Windows used in motor vehicles often have a latch assembly securing a windowpane to the motor vehicle. Flip windows are used, for example, as side windows on minivans. Known latch assemblies, particularly those used for flip windows in motor vehicles, allow the windowpane to pivot out or up to a fixed distance. This allows a given amount of air into the motor vehicle without having the windowpane extend too far from the exterior sheet metal of the motor vehicle. The latch assembly for the flip window often has a latch base attached near one edge of the windowpane, connected to a latch anchor which is in turn attached to the motor vehicle. Operation of the latch assembly allows the windowpane to pivot away from the motor vehicle on a hinge attached near a second edge of the windowpane opposite the latch base. Such latch assemblies typically have pivotable links connecting the latch anchor to the latch base. The links pivot to a fully extended position as the windowpane pivots from a closed position to a full open position.
In recent years it has become desirable to use increasingly large windowpanes on motor vehicles to enhance aesthetics and visibility. It has also become desirable to mount the windowpane essentially flush with an exterior surface of the motor vehicle. However, errors in the sheet metal of the motor vehicle surrounding the opening receiving the windowpane and tolerance variations in the windowpane itself may position the windowpane is an aesthetically unappealing non-flush or otherwise somewhat misaligned position. That is, the windowpane, while functional, may be aesthetically unattractive as the windowpane can be slightly misaligned with respect to the rest of the motor vehicle. It would be desirable for the assembler of the window assembly to the motor vehicle to be able to adjust the latch assembly to compensate for any such slight misalignment.
In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide a latch assembly for a window assembly which is adjustable to accommodate manufacturing tolerance problems and is of low cost. It is another object of the present invention to provide a latch assembly for an articulating window assembly of a motor vehicle positioned free of an outer surface of the windowpane. It is another object of the present invention to provide a latch assembly for a window assembly which closes an opening in a motor vehicle and is positioned flush with an exterior surface of the motor vehicle. It is yet another related object of the present invention to provide such a latch assembly that is highly reliable in operation.