Opto-electronic locking assembly for electronic gaming machines

1. An electronic gaming machine comprising:

a cabinet defining an interior space;

a door releasably fastened to the cabinet, the door operable to move between a locked state preventing access to the interior space and an unlocked state permitting access to at least a portion of the interior space; and

a security housing comprising a locking assembly and an optical switch coupled to a processor, the locking assembly comprising an actuator defining a channel, the optical switch comprising a transmitter and a receiver, wherein, when the door engages the locking assembly, the actuator is operable to move the channel to align with the transmitter on one side of the channel and the receiver on a different side of the channel to form an optical path between the transmitter and the receiver through the channel, and the optical switch is operable to communicate the locked state.

2. The electronic gaming machine of claim 1 , wherein, when the door disengages the locking assembly, the actuator is operable to move the channel to block the optical path between the transmitter and the receiver through the channel thereby discontinuing the optical path and the optical switch is operable to communicate the unlocked state.

3. The electronic gaming machine of claim 1 , wherein the optical switch is operable to monitor a) the optical path formed between the transmitter and the receiver when the door is in the locked state, and b) a discontinued optical path when the door is in the unlocked state, and to communicate one of the locked state and the unlocked state based on the optical path formed and the discontinued optical path.

4. The electronic gaming machine of claim 1 , wherein the locking assembly includes a latch, the door includes a striker, wherein the striker engages the latch to secure the door is in the locked state.

5. The electronic gaming machine of claim 4 , wherein, when the striker engages the latch, the latch rotates and secures the striker in the locked state.

6. The electronic gaming machine of claim 4 , wherein the actuator is coupled to the latch wherein, when the door engages the latch, the latch and the actuator are operable to move the channel to align with the transmitter and the receiver to form the optical path between the transmitter and the receiver through the channel, and the optical switch is operable to communicate the locked state.

7. The electronic gaming machine of claim 6 , wherein the security housing defines an opening through which the striker is received.

8. The electronic gaming machine of claim 7 , further comprising a cable coupled to the door, wherein when the door moves from the locked state to the unlocked state, the cable and the actuator are operable to disengage the striker from the latch, thereby rotating the actuator to discontinue the optical path through the channel.

9. The electronic gaming machine of claim 8 , wherein when the cable is engaged to move the actuator, the actuator is operable to rotate and optically block the channel.

10. The electronic gaming machine of claim 9 , further comprising a spring coupling the actuator to the latch, and relaying movements between the latch and the actuator.

11. The electronic gaming machine of claim 1 , wherein the optical switch defines a latch access to receive the channel that forms the optical path when the door is in the locked state.

12. The electronic gaming machine of claim 11 , wherein the locking assembly includes a latch, and the door includes a striker operable to engage the latch when the door is in the locked state, and wherein the actuator rotates to disengage the striker when the door is in the unlocked state, thereby optically blocking the channel and discontinuing the optical path.

13. The electronic gaming machine of claim 11 , wherein the locking assembly further includes a latch rotatably coupled to the actuator, and the door includes a striker, and wherein when the striker engages the latch, the latch rotatably actuates the actuator to complete the optical path through the channel when the door is in the locked state.

14. The electronic gaming machine of claim 11 , wherein the optical switch includes an optical transmitter operable to transmit an optical signal and an optical receiver operable to receive a transmitted signal, the optical transmitter and the optical receiver defining the latch access.

15. The electronic gaming machine of claim 14 , wherein the optical switch is arranged to position the transmitter above and the receiver below the actuator, when the door is in the locked state.

16. The electronic gaming machine of claim 14 , wherein the optical transmitter, the actuator, and the optical receiver form the optical path via the channel defined by the actuator, when the door is in the locked state.

17. The electronic gaming machine of claim 16 , wherein the channel is aligned with the optical transmitter and the optical receiver when the door is in the locked state.

18. The electronic gaming machine of claim 14 , wherein the actuator rotates and optically blocks the optical path from the optical transmitter to the optical receiver when the door is moving away from the locked state to the unlocked state.

19. The electronic gaming machine of claim 18 , wherein the channel is not aligned with the optical transmitter and the optical receiver when the door is moving away from the locked state to the unlocked state.

20. The electronic gaming machine of claim 1 , wherein the processor is coupled to at least one of a server computer and a gaming system, and wherein the locking assembly is operable to communicate to at least one of the processor, the server computer, and the gaming system, that the door is in the locked state when the optical path is formed, and the unlocked state when the optical path is discontinued.