AU2013101707A4

AU2013101707A4 - Coupler push-block, coupler tongue, coupler, and railroad car

Info

Publication number: AU2013101707A4
Application number: AU2013101707A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Yingjun Cui; Haibin Hu; Yan Jiang; Qingmin Meng; Changchun Wang; Hongliang Wei; Yuebin Yu; Tianjun ZHAO
Original assignee: CRRC Qiqihar Rolling Stock Co Ltd
Current assignee: CRRC Qiqihar Rolling Stock Co Ltd
Priority date: 2012-05-18
Filing date: 2013-05-14
Publication date: 2015-02-12
Anticipated expiration: 2021-05-14
Also published as: WO2013170740A1; AU2013262225A1

Abstract

English Translation of PCT/CN2013/075579 A coupler push-block, a coupler tongue, a coupler, and a railroad car. The coupler push-block (7) comprises: a push-block pin shaft (73) arranged vertically and for use in 5 hinging with a hook body (1), and, respectively fixedly arranged on the push-block pin shaft (73), a kick leg (71) used for driving the tongue (2) into horizontal rotation, and a lock base (72) used for mating with a locking block, where the lower surface of the kick leg (71) and the lower surface of the lock base (72) are spaced apart at a first distance. The coupler tongue (2) comprises: a head part (202), a tail part (201), and a connecting part (203) connected 0 between the head part (202) and the tail part (201). The connecting part (203) is provided on a side thereof with a groove (205) extending along the longitudinal direction. The bottom surface of the groove (205) is a pushing surface (211) for mating with the kick leg (71) of the coupler push-block. Inside the coupler hook body (1), which uses the coupler push-block (7) and the tongue (2), a horizontal rotation area of the kick leg (71) is provided above the top 5 surface of a lower towing platform (104), therefore, the extended length of the lower towing platform (104) of the hook body can be increased to enhance the strength of the hook body (1), and, while the internal layout of the hook body (1) is optimized, the probability of the lower towing platform (104) cracking or even fracturing is reduced, thus allowing for improved operation safety. -21 -

Description

English Translation of PCT/CN2013/075579 COUPLER PUSH-BLOCK, COUPLER TONGUE, COUPLER, AND RAILROAD CAR [00011 This application claims the benefit of priority to Chinese patent application No. 5 201210156036.X titled "COUPLER KNUCKLE THROWER, COUPLER OF RAILWAY VEHICLE AND RAILWAY VEHICLE", filed with the Chinese State Intellectual Property Office on May 18, 2012, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. [00021 This application claims the benefit of priority to Chinese patent application No. 201220228636.8 titled "COUPLER KNUCKLE OF RAILWAY VEHICLE", filed with the 0 Chinese State Intellectual Property Office on May 21, 2012, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD [00031 The present application relates to the field of manufacturing techniques of railway vehicle, and in particular to a coupler knuckle thrower, a coupler knuckle, a coupler and a 5 railway vehicle. BACKGROUND [00041 The railway vehicle mainly includes a vehicle body, a walking part, a braking device, a coupler and draft gear and vehicle interior devices. The coupler is a major part of the coupler and draft gear, and is used to realize the coupling between a locomotive and a vehicle 20 or between two vehicles, transfer the pulling force and the impact force and keep a certain distance between two adjacent vehicles. [00051 Figure 1 is a front schematic view showing the structure of a coupler in the conventional technology, Figure 2 is a sectional view taken along line A-A of Figure 1, Figure 3 is a perspective view of a coupler knuckle of the coupler in the conventional technology, 25 Figure 4 is a perspective view of a coupler knuckle thrower of the coupler in the conventional technology, and Figure 5 is a schematic view showing the transmission relationship between the coupler knuckle thrower and the coupler knuckle in the conventional technology. As shown in Figures 1 to 5, the coupler includes a coupler body 1 arranged longitudinally and -1 - English Translation of PCT/CN2013/075579 horizontally and a coupler knuckle 2. The coupler body 1 has a hollow structure, and has an opening at one end. The coupler knuckle 2 includes a head portion 202, a tail portion 201 and a connecting portion 203 connected between the head portion 202 and the tail portion 201. The tail portion 201 of the coupler knuckle extends into a cavity of the coupler body 1 via the 5 opening of the coupler body 1, and a coupler knuckle pin shaft 21 is vertically inserted in the coupler body 1 to articulate the coupler knuckle 2 to the coupler body 1, thus the coupler knuckle 2 may rotate about the coupler knuckle pin shaft 21. A coupler knuckle thrower 3 is arranged behind the tail portion 201 of the coupler knuckle 2 in the coupler body 1. The coupler knuckle thrower 3 includes a pushing portion 31 and a lock seat portion 32, and a 0 thrower pin shaft 33 is located at a junction of the pushing portion 31 and the lock seat portion 32 to articulate the coupler knuckle thrower 3 to the coupler body 1. The thrower pin shaft 33 is in parallel with the coupler knuckle pin shaft 21. When the coupler knuckle thrower 3 rotates about the thrower pin shaft 33 anticlockwise, a tail end of the pushing portion 31 of the coupler knuckle thrower 3 pushes a pushing surface 211 on the coupler knuckle 2 to drive the 5 coupler knuckle 2 to rotate about the coupler knuckle pin shaft 21 clockwise, thereby unlocking the coupler (the process of anticlockwise rotation of the couple knuckle 2 is to lock the coupler). [00061 Figure 6 is a schematic view showing the principle of the traction force transmission between the coupler knuckle and the coupler body. Referring to Figure 6, reference numeral F 0 in the figure indicates a direction of the traction force, and the coupler knuckle pin shaft 21 is arranged vertically. Two first pin holes are provided on the coupler body 1 for mounting the coupler knuckle pin shaft 21, and an upper flange 101 and a lower flange 102 are formed around the two first pin holes on the coupler body 1, respectively. An upper pulling lug 103 and a lower pulling lug 104 are formed at a front portion of the coupler body 1 corresponding 25 to the tail portion of the coupler knuckle 2. When the railway vehicle travels, the coupler 2 is in a locked state for transmitting the longitudinal traction force. Generally, the upper pulling lug 103 and the lower pulling lug 104 are in contact with front end surfaces of the tail portion of the coupler knuckle 2 to transmit the traction force. Due to abrasion of the upper pulling lug 103 and the lower pulling lug 104 in long-term use, the traction force is transmitted by the 30 upper pulling lug 103 and the lower pulling lug 104, and the upper flange 101 and the lower flange 102. [00071 As described above, the coupler knuckle 2 is required to have a shape and a structure -2- English Translation of PCT/CN2013/075579 which may adapt to the inner cavity of the coupler body 1 and meanwhile cooperate with the coupler knuckle thrower 3 to unlock and lock the coupler. A pushing portion is fixedly arranged below the connecting portion 203 of the coupler knuckle 2 in the conventional technology (as shown in Figure 3). A surface on the pushing portion configured to be in 5 contact with the pushing portion 31 of the coupler knuckle thrower is the pushing surface 211. The pushing surface 211 of the coupler knuckle 2 may cooperate with the pushing portion 31 of the coupler knuckle thrower 3 to achieve the function of the pushing portion 31. That is, when the coupler knuckle thrower 3 rotates in a horizontal plane, the tail end of the pushing portion 31 may come into contact with the pushing surface 211 as the pushing portion 31 0 rotates, and may push the coupler knuckle 2 to rotate about the coupler knuckle pin shaft 21. [00081 However, in the coupler knuckle with such structure in the conventional technology, the pushing surface 211 is arranged below the connecting portion 203, thus the rotation zone of the pushing portion 31 of the coupler knuckle thrower 3 is also located below the connecting portion 203, however, in the conventional technology, the pushing portion 31 and 5 the lock seat portion 32 of the coupler knuckle thrower 3 are located at the same plane (as shown in Figure 4), thus the horizontal rotation zone of the pushing portion 31 and the lock seat portion 32 occupies most of the space at the bottom of the cavity in the coupler body 1, and the lower pulling lug 104 of the coupler body 1 is also formed on a bottom surface of the cavity in the coupler body 1. With such layout, the extending length of the lower pulling lug 0 104 in the horizontal direction has to be strictly restricted (as shown in Figure 6, the lower pulling lug 104 has a very short extending length), so as to ensure that the lower pulling lug 104 will not interfere with the rotation of the pushing portion 31, and in turn achieves the functions of unlocking and locking the coupler knuckle 2. However, the lower pulling lug 104 having a shorter length may result in an insufficient strength of the coupler body of the 25 coupler, and cracks may be formed on the lower pulling lug after the vehicle has been operated for a period of time, and the coupler body of the coupler may even break off, which increases the potential safety hazard in the operating process of the railway vehicle. SUMMARY [00091 In view of the defects in the conventional technology, a coupler knuckle thrower, a 30 coupler and a railway vehicle are provided in the present application. The coupler knuckle -3- English Translation of PCT/CN2013/075579 thrower may facilitate improving the layout of various parts in a coupler body of the coupler, while driving a coupler knuckle to rotate for achieving the functions of opening and locking the coupler, thereby enhancing the strength of the coupler body by improving the structure of the coupler body. 5 [00101 In view of the defects in the conventional technology, a coupler knuckle is further provided in the present application, which may increase the horizontal extending length of a lower pulling lug by raising the position of a pushing portion of a coupler knuckle thrower, thereby avoiding cracks on the lower pulling lug due to the insufficient strength. [00111 According to one aspect of the present application, a coupler knuckle thrower is 0 provided, which includes a thrower pin shaft arranged vertically and configured to be articulated to a coupler body, wherein a pushing portion for driving a coupler knuckle to rotate horizontally and a lock seat for cooperating with a coupler knuckle lock are fixedly arranged on the thrower pin shaft, and a lower surface of the pushing portion is spaced from a lower surface of the lock seat by a first distance. 5 [00121 Preferably, the pushing portion and the lock seat are both perpendicular to the thrower pin shaft. [00131 Preferably, the first distance is greater than or equal to 25mm. [00141 Preferably, a positioning sheet having a diameter greater than a diameter of the thrower pin shaft is fixedly arranged at a top end of the thrower pin shaft. 20 [00151 Preferably, the thrower pin shaft includes a central pin configured to be inserted in the coupler body and a cylindrical shaft sleeve coaxially sleeved on the central pin, and the pushing portion and the lock seat are fixedly arranged on an outer side surface of the shaft sleeve. [00161 Preferably, a top end of the central pin is provided with a positioning portion for 25 vertically fixing the position of the central pin. [00171 According to a further aspect of the present application, a coupler knuckle of a coupler is provided, which includes a head portion configured to be coupled to another coupler knuckle, a tail portion configured for extending into a coupler body, and a connecting portion connected between the head portion and the tail portion, wherein a side surface of the 30 connecting portion is provided with a groove extending in the longitudinal direction, and a -4- English Translation of PCT/CN2013/075579 bottom surface of the groove is a pushing surface, and a pushing portion of a coupler knuckle thrower pushes the pushing surface to rotate the coupler knuckle. [00181 Preferably, a width between two side walls of the groove matches with a vertical thickness of the pushing portion of the coupler knuckle thrower. 5 [00191 Preferably, the groove extends from the head portion of the coupler knuckle to an end surface of a tail end of the tail portion of the coupler knuckle. [00201 Preferably, a minimum distance from an upward surface of the connecting portion to an upper side wall of the groove is greater than or equal to 3mm, and a minimum distance from a downward surface of the connecting portion to a lower side wall of the groove is 0 greater than or equal to 3mm. [00211 Preferably, a surface of the lower side wall in the two side walls of the groove is spaced from a lower surface of a lock seat of the coupler knuckle thrower by a second distance. [00221 Preferably, the second distance is greater than or equal to 25mm. 5 [00231 According to another aspect of the present application, a coupler for a railway vehicle is provided, which includes a hollow coupler body arranged horizontally and longitudinally, wherein the coupler body has an opening at one end, and a coupler knuckle is arranged at the opening, the coupler knuckle includes a head portion, a tail portion, and a connecting portion connected between the head portion and the tail portion, the head portion 20 of the coupler knuckle is articulated to the coupler body through a coupler knuckle pin shaft arranged vertically, and the tail portion of the coupler knuckle extends into the coupler body; in the couple body, a coupler knuckle lock, and the coupler knuckle thrower according to any one of the above solutions are provided behind the tail portion of the coupler knuckle, and the thrower pin shaft of the coupler knuckle thrower is articulated to the coupler body, the lock 25 seat of the coupler knuckle thrower cooperates with the coupler knuckle lock, and the pushing portion of the coupler knuckle thrower is configured to drive the coupler knuckle to horizontally rotate about the coupler knuckle pin shaft. [00241 Preferably, a side surface of the connecting portion of the coupler knuckle is provided with a groove extending longitudinally, a bottom surface of the groove is a pushing 30 surface, and the pushing portion of the coupler knuckle thrower pushes the pushing surface to -5- English Translation of PCT/CN2013/075579 drive the coupler knuckle to rotate horizontally about the coupler knuckle pin shaft. [00251 Preferably, a width between two side walls of the groove of the coupler knuckle matches with a vertical thickness of the pushing portion of the coupler knuckle thrower. [00261 Preferably, the groove of the coupler knuckle extends from the head portion of the 5 coupler knuckle to an end surface of a tail end of the tail portion of the coupler knuckle. [00271 Preferably, a minimum distance from an upward surface of the connecting portion to an upper side wall of the groove is greater than or equal to 3mm, and a minimum distance from a downward surface of the connecting portion to a lower side wall of the groove is greater than or equal to 3mm. 0 [00281 Preferably, a surface of the lower side wall in the two side walls of the groove of the coupler knuckle is spaced from a lower surface of the lock seat of the coupler knuckle thrower by a second distance. [00291 Preferably, the second distance is greater than or equal to 25mm. [00301 According to another aspect of the present application, a railway vehicle is provided, 5 which includes a plurality of carriages, wherein two adjacent carriages are coupled together through the coupler for a railway vehicle according to any one of the above solutions. [00311 In the coupler knuckle of the coupler, the coupler knuckle thrower, the coupler and the railway vehicle provided by the present application, the vertical direction of the pushing portion of the coupler knuckle thrower is raised. When the coupler knuckle thrower in the 20 coupler body rotates, the horizontal rotation zone of the pushing portion is above the top surface of the lower pulling lug, thus there is no overlap between the horizontal rotation zone of the pushing portion and the extending zone of the lower pulling lug. In this way, the strength of the coupler body may be enhanced by increasing the extending length of the lower pulling lug of the coupler body, which significantly reduces the possibility that the lower 25 pulling lug of the coupler body may have cracks or even break off after the railway vehicle has been operated for a period of time, and improve the operational security of the railway vehicle. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [00321 Figure 1 is a front schematic view showing the structure of a coupler in the -6- English Translation of PCT/CN2013/075579 conventional technology; [00331 Figure 2 is a sectional view taken along line A-A of Figure 1; [00341 Figure 3 is a perspective view of a coupler knuckle of the coupler in the conventional technology; 5 [00351 Figure 4 is a perspective view of a coupler knuckle thrower of the coupler in the conventional technology; [00361 Figure 5 is a schematic view showing the transmission relationship between the coupler knuckle thrower and the coupler knuckle in the conventional technology; [00371 Figure 6 is a schematic view showing the principle of the traction force transmission 0 between the coupler knuckle and a coupler body in the coupler of a railway vehicle; [00381 Figure 7 is a schematic view showing the structure of the coupler in Figure 2 with the coupler knuckle and the coupler knuckle thrower being removed; [00391 Figure 8 is a perspective view of a coupler knuckle thrower of a coupler in a railway vehicle according to an embodiment of the present application; 5 [00401 Figure 9 is a schematic view showing the structure of a coupler knuckle thrower according to another embodiment of the present application; [00411 Figure 10 is a perspective view of a coupler knuckle of the couple in the railway vehicle according to an embodiment of the preset application; [00421 Figure 11 is a schematic view showing the position of a lower pulling lug in a 20 coupler body using the coupler knuckle in Figure 10; and [00431 Figure 12 is a schematic view showing the transmission relationship between the coupler knuckle thrower in Figure 8 and the coupler knuckle in Figure 10. DETAILED DESCRIPTION [00441 In the present application, "longitudinal direction" refers to an extending direction of 25 rails; "forward" refers to a running direction of a railway vehicle; "maximum limit projection position of a pushing portion" refer to a projection of the pushing portion in a vertical direction when the pushing portion rotates about a thrower pin shaft in a horizontal plane to -7- English Translation of PCT/CN2013/075579 the maximum angular position with respect to the longitudinal direction, that is, the projection of the pushing portion in the longitudinal direction when the coupler is in a locked state, and "minimum limit projection position of a pushing portion" refer to the projection of the pushing portion in the vertical direction when the pushing portion rotates about the thrower 5 pin shaft in the horizontal plane to the minimum angular position with respect to the longitudinal direction, that is, the projection of the pushing portion in the longitudinal direction when the coupler is in a full open state. [00451 Figure 6 is a schematic view showing the principle of the traction force transmission between the coupler knuckle and a coupler body in the coupler of the railway vehicle. 0 Referring to Figure 6, generally, a coupler of the railway vehicle includes a hollow coupler body 1 arranged longitudinally. The coupler body 1 has an opening at one end, and a coupler knuckle 2 is arranged at the opening. A front end of the coupler knuckle 2 is a head portion, and a rear end thereof is a tail portion 201. The head portion of the coupler knuckle 2 is articulated to the coupler body 1 through a coupler knuckle pin shaft 21 arranged vertically, 5 and the tail portion 201 of the coupler knuckle 2 extends into the coupler body 1. The coupler knuckle thrower and a coupler knuckle lock may be arranged in the coupler body 1 in the horizontal direction and behind the tail portion 201 of the coupler knuckle 2. The coupler knuckle lock drives the coupler knuckle thrower to rotate about a thrower pin shaft, and then a pushing portion of the coupler knuckle thrower pushes the tail portion 201 of the coupler 0 knuckle 2, thereby driving the coupler knuckle 2 to rotate about the coupler knuckle pin shaft 21. A lower pulling lug 104 is formed on an interior bottom surface of the coupler body 1, and is used to be in contact with a front end surface of the tail portion 201 of the coupler knuckle 2 to transmit a traction force. [00461 Referring to Figure 8, a coupler knuckle thrower 7 is provided in this embodiment, 25 which includes a thrower pin shaft 73 arranged in the vertical direction and configured to be articulated to the coupler body 1. A pushing portion 71 for driving the coupler knuckle 2 to rotate horizontally and a lock seat 72 for cooperating with the coupler knuckle lock are fixedly arranged on the thrower pin shaft 73. A lower surface of the pushing portion 71 is spaced from a lower surface of the lock seat 72 by a first distance. 30 [00471 The pushing portion 71 and the lock seat 72 on the thrower pin shaft 73 may be perpendicular to the thrower pin shaft 73 or both form an acute angle with the thrower pin -8- English Translation of PCT/CN2013/075579 shaft 73. A value of the first distance may be determined according to the vertical heights of the pushing portion 71, the lock seat 72 and the lower pulling lug 104, and has to ensure that a vertical distance between the lower surface of the pushing portion 71 and the interior bottom surface of the coupler body 1 is greater than the vertical height of the lower pulling lug 104, 5 thus the horizontal rotation of the pushing portion 71 will not be interfered by the lower pulling lug 104. That is, a rotation zone of the pushing portion 71 is above a top surface of the lower pulling lug 104, and thus, the extending length of the lower pulling lug 104 is no longer limited by the pushing portion 71 of the coupler knuckle thrower 7. In this way, the strength of the coupler body 1 may be enhanced by increasing the extending length of the lower 0 pulling lug 104 in the horizontal direction. Specifically, the lower pulling lug 104 may extend beyond the minimum limit projection position of the pushing portion 71 in the horizontal direction, and preferably, the lower pulling lug 104 may extend to a side wall of the coupler body 1, to enhance the strength of the coupler body 1 as much as possible. [00481 The process of locking and unlocking the coupler by the coupler knuckle thrower 5 provided by this embodiment will be described in detail in conjunction with Figures 2 and 8. When the coupler is in a locked state (that is, when the railway vehicle is running), the coupler knuckle lock 5 locks the position of the lock seat 72 of the coupler knuckle thrower 7, and at this time, there is no interaction between the pushing portion 71 and the coupler knuckle 2, and a head portion of the coupler knuckle lock 5 is at a lowest position. When the 0 coupler is required to be unlocked (after the railway vehicle is stopped, the coupling between the couples is required to be disconnected), the coupler knuckle lock 5 may be operated by a lock-pin mechanism to touch the lock seat 72, to rotate the coupler knuckle thrower 7 anticlockwise in the horizontal plane. As the pushing portion 71 rotates, an end surface of a tail end of the pushing portion 71 comes into contact with a pushing surface on the coupler 25 knuckle 2, and the pushing portion 71 pushes the coupler knuckle 2 to rotate clockwise, thereby gradually unlocking the coupler knuckle 2. When the pushing portion 71 rotates to the maximum limit angular position, the coupler knuckle 2 is in a full open state. It should be noted that, the position on the coupler knuckle 2, where being pushed by the pushing portion 71 of the coupler knuckle thrower, is the pushing surface of the coupler knuckle 2. The 30 pushing surface may be a side surface of the coupler knuckle 2, or a certain position on the side surface of the coupler knuckle 2. Of course, the vertical position of the pushing portion 71 of the coupler knuckle thrower in this embodiment is higher than that of the pushing -9- English Translation of PCT/CN2013/075579 portion of the coupler knuckle thrower in the conventional technology, thus compared to the position of the pushing surface 211 (as shown in Figure 5) on the coupler knuckle 2 in the conventional technology, the position of the pushing surface on the coupler knuckle 2 in this embodiment is higher. 5 [00491 In the coupler knuckle thrower provided by this embodiment, the vertical position of the pushing portion is raised by modifying the relative position between the pushing portion and the lock seat, thus there is no overlap between the horizontal rotation zone of the pushing portion and the space occupied by the horizontal extending zone of the lower pulling lug in the coupler body of the coupler adopting the coupler knuckle thrower. In addition, the strength 0 of the coupler body may be enhanced by increasing the extending length of the lower pulling lug of the coupler body, which significantly reduces the possibility that the lower pulling lug of the coupler body may have cracks or even break off after the railway vehicle has been operated for a period of time, and improve the operational security of the railway vehicle. [00501 In the above embodiment, for couplers of most of the railway vehicles, the top 5 surface of the lower pulling lug 104 is higher than the lower surface of the lock seat 72 by 25mm. Correspondingly, the first distance between the pushing portion 71 and the lock seat 72 on the coupler knuckle thrower may have a value greater than or equal to 25mm, thereby effectively optimizing the layout of the inner cavity of the coupler body, and further improving the strength of the coupler body. 20 [00511 Further, a positioning sheet 731 having a diameter greater than a diameter of the thrower pin shaft 73 is fixedly arranged at a top end of the thrower pin shaft 73, that is, an edge of the positioning sheet 731 protrudes out of the periphery of the thrower pin shaft 73. The thrower pin shaft 73 is vertically inserted in the coupler body 1, thus the positioning sheet 731 at the top of the thrower pin shaft 73 may fix the vertical position of the coupler knuckle 25 thrower. Hence, for the coupler according to this embodiment, no other positioning components are required to fix the position of the coupler knuckle thrower, which may further simplify the structure, and save the cost. [00521 Figure 9 is a schematic view showing the structure of a coupler knuckle thrower according to another embodiment of the present application. In this embodiment, as shown in 30 Figures 7 and 9, the thrower pin shaft 73 includes a central pin (not shown) configured to be inserted in the coupler body 1 and a cylindrical shaft sleeve 702 coaxially sleeved on the -10- English Translation of PCT/CN2013/075579 central pin. The pushing portion 71 and the lock seat 72 are fixedly arranged on an outer side surface of the shaft sleeve 702. In the solution of this embodiment, two ends of the central pin may both protrude out of the shaft sleeve 702 and may be fixedly connected to the coupler body 1 horizontally arranged, that is, the central pin is vertically inserted in the coupler body 5 1, thus the shaft sleeve 702 may rotate about the central pin, which may also realize the articulation between the coupler knuckle thrower and the coupler body 1. [00531 Of course, the connection between the central pin and the coupler body 1 does not have to be the fixed connection that they cannot move relative to each other, and may also be in other forms as long as the vertical position of the central pin is fixed. For example, a top 0 end of the central pin may be provided with a positioning portion for vertically fixing the position of the central pin. For example, the positioning portion may be a positioning plate arranged at the top of the central pin and having a diameter greater than that of a central hole provided on the coupler body 1 for insertion of the central pin, and the positioning plate may prevent the central pin from falling off. Further, a bottom end of the central pin may be 5 provided with a positioning plate having a structure similar to that of the positioning plate at the top of the central pin, so as to further prevent the central pin from playing axially. The connection between the central pin and the coupler body in this embodiment may ensure the horizontal rotations of the pushing portion 71 and the lock seat 72 about the central pin, and further simplify the manufacturing and assembling procedures, and facilitate reducing the 0 costs of manufacture and maintenance. [00541 The present application further provides a coupler knuckle having an improved structure. Figure 10 is a perspective view of a coupler knuckle of the couple in the railway vehicle according to an embodiment of the preset application. As shown in Figure 10, a coupler knuckle 2 of the coupler for the railway vehicle according to this embodiment 25 includes a head portion 202 configured to be coupled to another coupler knuckle, a tail portion 201 configured for extending into a coupler body 1, and a connecting portion 203 connected between the head portion 202 and the tail portion 201. A side surface of the connecting portion 203 is provided with a groove 205 extending in the longitudinal direction, and a bottom surface of the groove 205 is a pushing surface 211 configured to be pushed by 30 the pushing portion 71 of the coupler knuckle thrower. [00551 The head portion 204 of the coupler knuckle 2 is provided with a through hole -11- English Translation of PCT/CN2013/075579 configured to articulate the coupler knuckle 2 to the coupler body 1 via the coupler knuckle pin shaft 21 (referring to Figure 6). The connecting portion 203 of the coupler knuckle extends in the longitudinal direction. The groove 205 is provided at a surface of the connecting portion 203 that is facing the coupler knuckle thrower 3. A depth of the groove 5 205 (that is, a distance between a bottom surface of the groove 205 and the surface of the connecting portion 203 that is facing the coupler knuckle thrower 3) may be determined according to the relative position relationship between the coupler knuckle 2 and the pushing portion of the coupler knuckle thrower. A width of the groove 205 (that is, a distance between two side walls of the groove 205) may be determined according to the dimension of a tail end 0 of the pushing portion. Thus, when the coupler knuckle thrower rotates about the thrower pin shaft, the pushing portion of the coupler knuckle thrower may push the bottom surface of the groove 205 to rotate the coupler knuckle 2 about the coupler knuckle pin shaft 21, thereby unlocking and locking the coupler. That is, the bottom surface of the groove 205 is the pushing surface 211 configured to cooperate with the pushing portion of the coupler knuckle 5 thrower. [00561 In the coupler having the coupler knuckle provided by this embodiment, the pushing surface 211 of the coupler knuckle 2 is provided at the bottom surface of the groove 205 of the connecting portion 203, which is different from the conventional technology that the pushing surface is provided on a pushing portion below the connecting portion 203, thus 0 correspondingly, the pushing portion of the coupler knuckle thrower has to be moved upward to cooperate with the pushing surface 211 to achieve the function of the coupler. That is, the coupler knuckle thrower may be the coupler knuckle thrower as shown in Figure 8 or 9, and a lower surface of the pushing portion 71 is spaced from a lower surface of the lock seat 71 by a first distance. The vertical position of the pushing portion 71 is moved upwardly to cooperate 25 with the pushing surface 211 at the bottom surface of the groove 205 of the connecting portion 203, thus the pushing portion 71 of the coupler knuckle thrower may rotate about the thrower pin shaft 73 above the top surface of the lower pulling lug 104, and in this way, the lower pulling lug 104 may extend beyond the minimum limit projection position of the pushing portion 71 in the horizontal direction. That is, in this case, the rotation zone of the 30 pushing portion 71 is above the top surface of the lower pulling lug 104, and the extending length of the lower pulling lug 104 is no longer limited by the pushing portion 71. Thus, the strength of the coupler body may be enhanced by increasing the horizontal extending length - 12- English Translation of PCT/CN2013/075579 of the lower pulling lug 104. [00571 Further, a surface of the lower side wall in the two side walls of the groove 205 is spaced from the lower surface of the lock seat 72 of the coupler knuckle thrower by a second distance. Preferably, according to the specification of dimension of a normal coupler, the top 5 surface of the lower pulling lug 104 is 25mm higher than an upper surface of the lock seat 71. Correspondingly, the second distance may have a value greater than or equal to 25mm. [00581 Compared to the conventional technology, in which the lower pulling lug 104 of the coupler can only extend to the minimum limit projection position of the pushing portion (as shown in Figure 7), the lower pulling lug 104 of the coupler body 1 of this embodiment may 0 extend beyond the minimum limit position of the pushing portion 71, which may enhance the strength of the coupler body. It can be appreciated that, as the horizontal extending length of the lower pulling lug 104 increases, the effect for improving the strength of the coupler body is gradually improved. Preferably, the lower pulling lug 104 may extend to the side wall of the coupler body. 5 [00591 In the coupler knuckle of the coupler for the railway vehicle in this embodiment, the position of the pushing surface of the coupler knuckle is raised to the connecting portion of the coupler knuckle, thus in the coupler adopting the coupler knuckle of this embodiment, the position of the pushing portion of the coupler knuckle thrower may be raised to a planar zone above the top surface of the lower pulling lug. Hence, the strength of the coupler body may be 20 improved by increasing the extending length of the lower pulling lug of the coupler body, which may reduce the possibility that the lower pulling lug of the coupler body may have cracks or even break off after the railway vehicle has been operated for a period of time, and improve the operational security of the railway vehicle. [00601 In the above embodiment, as shown in Figure 12, a distance between the two side 25 walls of the groove 205 matches with a vertical thickness of the pushing portion 71 of the coupler knuckle thrower, that is, the tail end of the pushing portion 71 and the groove 205 are cooperated with each other in a small clearance fit, thus when pushing the coupler knuckle 2, the tail end of the pushing portion 71 may slide along the groove 205, which may avoid a vertical displacement of the pushing portion 71 caused by a vertical shock or vibration, and 30 further ensure the rotation of the coupler knuckle 2 in the horizontal plane, and ensure the unlocking angle while reducing unnecessary abrasions. - 13 - English Translation of PCT/CN2013/075579 [00611 Further, the groove 205 may extend from the head portion 204 to an end surface of the tail end of the tail portion 201. Such design of the through groove facilities processing and manufacturing and also facilitates assembling and disassembling. [00621 Furthermore, a minimum distance between an upward surface of the connecting 5 portion and an upper side wall of the groove is greater than or equal to 3mm, and a minimum distance between a downward surface of the connecting portion and the lower side wall of the groove is greater than or equal to 3mm, thereby ensuring the sufficient strength of the coupler knuckle, and preventing the coupler knuckle from breaking off during operation due to insufficient strength, and further ensuring the operational reliability of the whole coupler. 0 [00631 The present application further provides a coupler for a railway vehicle. Referring to Figure 6 and Figures 8 to 12, the coupler includes a hollow coupler body 1 arranged horizontally and longitudinally. The coupler body 1 has an opening at one end, and a coupler knuckle 2 is arranged at the opening of the coupler body 1. The coupler knuckle 2 includes a head portion 202, a tail portion 201, and a connecting portion 203 connected between the 5 head portion 202 and the tail portion 201. The head portion 202 of the coupler knuckle 2 is articulated to the coupler body 1 through a coupler knuckle pin shaft 21 arranged vertically, and the tail portion 201 of the coupler knuckle 2 extends into the coupler body 1. In the couple body 1, a coupler knuckle lock and a coupler knuckle thrower are provided behind the tail portion 201 of the coupler knuckle 2, wherein, the coupler knuckle thrower may be the 0 coupler knuckle thrower according to the above embodiments, and have the same structure and function as the above embodiments, thus will not be described herein in detail. The thrower pin shaft 73 is articulated to the coupler body 1, the lock seat 72 cooperates with the coupler knuckle lock, and the pushing portion may drive the coupler knuckle 2 to horizontally rotate about the coupler knuckle pin shaft 21, thereby realizing three operating states of the 25 coupler, including an open state, a locked state and a full open state of the coupler and the function of switching among these three operating states. [00641 Further, the coupler knuckle 2 may be the coupler knuckle provided by the above embodiments, and have the same structure and function as the above embodiments, thus will not be described herein in detail. In the coupler knuckle thrower having the above structure, 30 the vertical position of the pushing portion 71 of the coupler knuckle thrower is raised, and in the coupler knuckle having the above structure, the pushing surface is arranged on the bottom - 14- English Translation of PCT/CN2013/075579 surface of the groove 205 of the coupler knuckle 2, thus the vertical position of the pushing surface is also raised. The raised pushing portion 71 cooperates with the pushing surface to drive the coupler knuckle 2 to rotate horizontally about the coupler knuckle pin shaft 21, thereby realizing three operating states of the coupler, including an open state, a locked state 5 and a full open state of the coupler and the function of switching among these three operating states. [00651 In the coupler for the railway vehicle provided by this embodiment, the pushing portion of the coupler knuckle thrower cooperates with the pushing surface at the bottom surface of the groove of the connecting portion, thus the vertical position of the pushing 0 portion is raised, which locates the pushing portion above the top surface of the lower pulling lug of the coupler body, and thus there is no overlap between the horizontal rotation zone of the pushing portion and the space occupied by the horizontal extending zone of the lower pulling lug. In this way, the extending length of the lower pulling lug of the coupler body is greatly increased, which enhances the strength of the coupler body, and significantly reduces 5 the possibility that the lower pulling lug of the coupler body may have cracks or even break off after the railway vehicle has been operated for a period of time, and improve the operational security of the railway vehicle. [00661 A railway vehicle is provided according to another embodiment of the present application, which includes multiple carriages, in which two adjacent carriages are coupled 0 together through the couplers of the railway vehicle according to the above embodiments. The coupler of the railway vehicle has the similar structure and function as the above embodiments, which will not be described here in detail. [00671 In the railway vehicle provided by this embodiment, the pushing portion of the coupler knuckle thrower and the lock seat are arranged in different horizontal planes, and the 25 pushing surface of the coupler knuckle is arranged at the bottom surface of the groove of the connecting portion to raise the vertical position of the pushing portion and locate the horizontal rotation zone of the pushing portion above the top surface of the lower pulling lug of the coupler. In this way, the strength of the coupler body may be enhanced by increasing the extending length of the lower pulling lug in the horizontal direction, which significantly 30 reduces the possibility that the lower pulling lug of the coupler body may have cracks after the railway vehicle has been operated for a period of time, and reducing the potential safety - 15- English Translation of PCT/CN2013/075579 hazard in the operation of the railway vehicle. [00681 The embodiments described hereinabove are only exemplary embodiments of the present application. It should be noted that, for those skilled in the art, a few of improvements and modifications may be made without departing from the principle of the present 5 application. The scope of the present application is defined by the claims. - 16 -

Claims

1. A coupler knuckle thrower, comprising a thrower pin shaft arranged vertically and configured to be articulated to a coupler body, wherein a pushing portion for driving a coupler 5 knuckle to rotate horizontally and a lock seat for cooperating with a coupler knuckle lock are fixedly arranged on the thrower pin shaft, and a lower surface of the pushing portion is spaced from a lower surface of the lock seat by a first distance.

2. The coupler knuckle thrower according to claim 1, wherein the pushing portion and 0 the lock seat are both perpendicular to the thrower pin shaft.

3. The coupler knuckle thrower according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first distance is greater than or equal to 25mm. 5

4. The coupler knuckle thrower according to claim 3, wherein a positioning sheet having a diameter greater than a diameter of the thrower pin shaft is fixedly arranged at a top end of the thrower pin shaft.

5. The coupler knuckle thrower according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the thrower pin shaft 20 comprises a central pin configured to be inserted in the coupler body and a cylindrical shaft sleeve coaxially sleeved on the central pin, and the pushing portion and the lock seat are fixedly arranged on an outer side surface of the shaft sleeve.

6. The coupler knuckle thrower according to claim 5, wherein a top end of the central pin 25 is provided with a positioning portion for vertically fixing the position of the central pin.

7. A coupler knuckle of a coupler, comprising a head portion configured to be coupled to another coupler knuckle, a tail portion configured for extending into a coupler body, and a connecting portion connected between the head portion and the tail portion, wherein a side -17- English Translation of PCT/CN2013/075579 surface of the connecting portion is provided with a groove extending in the longitudinal direction, and a bottom surface of the groove is a pushing surface, and a pushing portion of a coupler knuckle thrower pushes the pushing surface to rotate the coupler knuckle. 5

8. The coupler knuckle of the coupler according to claim 7, wherein a width between two side walls of the groove matches with a vertical thickness of the pushing portion of the coupler knuckle thrower.

9. The coupler knuckle of the coupler according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the groove 0 extends from the head portion of the coupler knuckle to an end surface of a tail end of the tail portion of the coupler knuckle.

10. The coupler knuckle of the coupler according to claim 7 or 8, wherein a minimum distance from an upward surface of the connecting portion to an upper side wall of the groove 5 is greater than or equal to 3mm, and a minimum distance from a downward surface of the connecting portion to a lower side wall of the groove is greater than or equal to 3mm.

11. The coupler knuckle of the coupler according to claim 9, wherein a surface of the lower side wall in the two side walls of the groove is spaced from a lower surface of a lock 20 seat of the coupler knuckle thrower by a second distance.

12. The coupler knuckle of the coupler according to claim 11, wherein the second distance is greater than or equal to 25mm. 25

13. A coupler for a railway vehicle, comprising a hollow coupler body arranged horizontally and longitudinally, wherein the coupler body has an opening at one end, and a coupler knuckle is arranged at the opening, the coupler knuckle comprises a head portion, a tail portion, and a connecting portion connected between the head portion and the tail portion, the head portion of the coupler knuckle is articulated to the coupler body through a coupler - 18- English Translation of PCT/CN2013/075579 knuckle pin shaft arranged vertically, and the tail portion of the coupler knuckle extends into the coupler body; in the couple body, a coupler knuckle lock, and the coupler knuckle thrower according to any one of claims 1 to 6 are provided behind the tail portion of the coupler knuckle, and the thrower pin shaft of the coupler knuckle thrower is articulated to the coupler 5 body, the lock seat of the coupler knuckle thrower cooperates with the coupler knuckle lock, and the pushing portion of the coupler knuckle thrower is configured to drive the coupler knuckle to horizontally rotate about the coupler knuckle pin shaft.

14. The coupler for the railway vehicle according to claim 13, wherein a side surface of 0 the connecting portion of the coupler knuckle is provided with a groove extending longitudinally, a bottom surface of the groove is a pushing surface, and the pushing portion of the coupler knuckle thrower pushes the pushing surface to drive the coupler knuckle to rotate horizontally about the coupler knuckle pin shaft. 5

15. The coupler for the railway vehicle according to claim 14, wherein a width between two side walls of the groove of the coupler knuckle matches with a vertical thickness of the pushing portion of the coupler knuckle thrower.

16. The coupler for the railway vehicle according to claim 14 or 15, wherein the groove 20 of the coupler knuckle extends from the head portion of the coupler knuckle to an end surface of a tail end of the tail portion of the coupler knuckle.

17. The coupler for the railway vehicle according to claim 14 or 15, wherein a minimum distance from an upward surface of the connecting portion to an upper side wall of the groove 25 is greater than or equal to 3mm, and a minimum distance from a downward surface of the connecting portion to a lower side wall of the groove is greater than or equal to 3mm.

18. The coupler for the railway vehicle according to claim 16, wherein a surface of the lower side wall in the two side walls of the groove of the coupler knuckle is spaced from a 30 lower surface of the lock seat of the coupler knuckle thrower by a second distance. -19- English Translation of PCT/CN2013/075579

19. The coupler for the railway vehicle according to claim 18, wherein the second distance is greater than or equal to 25mm. 5 20. A railway vehicle, comprising a plurality of carriages, wherein two adjacent carriages are coupled together through the coupler for the railway vehicle according to claim 13.

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