Opto-Electronic Locking Assembly for Electronic Gaming Machines

A method of monitoring an electronic gaming system having a door having a striker, and a housing coupled to the door, the housing defining an interior, wherein the housing is in a locked state when the interior is inaccessible, the housing is in an unlocked state when the interior is accessible, and the housing comprising a processor, a locking assembly, and an optical switch, the locking assembly having an actuator defining a channel, the optical switch comprising a transmitter and a receiver, the housing operable to releasably receive the striker, the method comprising:

• determining whether the striker is engaged with the locking assembly;
• in response to determining the striker is engaged with the locking assembly, determining if the actuator has been pulled;
• in response to determining the actuator has not been pulled, determining whether the channel is aligned with the transmitter on a first side of the channel and with the receiver on a second side of the channel;
• in response to the channel being aligned with the transmitter on the first side of the channel and with the receiver on the second side of the channel, completing an optical path between the transmitter and the receiver through the channel;
• and
• communicating from the processor that the housing is in the locked state based on one or more signals generated by the optical switch indicating that the optical path is complete.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising a plurality of instructions, wherein the instructions, when executed, are for monitoring an electronic gaming system having a door having a striker, and a cable coupling the door to a housing, the housing defining an interior, wherein the housing is in a locked state when the interior is inaccessible, the housing is in an unlocked state when the interior is accessible, and the housing comprising a processor, a locking assembly, and an optical switch, the locking assembly having an actuator defining a channel, the optical switch comprising a transmitter and a receiver, the housing operable to releasably receive the striker, and the instructions, which, when executed, cause the processor to perform the steps of:

• monitoring whether the striker has engaged the locking assembly;
• monitoring whether the cable and the actuator have been pulled responsive to the striker having been engaged the locking assembly;
• detecting whether the receiver on one side of the channel receives an optical signal transmitted from the transmitter on an opposite side of the channel thereby forming an optical path;
• and
• activating the optical switch when the optical path is formed.