locking mechanism includes a latching component having a latch member reciprocally movable between a locked orientation and an unlocked orientation, said electromechanical component comprising:

• a) a drive member configured to be coupled to said latch member;
• b) an actuator operably coupled to said drive member;
• and
• c) a position sensor for sensing said locked orientation and said unlocked orientation of said latch member,
• wherein said drive member includes a first portion being opaque to said position sensor and a second portion being translucent to said position sensor,
• wherein said position sensor outputs a first signal for the first portion,
• wherein said position sensor outputs a second signal for the second portion which is different than said first signal for the first portion,
• wherein said second signal indicates that said latch member has moved from said locked orientation to an intermediate orientation between said locked orientation and said unlocked orientation, and said first signal indicates that said latch member has reached said unlocked orientation,
• wherein information regarding said intermediate and unlocked orientations of said latch member is communicated directly to a remote municipal traffic control agency, and
• wherein when said second signal is indicative of an unauthorized access attempt to an interior compartment of said cabinet housing, collection of video and/or audio data is initiated.

An electromechanical component for a locking mechanism used to secure a door to a cabinet housing, wherein said locking mechanism includes a latching component having a latch member reciprocally movable between a locked orientation and an unlocked orientation, said electromechanical component comprising:

• a) a drive member configured to be coupled to said latch member;
• b) an actuator operably coupled to said drive member;
• and
• c) a position sensor for sensing said locked orientation and said unlocked orientation of said latch member,
• wherein said drive member includes a first portion being opaque to said position sensor and a second portion being translucent to said position sensor,
• wherein said position sensor outputs a first signal for the first portion, and
• wherein said position sensor outputs a second signal for the second portion which is different than said first signal for the first portion, and
• d) a printed circuit board (PCB) including a communications module, and wherein said communications module communicates said second signal directly to a remote municipal traffic control agency,
• wherein when said second signal is indicative of an unauthorized access attempt to an interior compartment of said cabinet housing, collection of video and/or audio data is initiated.

A method of retrofitting an electromechanical component to an existing cabinet lock, wherein the existing cabinet lock is used to selectively secure a door to a cabinet housing, the method comprising the steps of:

• a) providing a cabinet lock inside the cabinet housing, wherein the cabinet lock only has a latching component that operates to selectively secure the door to the cabinet housing without an electromechanical component, wherein the latching component includes a latch member;
• b) providing an electromechanical component including an actuator connectable to a power source, wherein the electromechanical component further includes a drive member, a position sensor and a communication module, wherein the position sensor senses the position of the latch member, and wherein the communication module is in communication with a remote municipal traffic control agency;
• c) providing a connector feature;
• d) connecting the drive member to the latch member via the connector feature;
• e) triggering of a first signal by the position sensor that is indicative of the position of the latch member;
• and
• f) communicating, using the communication module, the first signal directly to the remote municipal traffic control agency indicating the position of said latch member.